Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Weather > Midterm2 > Flashcards

Midterm2 Flashcards

1
Q

lower altitude =

A

higher pressure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

water can be sucked up a tube but only at

A

35 feet

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

variations in surface air pressure

A

elevation/altitude and vertical motion (convection)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

vertical motion (convection)

A

rising air causes low pressure; subsiding air causes high pressure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what changes pressure on the surface of the earth

A

vertical motion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

only thing that is affecting subsiding air

A

vertical motion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what causes vertical motion of air?

A

thermal causes; dynamic causes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

thermal causes

A

warm air goes up, cold air go down

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

dynamic causes

A

diverging air high above the surface (aloft) causes air to be lifted or to rise; converging air aloft causes air to subside

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

rising low, low pressure

A

cyclones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

subsiding high, high pressure

A

anticyclones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

pressure gradient direction

A

always perpindicular to isobars, away from high toward low

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

pressure gradient are always on a

A

horizontal plane, and greater where isobars are closer together

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

pressure gradient causes

A

wind, steeper pressure gradient means higher wind speed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

coriolis effect determines

A

wind pressure; equal to coriolis force

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

4 rules for coriolis

A
  1. direction of coriolis deflection is determined by hemisphere; 2. magnitude of coriolis deflection is determined by latitude; 3. coriolis effect also increases with wind speed; 4. coriolis always acts at right angles to wind direction
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

wind direction combination of

A

direction of pressure gradient; amount of direction of deflection due to coriolis; coriolis deflection is in turn controlled by wind speed and latitude

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

geo balance depends on

A

no curvature of isobars; no friction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

wind from the north is

A

north wind or northerly

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

wind from the south is

A

south wind or southerly

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

if a shoreline or a slope faces into the wind

A

windward

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

if a side is facing away from the wind

A

leeward

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

winds that dominate from a particular direction

A

prevailing winds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

circulation around northern hemisphere low pressure

A

counterclockwise and converging toward the center

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

rules for determining wind direction

A

point down the pressure gradient, turn to the right (geotropic wind), back off about 30 degrees (surface wind)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

circulation around northern hemisphere high pressure

A

clockwise and diverging away from the center

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

centers of low pressure

A

zones of rising air, associated with clouds and precipitation, cyclonic, centers of convergence of the surface, associated with divergence aloft

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

centers of high pressure

A

zones of subsiding air, associated with clear skies and calmer weather, anticyclonic, centers of divergence, convergence aloft

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

ridges

A

pressure goes down on both ides of the ridge, marks a line of relatively high pressure in between two lows, a zone of divergence and subsidence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

troughs

A

pressure goes up on both sides of the trough, marks a line of low pressure in between two highs, a line of convergence and rising air

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

subtropical highs most strongest in summer

A

anticyclonic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

subtropical jet

A

located above STH, zone of convergence aloft

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

polar front jet

A

located above polar front, produced by steep pressure gradient aloft

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

pressure gradient aloft is controlled by

A

air temperatures: warmth in tropics; cold in polar regions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

lines are close together

A

where the jet streams are

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

gas to solid

A

decomposition 670 cal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

takes energy to go

A

from higher energy to lower

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

energy from the sun

A

causes/powers the hydrological cycle

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

freezing water to ice

A

gives off heat

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

for water to freeze

A

heat has to be extracted

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

what controls humidity

A

its course is evaporation form the earths surface; it is limited in amount by air temperature (primarily); temperature controls capacity for water vapor

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

air parcel

A

has known volume, pressure, temperature and density

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

humidity

A

amount of water vapor in an air parcel at a particular time and place

44
Q

air parcels can only contain

A

a certain amount of water vapor - their capacity for vapor is determined by temperature

45
Q

warm air has

A

fast moving molecules, low density and high volume

46
Q

cold air has a

A

high density and low volume low capacity for vapor

47
Q

saturation is reached when

A

air has its maximum capacity of vapor

48
Q

saturation capacity increases

A

as temperature increases

49
Q

how we measure humidty

A

actual measures, relative humidity, proxy measures

50
Q

actual measures

A

vapor pressure (mb), mixing ratio - w (g/kg), specific humidity - q (g/kg), vapor density pv (g/m3)

51
Q

vapor pressure

A

in a mixture of gases the total p = sum of the partial pressure of the constituent gases

52
Q

humidity cannot be at any value

A

above the saturation curve

53
Q

relative humidity

A

actual humidity content/ capacity of current air T

54
Q

proxy measures

A

dew point temperatures, wet bulb temperature

55
Q

temp of air at saturation

A

dew point = td ( temp to which air must be cooled to induce concentration)

56
Q

to bring air to its dew point temp

A

it must be cooled

57
Q

two ways to cool the air

A

remove heat from the air, increase its volume (exchange sensible heat for work)

58
Q

adiabotic

A

no change in energy content

59
Q

remove heat

A

diabetic process; a change in heat content of air parcel

60
Q

increase its volume

A

adiabatic process; no change in heat content of air parcel; energy just changes form from thermal to work

