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Physical Geography > The Atmosphere > Flashcards

The Atmosphere Flashcards

1
Q

What is the air comprised of?

A

Permanent and Variable Gases

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2
Q

What does Permanent Gas mean, and what permanent gases are in our air?

A

They do not change based on their volume, nitrogen makes up 78%, oxygen 21%.

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3
Q

What are variable gases and what variable gases comprise our air?

A

Changing over time or space, or both. Water at 0-4%, and carbon dioxide at 0.0035%.

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4
Q

How thick is the atmosphere?

A

It is ~480km from the surface to the top (Thermopause). Beyond that altitude is the “exosphere”.

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5
Q

What is the exosphere?

A

The outer sphere, a near vacuum made up of hydrogen and helium atoms, weakly bound by gravity

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6
Q

What are the three structures of the atmosphere?

A

Composition, Function, and Temperature.

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7
Q

What are the three layers of atmospheric composition?

A

Exosphere, Heterosphere, and Homosphere.

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8
Q

__________: outer sphere, a near vacuum made up of hydrogen and helium atoms, weakly bound by gravity, at 180km.

A

Exosphere

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9
Q

______________: 80km-480km, distinct layers due to gravity. Helium at the top of the [lightest gases] and nitrogen and oxygen near the base [heavier].

A

Heterosphere

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10
Q

_____________: 0-80km, uniformly mixed except for Ozone O3, ozone in the Ozone Layer [19km-50km].

A

Homosphere

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11
Q

What gases make up the homosphere? and what are their percentages?

A

N2 78%, O2 21%, and Argon 1%.

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12
Q

True or False: Nitrogen is the 4th most abundant gas in the human body; however, we cannot acquire nitrogen through the air.

A

True.

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13
Q

What are the variable gases found in the homosphere? what are their percentages?

A

Water Vapour H20 @ 0-4% and Carbon Dioxide CO2 @ 0.004%.

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14
Q

True or False: Ice-core data shows how carbon dioxide remained constant until industrialization

A

True.

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15
Q

Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere, CO2, is constantly increasing, global carbon dioxide is measured at _______________.

A

Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii.

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16
Q

What is air density?

A

Air density is the measure of the amount of mass per unit volume.

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17
Q

Density decreases while increasing ________.

A

altitude

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18
Q

What is the density of air at mean sea level (one standard atmosphere)?

A

1.2kg of mass per cubic meter.

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19
Q

Density= _______x__________

A

Mass x Volume

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20
Q

True or False: Gravity accelerates the atmosphere downwards towards the surface; where the atmosphere contacts surfaces, it exerts pressure on those surfaces.

A

True.

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21
Q

Define Atmospheric Pressure:

A

The force exerted on a surface by a mass of the atmosphere above that surface.

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22
Q

True or False: Pressure therefore increases as we move up through the atmosphere.

A

False, it decreases.

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23
Q

Pressure decreases rapidly with height, ____ of the mass is within 30km of the earth’s surface.

A

97%

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24
Q

Define Pressure:

A

Pressure is a force per unit of area.

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25
Q

Force = _______x_______

A

Mass x Acceleration

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26
Q

A pascal of (Pa) of pressure is equivalent to ____ newton of force exerted over a square meter of an area (m2)

A

One

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27
Q

A _______ is the force required to accelerate a 1kg mass by 1 meter per second per second.

A

Newton

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28
Q

What annotation is given to a newton?

A

1 newton of force = 1kg *m/s2

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29
Q

Good to know!!

A

Unit of atmospheric pressure: 100 pascals (Pa) = 0.1 kilopascals (kPa) = 1 millibar (mb)

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30
Q

What is the Atmospheric Pressure at Sea level (under one standard atmosphere)?

A

1013.2mb, 101.32 kPa, 101,320 Pa.

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31
Q

True or False: The smaller area of dimension has an increased amount of pressure exertion.

A

True

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32
Q

How is pressure measured?

A

With a barometer

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33
Q

What was the name of the first barometer?

A

Torricelli Barometer

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34
Q

How did the original barometer work?

A

They fill a long test tube with mercury, tip the tube into a dish with mercury, then resulting height of mercury in the test tube indicates the pressure on the dish of mercury.

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35
Q

In the original barometer; the level of mercury is equivalent to the _____________.

A

Air pressure

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36
Q

At what depth in water is the pressure equivalent to one standard atmosphere?

A

10.3m

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37
Q

What measurement does Canada report pressure?

A

kPa

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38
Q

What measurement does the US use to measure pressure?

