Weather Flashcards
What is turbulence?
a sudden change in airflow by eddies (whirling motion of air) and currents.
Zulu time is _______
another name for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is the time at 0° longitude at the Greenwich Meridian. It is used worldwide to avoid confusion arising from local time differences. By creating a ‘standard’ time, aviators all have a reference point to work from.
In the US, what countries do not switch to DST?
Arizona and Hawaii
For reasons of convenience and standardization, it was decided that the Earth would be divided into 24
time zones (each 15° wide).
15 degrees = 1 hour
Each time zone adopts the solar time of its _______
central meridian. In this way all countries and territories within the same time zone will assume the same time. They have the same standardized time. This standardized time for each time zone is known as Local Mean Time (LMT or only LT).
Some countries are so large that they may have more than one time zone.
There are several methods for naming the different time zones:
Using the number of its central meridian. Ex. 60° West Meridian Time
Using the letters A to Z (excluding J). Ex. Z Time
Using the position relative to time zone 0 (UTC). Ex. UTC +5, which is east of the prime meridian
Most of the times in the chart supplement are shown in _______
Zulu time
Behind the tower’s operating hours might be a plus plus symbol. One stacked on top of the other. _______
this symbol ‡ indicates that during periods of Daylight Saving Time (DST) effective hours will be one hour earlier than shown.
This tower operates from (1200 - 0300Z‡). If it’s DST and if the airfield is in the central time zone, what local times does the tower operate?
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM local time
The US observes DST from the _______
Second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.
FAA airport identifiers are only used for airports _______. Other countries and regions have _______
within the United States and its territories
their own systems for assigning airport codes:
ICAO Airport Codes - Used internationally, these 3-4 letter codes are assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The first letter(s) indicate the region or country, for example LFPG for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
IATA Airport Codes - Used widely in aviation, these 3-letter codes are assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). For example, LHR for London Heathrow.
CADOR Codes - 4-letter codes used for airports in Canada. Assigned by Canada’s Department of National Defence.
EGCC Codes - 4-letter codes used for airports in the UK. EG stands for England, CC is the identifier for Cambridge Airport.
Russian Airport Codes - 3-4 letter codes used in Russia and former Soviet states.
So in summary, most countries have their own system for assigning airport identifiers rather than using the FAA system. However, ICAO and IATA codes are globally recognized standards used internationally alongside local coding systems. The FAA system applies exclusively to US airports and territories.
ICAO reserved the prefix _______ for the contiguous United States (all states from California to Maine and from Washington to Florida, but not Hawaii and Alaska). _______
‘K’
Therefore, both Hawaii and Alaska actually use the ‘P’ prefix, which is more commonly used in the South Pacific islands.
ICAO assigns unique 4-letter _______
location identifiers to airports, weather stations, and other aviation navigational aids globally.
FAA uses 3-letter _______
IATA codes domestically in US, but all US airports still have an ICAO 4-letter code
Both IATA and ICAO are _______
international organizations that oversee civil aviation operations. However, the IATA generally supports the airline industry, while the ICAO provides global standards for air transport operations.
A mile on the ground (sm) is _______
5,280 feet. A mile in the air (nm) is 6076.1 feet. This would mean a statute mile is smaller than a nautical mile. This would make sense because the farther we are from the earth’s center, the farther it is between two locations.
Overcast definition:
(of the sky or weather) marked by a covering of gray clouds; dull.
clouds covering a large part of the sky.
cover with clouds or shade.
Scattered definition:
occurring or found at intervals or various locations rather than all together.
occur or be found at intervals rather than all together.
Sky Conditions
So how is broken and overcast measured?
By something called “octals”, which are 8 equal segments of the sky. If the sky is covered between 5/8 and 7/8 with clouds, it’s reported as broken. And if it’s covered 8/8ths with clouds, it’s overcast.
SCT100 means?
scattered clouds at 10,000 feet
What dew point?
The temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to achieve a relative humidity (RH) of 100%. At this point the air cannot hold more water in the gas form.
In METAR, the dew point depression is?
temperature minus dew point
when the dew point is well below the current air temperature, _______
moisture levels and relative humidity are lower and not a significant concern.
Adjusting the altimeter from 29.92 to a reported 29.58 setting gives you the _______
true altitude, because it accounts for the lower pressure.
Using the reported setting corrects for non-standard atmospheric pressures due to weather.
A precipitation discriminator is _______
a device that can detect the type and intensity of precipitation. This allows the station to report if precipitation is rain, snow, drizzle etc.
Standard airplanes will use MSL to?
To specify how high an airplane is to another to avoid crashing
True Altitude - _______
The vertical distance of the aircraft above sea level. It’s often expressed in MSL (mean sea level) or possibly ASL (above sea level). Aeronautical charts use true altitude to show airports, terrain, and obstacle elevations.
Heat sometimes causes the airplane to go up and _______
down, so be ready
The most common types of altimeters are _______
barometric. They determine altitude by measuring air pressure
Aeronautical charts are _______
all sorts of maps used for air navigation and include topographic features, hazards and obstructions, height of obstructions, navigation routes or airways and aids, airspace, and airports.
There can be VFR and IFR aeronautical charts, sectional charts, VFR sectional charts, and