Weather and climate Flashcards
physical condition of the atmosphere (particularly the troposhere) at a specific time and place with regard to wind, temperature, cloud cover, fog and precipitation
Weather
collective word for rain, hail, snow, etc.
precipitation
longer term view of the weather patterns of a particular locality
Climate
The energy that drives processes in the atmosphere
Solar energy
fraction of the incident radiation that is reflected
Reflectivity
fraction of the incident radiation that is absorbed
Absorptivity
fraction of the incident radiation that is transmitted
Transmissivity
A body that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that falls on
black body
“perfect absorber”
idealization
a perfect radiator (emitter), i.e., the relative intensities of the different frequencies that it radiates are dependent only on its temperature
black body
the ratio of the amount of radiative
power emitted by a non-black body to that of a blackbody at the same temperature.
Emissivity
distribution of the emitted spectrum
Solar spectrum
considered to behave as a black body having a surface temperature of ca. 6000 K.
Sun
not smooth unlike that of a black body of the same temperature. There are deep throughs.
Terrestrial spectrum
portion of the incoming radiation that is reflected and scattered back to space. A function of the angle of incidence
Albedo
*associated with temperature change, without phase change
*associated with a phase change
- sensible heat
*Latent heat
The water of the oceans is in perpetual state of circulatory motion driven by
convection
*water sinks because of its relatively high density (due to low temperature and high salinity)
* water is warmed by the sun > becomes warmer > rises to the surface
- North Atlantic
- Indian and Pacific Ocean
primary circulation, large-scale movements
Tropospheric airflow
Horizontal movements
Pressure gradient
Coriolis
Friction
Vertical movement
Cooling, heating (changes in density; changes
in pressure with altitude)
A fluid tends to move from high pressure region to low pressure region
Pressure Gradient Force
Deflection, depending on which hemisphere you are: north, right; south, left
Coriolis force
a force that tends to dissipate the energy of a moving body
it acts in the direction opposite the direction of surface air movement
Frictional Forces
Warm air rises at the equator
Atmospheric convection cell
not necessarily continuous ; Two essentially circumpolar jet streams within the mid-latitude region
Jet streams ; Subtropical jet stream
Polar front jet stream
an area of strong winds ranging from 120-250 mph that can be thousands of miles long, a couple of hundred miles across and a few miles deep. Jet streams usually sit at the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere at a level called the tropopause
Jet streams
driven by a strong horizontal temperature contrast
Jet formation
part of the atmosphere that has relatively little variation in temperature. Develops over several days under relatively calm condition.
Air mass
formed where two masses of different temperature meet.
Front
formed where two masses of different temperature meet.
Front
When two air masses with different
temperature, humidity, and maybe also
pressure, collide, it is created.
Front
are areas of low pressures that develop at fronts.
Extratropical cyclones
are areas of high pressure.Divergent surface air flow. Lower wind speed (smaller pressure gradient) than that in extratropical cyclone
Anticyclones
are
separated by a certain distance the closer they are the more wind will be.
Isobars
depends on its ability to resist vertical motion.
stability
makes vertical movement difficult, and small vertical disturbances dampen out and disappear.
stable atmosphere
coastal breeze blowing from sea to land caused by
the temperature difference
Sea breeze
coastal breeze flowing from land to sea caused by the temperature difference when the sea surface is warmer than the adjacent land.
Land breeze
bathed in moist maritime and continental air
East coast of Asia
The wind flow is reversed in the summer months, brining
moist maritime winds and greater rain
Eurasian interior
Essentially same climatic influences as those in the north
Southern hemisphere
