Terms In Geography Flashcards
What is the Polar cell?
An atmospheric cell at higher latitudes where air rises and travels toward the poles.
What happens to air once it reaches the poles in the Polar cell?
The air sinks, forming areas of high atmospheric pressure called polar highs.
What are polar highs?
Areas of high atmospheric pressure formed by sinking air over the poles.
What type of winds are created at the surface of the Polar cell?
East-blowing surface winds called polar easterlies.
What is notable about the size and strength of the Polar cell?
It is the smallest and weakest of the atmospheric cells.
What is a Hadley cell?
A convection cell at low latitudes where air moves toward the equator, is heated and rises vertically, then moves poleward in the upper atmosphere
Named after George Hadley, who proposed the concept in 1735.
Who proposed the Hadley cell concept?
George Hadley
Proposed in 1735, it describes the circulation pattern in tropical and subtropical climates.
What characterizes the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)?
An equatorial traveling pattern of anomalous rainfall with eastward progression of enhanced and suppressed tropical rainfall
Observed mainly over the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Where does the anomalous rainfall of the MJO first become evident?
Over the western Indian Ocean
It propagates over warm ocean waters of the western and central tropical Pacific.
What is the Ferrel cell?
A mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell where air flows poleward and eastward at the surface and equatorward and westward higher up
Proposed by William Ferrell in 1856.
Who proposed the Ferrel cell, and when?
William Ferrell in 1856
It was the first to account for westerly winds between 35° and 60° N/S.
What is the primary cause of westerly winds in the Ferrel cell?
Friction, not heat differences at the equator and poles
This distinguishes it from other atmospheric circulation cells.
Fill in the blank: The Hadley cell covers _______ and _______ climates.
tropical and subtropical
True or False: The MJO is a localized phenomenon that occurs only over the Indian Ocean.
False
The MJO is a planetary-scale phenomenon affecting both the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
What is the direction of air movement in the Ferrel cell at the surface?
Poleward and eastward
What happens to air in the upper atmosphere of the Ferrel cell?
Moves equatorward and westward
What is the term used to describe the wind that results from the balance of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force?
Geostrophic wind
When does the wind blow parallel to the isobars
When isobars are straight and friction is negligible