A

inHg (inches of mercury)

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39
Q

_______________: a closed cell gets squeezed by pressure, changing the position of a pen through a system of levers.

A

Aneroid Barometer

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40
Q

__________________: electrical resistance of a wire changes as a diaphragm wrapped around it is squeezed by pressure, resistance in a circuit changes based on pressure, very sensitive.

A

Digital Barometer

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41
Q

What type of pressure is “the raw, unadjusted pressure reading”?

A

Station Pressure

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42
Q

What type of pressure is “adjusted for altitude (and to a lesser degree the air temperature)”?

A

Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP)

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43
Q

What is Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP)?

A

MSLP is the pressure at a given location that would be read if the barometer were at mean sea level

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44
Q

How do we convert atmospheric pressure from kPa to mb?

A

multiply by 10

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45
Q

What is a normal pressure range?

A

Normal sea level pressure is 1013.20mb

46
Q

True or False: intense storms produce very low pressures

A

True.

47
Q

True or False; temperature is used to divide the atmosphere into layers, labeled as spheres.

A

True

48
Q

The spheres of the atmosphere are separated by boundaries called ______.

A

Pauses

49
Q

How is a ‘pause’ determine?

A

A pause is labeled according to the sphere below it.

50
Q

___________: they have some thickness and are often associated with isothermal conditions (meaning the temperature remains relatively constant with height).

A

Zones of Transition

51
Q

State the levels of the atmosphere from lowest to highest:

A

Troposphere, Stratosphere (10-50km, Stratopause sits at 50km), Mesosphere (50-375km, Mesopause sitting at 80km), Thermosphere (375-480km), Thermopause (480km).

52
Q

Air Temperature as a Function of Altitude: Moving up from the surface, air temperature: does air temperature drop or raise in the Troposphere?

A

Drops.

53
Q

Air Temperature as a Function of Altitude: Moving up from the surface, air temperature: does air temperature drop or raise in the Stratosphere?

A

Rises

54
Q

Air Temperature as a Function of Altitude: Moving up from the surface, air temperature: does air temperature drop or raise in the Mesosphere?

A

Drops

55
Q

Air Temperature as a Function of Altitude: Moving up from the surface, air temperature: does air temperature drop or raise in the Thermosphere?

A

Rises.

56
Q

Where do we find the ‘pauses’ in each level of the atmosphere?

A

At the top of the troposphere, we find the tropopause. At the top of the stratosphere is the stratopause, at the top of the mesosphere is the mesopause.

57
Q

Where do we find the troposphere?

A

From surface to 18km

58
Q

True or False: the Troposphere is thinner in the polar (~8km) and mid altitudes (12km).

A

True

59
Q

True or False: The troposphere is thinner during the cold times of the year and thicker during warmer times.

A

true.

60
Q

The ‘_______’, containing almost all life

A

life layer

61
Q

The ‘___________’; almost everything we consider weather is found in this layer.

A

weather layer

62
Q

What level of the atmosphere has almost all atmospheric water vapor?

A

the troposphere.

63
Q

What layer of the atmosphere has almost all atmospheric aerosols.

A

Troposphere.

64
Q

_______ of all atmospheric mass is found in the troposphere.

A

75-80%

65
Q

The average temperature at the equatorial tropopause is _____ , it is typically warmer in the lower tropopauses.

A

–57 degrees c

66
Q

True or False: The troposphere is not the same thickness across the globe, approximately 18km in equatorial regions. It is thinner in the polar (~8km) and mid altitudes (~12km).

A

True

67
Q

At what pause does the Stratosphere begin?

A

Tropopause.

68
Q

Where does the stratopause begin?

A

50km in height.

69
Q

Air temperature ____ in the stratosphere from the top of the tropopause (~18km) to the stratopause (~50km).

A

rises

70
Q

What is the air temperature in the stratopause?

A

0 degrees.

71
Q

What amount of water vapour does the stratosphere hold?

A

Very little.

72
Q

Why is the Stratosphere warmer than other spheres?

A

This area is warm because it contains ozone, in our ‘ozone layer’ which absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

73
Q

Where do we find the Mesosphere?

A

From the stratopause (~50km) to the Mesopause (~80km), the mesosphere is ~ 50km –80km.

74
Q

Air temperature ______ from the stratopause to the mesopause.

A

decreases

75
Q

What is the air temperature in the mesopause?

A

The air temperature at the mesopause (80km) is –90 degrees.

76
Q

Which is the coldest region in the atmosphere?

A

Mesosphere.

77
Q

Define a noctilucent cloud:

A

Contains dust around which very small amounts of water as ice crystals can collect, visible at night at high latitudes during the summer.

78
Q

Where do we find the Thermosphere?

A

From the mesopause (~80 km) to the thermopause (~480 km), Thermosphere = approx. 80km – 480km.

79
Q

____________ is roughly same as the Heterosphere.

A

Thermosphere

80
Q

Air temperature _________ above the mesopause because of direct contact with high energy solar radiation.

A

increases

81
Q

Even though temperatures are high in the thermosphere, why is there very little heat?

A

Because there are very few atoms or molecules (the air density is extremely low; almost a vacuum). That is, individual atoms or molecules may be very hot (have very high levels of kinetic energy; perhaps 2500°C), but the total amount of heat in each volume of air is very low.

82
Q

The International Space Station orbits within the ________, at about ___ km.

A

Thermosphere, 400.

83
Q

Why does the thermosphere shrink and swell?

A

The thermosphere shrinks and swells based on solar activity (sunspots).

84
Q

______________: where our atmosphere merges into interplanetary space.

A

Exosphere

85
Q

The __________ is the ionized zone across thermosphere, mesosphere, and exosphere about 60-1,000km.

A

ionosphere

86
Q

Why is the ionosphere ionized?

A

Because cosmic rays and high energy solar radiation (x-rays, ultraviolet, etc.) strips electrons from atoms and molecules to make them ionized; positively charged ions.

87
Q

Which part of the atmosphere has very few atoms and molecules?

A

The ionosphere.

88
Q

What happens to the electrons in the ionosphere because the very few atoms and molecules?

A

The free electrons don’t immediately get captured by positive ions. he electrons can reflect radio waves, which is why you can hear radio signals from stations over the horizon (and the ionosphere generally interferes with radio communication).

89
Q

Where do Auroras generally occur?

A

Auroras generally occur at 80-500 km within the ionosphere.

90
Q

How does the Aurora occur?

A

The earth’s magnetic field causes electrons and other particles to accelerate into the ionosphere, where they collide with atoms and molecules. Electrons get bumped to a higher energy state. When they return to their original lower energy state, they give off photons…light.

91
Q

In the aurora borealis, oxygen = _________

A

yellow/green

92
Q

In the aurora borealis, nitrogen= ___

A

red.

93
Q

In the aurora borealis, Hydrogen and helium = ___________

A

Blue or purple; but our eyes are not good at seeing these

94
Q

____________: is the zone within the stratosphere that contains most of Earth’s ozone (O3).

A

Ozonosphere

95
Q

What is the purpose of the ozonosphere?

A

This ozone absorbs most of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation that would harm life on the surface. This absorption is why the stratosphere is warm.

96
Q

Where do we find the most ozone in the atmosphere?

A

Most ozone is about ~20 - 30 km above the surface (varies by latitude and temperature).

97
Q

Ozone is present in the atmosphere, particularly in the ________ and ________.

A

troposphere and stratosphere.

98
Q

True or False: The vertical extent of thickness of this layer varies by region and with season over the globe. Increases in ozone occur near the surface as a result of pollution from human activities.

A

True

99
Q

True or False: Air is a simple mixture of gases that is naturally odorless, colorless, tasteless, and formless.

A

True

100
Q

Both air pressure and air density _______ with _______ altitude.

A

decrease, increasing

101
Q

Explain which spheres increase or decrease in temperature due to altitude:

A

troposphere and mesosphere (temperature decreases with increasing altitude); stratosphere and thermosphere (temperature increases with increasing altitude).

102
Q

In short, what are the features of the ionosphere and the ozonosphere?

A

the ionosphere (80 to 480 km) absorbs cosmic rays, gamma rays, X-rays, and shorter wavelength of UV radiation; the ozonosphere (18 to 50 km) absorbs UV radiation.

103
Q

Describe Isothermal Conditions:

A

meaning the temperature remains relatively constant with height.

104
Q

Where does the Equitorial Tropopause sit?

A

18km

105
Q

True or False: If we reach up to 30km in height, 97% of the atmosphere’s mass is below that.

A

true

106
Q

What kind of temperature is in the tropopause?

A

Isothermal temperatures in the tropopause.

107
Q

Define the temperature time lapse rate:

A

Temperature in the troposphere changes at the rate of 6.5 degrees/km
- how much we are either decreasing or increasing at a particular time in the troposphere, decreasing as we move up through the troposphere

108
Q

Temperatures from the tropopause in equatorial regions is often much ________ than other regions.

A

colder

109
Q

When analyzing figures of temperature in the troposphere, what does it mean when the temperature begins to plateau?

A

That you have reached the Tropopause (isothermal condition).

110
Q

Although the temperatures are high in the thermosphere, there is not very much heat, why is that?

A

Heat requires things to transfer between objects, with so few atoms and molecules, there is no opportunity to transfer between them.

Physical Geography (15 decks)

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