Weather Flashcards
What are the two important characteristics of air that the briefing described? What third factor results in high or low pressure areas? Explain.
1) air’s lack of shape
2) air’s indefinite volume
3) uneven heating of earth leads to movement of air flowing from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. This movement sets earth’s atmosphere in motion.
Why is there no such thing as an air molecule?
Air is not composed of a single element or compound. Air is a mixture, formed from an assortment of gas molecules and atoms.
Troposphere
Tropos- turning over, or turbulent.
Stratosphere
Stratos- layer
Mesosphere
Mesos- middle
Thermosphere
Thermos- hot or heat
Exosphere
Exos- outside
Contains about half of earth’s atmosphere
Troposphere
Where many jet aircraft fly
Stratosphere
Contains ozone layer
Stratosphere
Where meteors burn up
Mesosphere
Where auroras occur
Ionosphere or thermosphere
Where space shuttles orbit
Thermosphere
Where the air is heated from the ground up
Troposphere
Most clouds
Troposphere
High energy UV rays absorbed
Stratosphere
Lowest temperatures
Mesosphere
Area first heated by the Sun
Thermosphere
Thinnest air
Thermosphere
Highest temperatures
Thermosphere
Contains the ionosphere
Thermosphere
How is an ozone molecule different from an oxygen molecule?
Oxygen is made up of two oxygen atoms and ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms
Compare and contrast in the lower troposphere to ozone in the mid troposphere.
Ozone in the stratosphere is good, absorbs much of the UV Portion of sunlight. This protects us from skin cancer, crop damage, and other problems. Ozone is in the upper troposphere acts like a greenhouse gas too much ozone adds to global warming
Compare and contrast ozone in the lower troposphere to ozone in the mid troposphere
Ozone in the mid troposphere helps to clean pollutants out of the atmosphere. Ozone in the lower troposphere is produced when pollutants from cars and industry combined with sunlight to produce ozone. It is unhealthy to breathe and causes damage to crops
Why does the air in a convective cell stop rising when it ascends to the bottom most layer of the stratosphere?
In the troposphere cooler air lies on top of warmer air. Warmer air at lower altitudes is less dense so it tends to rise while the denser cooler air above tends to move downward.The air stops rising when it reaches the bottom of the stratosphere where the surrounding there is less dense than the rising air.
How do you air pressure, temperature, and the amount of water vapor in the troposphere change on average as you ascend?
1) Air pressure decreases
2) Air temperature decreases
3) humidity decreases (less energy to maintain water it is gaseous form)
How do these averages help scientists predict weather
Changes in averages help scientists predict changes in weather
Describe how ice becomes liquid water
When more heat energy is added to the ice the water molecules vibrate more. If they absorb enough heat energy, they will break free of their locked position and flow as a liquid.
Describe how liquid water becomes water vapor
When enough heat is added to liquid water, evaporation occurs
How does water vapor become liquid water
When water vapor releases enough heat, it condenses
A phase change always involves what
Transfer of energy
What form of energy powers the water cycle
Heat energy
How does the water cycle transfer energy worldwide
The water cycle transfers energy worldwide through the atmosphere, creating both local weather and different climates
Tell whether energy is absorbed or released
Liquid water solidifies into ice crystals
, released
Summarize how heat and water interact in the atmosphere through the stages of the water cycle
One, solar energy absorbed land and ocean surface
Two, Heat evaporates water and warms the humid surface air, causing it to rise
Three, warm air rises and cools and water vapor under goes phase change in which it releases energy and condenses as liquid water
Four, Earths weather reaches to the top of the troposphere where temps are below freezing
Five, if liquid water rises high enough, another phase change of releasing energy, solidifying into ice crystals, forming clouds, from which precipitation might fall
What must be present for a cloud to form
Water vapor in the air, air temperature and dewpoint, speck of smoke or dust on which water vapor can condense
Note your cloud chart to include the types of weather that each cloud usually indicate
Cirrus – indicate fair weather, but warn one of coming precipitation
Stratocumulus – light rain
Altocumulus – proceed colder weather
Nimbostratus – steady, continuous rain or snow
Cumulonimbus – thunderstorms
Why can fog be described as low- lying clouds?
Fog appears close to the ground
Is it possible to have dew without fog?
Yes the vapor could condense directly on the cooled surface
Is it possible to have fog without dew
No, dew forms on cold, cloud free nights when the temp of the ground, or any other surface, drop low enough for water vapor in the surrounding air to condense.
Imagine that you awoke on two consecutive mornings at dawn following a clear night, and saw dew on the window pane the first morning, and frost on the next. What cause these two conditions?
The dew condensed on the windowpane when it became cool enough to cause the water vapor on its surface to condense into liquid. The frost occurred as the temperature drops below freezing.
Look at the dewpoint temperature map and read the caption what relationship does there appear to be between dewpoint and severe storms
A significant difference in dewpoint over a narrow geographic region could indicate the potential for severe weather to occur.
Rain
Most common form of precipitation
Sleet
Raindrops fall through the layer of air at it’s freezing point.
Rain freezes as it passes through freezing air below clouds
Freezing rain
Rain makes contact with cold surface and freezes
Snow
Water droplets converted directly into ice crystals
Hail
Chunks of ice carried directly through cold regions of cloud.
Only in cumulonimbus clouds
Hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards
All have intense wind
Energy from the sun
Source of energy that powers a storm Solar energy travels to earth in Electromagnetic waves Visible light Infrared radiation Ultraviolet radiation
Infrared radiation
Invisible radiation that we detect as heat
Visible light
Radiation we see as visible light
Ultraviolet radiation
Invisible high-energy radiation that can damage living tissue
Small amounts can be beneficial for people’s health.body requires UV radiation to produce vitamin D
Too much UV radiation can cause skin and Eye disease
Earth’s energy budget
Shows how much of the solar energy is used by earth
30% – reflected or scattered by clouds, particles, and earths surface
20% – absorbed by atmosphere
50% – absorbed by earths surface (land and water)
Conduction
Is the transfer of heat by the direct contact of particles of matter.
Convention
Is the transfer of heat by the actual motion of a fluid (liquid or gas) in the form of currents
Radiation
Is heat transferred by electromagnetic waves
Order
Solar energy reaches Earth surface via radiation,
Energy is absorbed by earths surface causing it to warm,
The heat energy of the surface is transferred to the air in contact with this surface by conduction,
Warmer,less dense air rises, carrying the heat upward by convention,
As the air rises through the surrounding regions of greater density, it begins to cool and contract, becoming more dense
Eventually, the density of rising air equals the density of the surrounding air as it stops rising. This newly arrived air displaces air already at the same altitude causing it to spread sideways,
The cold and more dense air pushes aside by the rising column begins to sink,
The cold dens air continues to sink through less dense air, eventually returning to the surface
Air
Mixture of gaseous elements, compounds, and other particles,
78% – nitrogen
21% – oxygen
1% – other gases
Absorbed or released
solar energy heats the land and ocean surface
Absorbed
Absorbed or released
Heat from the surface evaporates water and warms humid surface air
Absorbed
Absorbed or released
Warm air rises and then cools
Released
Absorbed or released
Water vapor condenses as liquid water
Released
