Weather and Climate Flashcards
The study if the earths atmosphere is called…
Meteorology
What is atmosphere?
The envelope of gases surrounding the earth
Someone who studies the earth…
Meteorologist
What are the layers of the earth’s atmosphere in order from the furthest to the closest.
Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere (where our weather takes place)
Heat comes from the sun. What happens to it in our atmosphere?
The heat from the sun is trapped, this heat creates our weather.
What type of climate zone are we located in and what does it mean?
Temperate, no extremes of temperature or rainfall NI has less sunshine and more rain than other parts of UK
What are Airmasses?
Winds which blow towards NI from different direction all the time bringing different weather They are defined by temperature and water content
Label a diagram of British Isles with 5 different Airmasses
See notes
What are the 7 elements of the weather?
Temperature Precipitation, eg rainfall Wind speed and direction Cloud cover and visibility Air pressure Humidity (amount of water vapour in the air) Sunshine
Temperature Definition and how is it measured?
Measure of how hot/cold something is. Thermometer, most common scale oC Celsius NB sun heats earth and this heats the air
Precipitation Definition and how is it measured?
Water in the air that falls on the ground e.g. rain, snow, sleet, hail, ice, fog Measured in mm using a rain gauge
Wind speed Definition and how is it measured?
Moving air Measure speed (strength) using a anemometer (spinning cups)in km/hr or knots Direction using a weather vane expressed as points of a compass from the direction it is coming from eg southerly wind comes from south travels north.
Air pressure Definition and how is it measured?
Pressure of air around us Barometer, units millibars (mb)
Cloud cover Definition and how is it measured?
Amount of sky covered by cloud It is measured in eighths, units oktas
What are the three main types of clouds?
High level Medium level Low level
Features of high level clouds
Name: Cirrus Thin, white, whispy Made of ice crystals Associated with Fair weather
Features of medium level clouds
White fluffy balls or heaps with dark flat bases Name: Cumulus If rain, name: Cumulonimbus
Features of Low Level Clouds
Name: Stratus (Latin for layer or blanket) Featureless, covering entire sky, grey
The British Isles can be split into 4 distinct seasonal areas, illustrate this using a diagram.
evaporation
heat from the sun turns water in the sea into water vapour
condensation
as warm moist air rises it cools and turns back into water droplets and form clouds
precipitation
water droplets from the clouds fall as rain or snow on the land
surface water
water moves across surface of the land e.g in rivers back to the sea
ground water
water seeps below and moves back to the sea