61
Q

RH increases

A

temp decreases

62
Q

Rh decreases

A

temp increases

63
Q

adiabatic cooling

A

rising air parcels cool clouds form

64
Q

adiabatic warming

A

sinking air air parcels warm clouds dissipate

65
Q

2 types of lapse rates

A

environmental and adiabatic

66
Q

environmental lapse rates

A

rate of temp change with altitude in troposphere

67
Q

adiabatic lapse rate

A

rate of temp change for a vertically change; moving air parcel due to its change in volume; not measured but calculated by thermodynamics

68
Q

dry adiabatic lapse rate

A

10 C/1000 m or 5.6 F/1000 feet

69
Q

wet adiabatic lapse rate

A

5C/1000 meters

70
Q

stability

A

is the degree to which an air parcel resists vertical motion

71
Q

buoyant air parcels are

A

unstable - like a hot air balloon

72
Q

buoyancy results from

A

the air parcel being less dense than surrounding air, and it rises

73
Q

buoyancy

A

is caused mainly by temp difference between the air parcel and the surrounding air; air parcel warmer than surrounding air, less dense and rise

74
Q

stable ari

A

skies are generally clear or clouds that do form are flattened

75
Q

unstable air

A

clouds tend to build upward, often precipitation will be result (lighting)

76
Q

accessing stablity

A

need to know environmental lapse rate

77
Q

types of fog

A

adiabatic types, adiabatic types; evaporation

78
Q

adiabatic types of fog

A

radiation fog and advection fog

79
Q

adiabatic types of fog

A

upslope fog

80
Q

evaporation types of fog

A

steam fog and frontal fog

81
Q

radiation fog

A

form when the ground loses heat by infrared radiation to space on clear nights; fog forms in low-lying areas where cold air settles and pools; fog forms on calm clear nights in most cases

82
Q

advection fog

A

horizontal movement of air; warm moist air travels across a cold surface; cold surface extracts heat from air cooling to its dew point; heat is being lost; forms over a wide area; common over cold water on west coasts in summer

83
Q

upslope fog

A

air moves up a slope, cools adiabotically reaching its dew point temp; evaporation (steam fog); warm moist surfaces evaporates water vapor into cold air; air is cold water is warm = steam fog

84
Q

frontal fog

A

rain falling through cold air at surface; precipitin along frontal boundary

85
Q

cloud form families

A

cirriform, stratiform, cummliform, alto clouds, nimbo nimbus

86
Q

cirrostratus

A

represents rain coming

87
Q

ways air is lifted

A

orographic lifting, frontal, convection

88
Q

lifting mechanisms

A

orographic, frontal, convection, convergence

89
Q

types of convergence

A

air stream convergence, cyclonic convergence, speed convergence which is a indirect affect on topography

90
Q

how precipitation forms

A

cloud droplets form on a condensation nucleus - dust soot salt pollen; so small that the slightest air movements keep them aloft; cloud droplets and tiny ice crystals must grow thousands of times their original volume in order for clouds to produce precipitation

91
Q

two major theories of precipitation formation

A

collision coalescence process and ice crystal (bergeron) process

92
Q

collision coalescence process

A

warm clouds which contain only liquid water; droplets can fall faster than surrounding objects; collision with smaller droplets increases the size of the larger ones; air drags pulls apart the largest drops; they turn collide and grow by coalescence as they fall

93
Q

ice crystals (Bergeron) process

A

cold clouds having a mix of water droplets and ice crystals; found both in higher altitudes and in higher latitudes; water droplets are supercooled and the temps are below freezing; water droplets small, ice crystals big; vapor pressure is lower around ice; vapor pressures higher around liquid water

94
Q

distribution of precipitation over time

A

seasonal movement of wind and pressure zones can cause large differences in precipitation during the year

95
Q

orographic lifting mechanism

A

cause it to rain a lot in Alaska and Oregon

96
Q

air mass

A

large body of air that has relatively homogeneous temperature and moisture characteristics throughout

97
Q

air masses get those characteristics from

A

their source regions; if source region is a land mass, air mass will be dry; if it is from an ocean, air mass will be both warm and moist

98
Q

when one air mass moves up against another air mass

A

it forms a front at the boundary between two air masses

99
Q

north american air masses cold/cool

A

continental arctic = CA; continental polar = cP; maritime polar = mP; polar high pressure; over continuous at high latitudes; more dominant in winter

100
Q

north american air masses warm/hot

A

continental tropical = cT; maritime tropical = mT; subtropical high pressure; tropical and subtropical oceans (maritime); desert (continental); more dominant in summer

101
Q

air mass modification

A

continental polar (cP) is changed to mP as it travels across an ocean, picking up heat and humidity

102
Q

air masses are modified when

A

they travel out of their source region

103
Q

when an air mass moves, its leading edge is a

A

front

104
Q

front

A

place where one air mass comes up against another type of air mass

105
Q

type of front is determined by

A

what type of air mass is advancing: cold or warm

Weather (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions