Quiz 1

Question 1

What are the layers of the atmosphere (4) and respective altitudes

Answer 1

troposphere (0-12km), tropopause, stratosphere (12-50km), stratopause, mesosphere (50-90km), mesopause, thermosphere

Question 2

What is the tropopause height at the equator? at the poles? why?

Answer 2

global avg (12km), at poles (10km), at equator (18km). hot air rises at equator higher than at poles. latent heat from condensation of moist air warms surrounding air, causing more rising

Question 3

What are the 3 methods of energy transfer in the atm?

Answer 3

conduction, convection, radiation

Question 4

Define conduction (2)

Answer 4

transfer of energy from molecule to molecule, important effect near ground but not at high alts b/c air has low thermal conductivity

Question 5

Define conduction (3 types)

Answer 5

transfer of energy due to the mass movement of a fluid. advection (horizontal transfer i.e., wind), free convection (vertical transfer from temp differences, bouyancy), forced convection(resulting from mechanical turb, wind shear, convergence, divergence)

Question 6

Define radiation (3)

Answer 6

energy transferred in the form of EM waves. all bodies emit radiation (higher T = more radiation), can travel in vacuum

Question 7

how do you find the direction of winds around high and low pressure in NH?

Answer 7

use left hand

Question 8

do convergence and divergence happen around aloft highs and lows?

Answer 8

no, because convergence and divergence happen due to friction, which only occurs at the surface

Question 9

why are wind speed greater around low pressure systems?

Answer 9

low pressure systems have higher pressure gradients, which result in higher wind speeds

Question 10

just for shits, describe latent heat, and which phase changes absorb/release latent heat

Answer 10

latent heat - energy required to change state of a substance. evap-melting-sublimation absorb heat. condensation-freezing-declination release latent heat

Question 11

Why do we have seasons?

Answer 11

seasons arise due to the tilt of the earth, we have winter in the NH in January even though earth is closer to sun

Question 12

List why sun angle influences seasons (4)

Answer 12

sunlight is more direct/spread over larger area b/c of tilt, NH has more land area, days are longer in summer, NH summer is one week longer than winter

Question 13

Why does radiative flux at the sfc peak at 30N? (4)

Answer 13

fewer clouds (high pressure), more direct sunlight, high albedo at poles, path length through atm is greatest at poles

Question 14

Describe the daily temperature variation

Answer 14

temp of earth decreases when earth IR > solar radiation, min temp is slightly after sunrise at the pt when incoming solar = outgoing thermal IR

Question 15

4 factors that influence daily temp

Answer 15

incoming/outgoing radiation balance, extent of cloud cover and associated latent heat release, mechanisms of energy transport, soil moisture

Question 16

6 factors that lead to a cold night

Answer 16

long night, calm night (mixing inhibited by lack of wind), clear skies (clouds trap IR), dry air (no latent heat release), low soil specific heat, low soil thermal conductivity

Question 17

How does wind influence temp profiles near surface?

Answer 17

it normalizes them,

Question 18

What is Wein’s Law?

Answer 18

peak wavelength (um) emitted by a blackbody at T(k) = 3000/T(K). sun t = 6000 gammap = 0.5um is visible. earth 300K gammap = 10um = IR

Question 19

Stefan-boltzmann law?

Answer 19

sigma * T^4 = flux of sunlight. sigma = 5.67 *10^-8

Question 20

Relative Humidity increases when

Answer 20

increases as moisture of air increases (pv goes up), as air is cooled (pv,s goes down)

Question 21

Dew point (2)

Answer 21

temp to which air must be cooled in order to achieve saturation over a liquid surface. when T = Tdew, pv = pvs and RH = 100%

Question 22

Frost point (2)

Answer 22

temp to which air must be cooled in order to achieve saturation over an ice surface (sub zero), Tdew < Tf: at subzero temps, water will freeze before it can condense

Question 23

Draw a dew point graph

Answer 23

you won’t