Earth Science 24.2

Front 1

What two ingredients need to be present for clouds to form?

Back 1

1. air which has reached dew point
2. Condensation nucleus (surface for water vapor to condense on)

Front 2

In a cloud, what forms are the water in?

Back 2

droplets or ice crystals

Front 3

Convective cooling process?

Back 3

Air rises, expands, cools to DP, and forms clouds

Front 4

Adiabatic temp change?

Back 4

Temp change due to change in pressure (expands from low pressure and cools, compression from higher pressure and warms)

Front 5

Why does humid air cool more slowly than dry air?

Back 5

The condensation of water vapor (when air cools and reaches dew point) releases latent heat

Front 6

forced lifting?

Back 6

When air is forced up (cool air which would not rise except it’s being shoved up over a mountain, or warmish air which is being forced up above a mass of cold air pushing toward it)

Front 7

advective cooling?

Back 7

When warm moist air flows over a cold surface (or air mass), and cools to dew point (and then forms clouds)

Front 8

Stratus

Back 8

layered, usually low-altitude (2000 m), forms via advective cooling. Boring “overcast” clouds, usually very little rain.

Front 9

Cumulus

Back 9

heaped/piled, usually mid-altitude (4000 m), forms via convective cooling. Fair-weather clouds.

Front 10

Cirrus

Back 10

curly, high-altitude (6000 m) wispy clouds made from ice crystals

Front 11

Alto means _____.

Back 11

mid-level altitude

Front 12

Nimbo/Nimbus means ____.

Back 12

rain

Front 13

Nimbostratus

Back 13

heavy, dark, low altitude clouds which bring large amounts of rain/snow

Front 14

Cumulonimbus

Back 14

also known as “thunderheads” – tall, billowing clouds which can reach up to 70.000 ft above earth’s surface – cause thunderstorms with winds, heavy rains, possibly hail and/or tornadoes

Front 15

Ground fog (radiation fog)

Back 15

forms at night when land cools from loss of radiation (ie, when the sun goes down). Forms in low-lying areas.

Front 16

Upslope fog

Back 16

forms via adiabatic cooling of humid air which is forced up a slope of a mountain.

Front 17

Advection fog

Back 17

forms when warm air flows over cold surface (cold coastal areas or cold-water currents out in the middle of the ocean)

Front 18

Steam fog

Back 18

forms in late summer/early fall as cool air moves over warm water in ponds/lakes/streams. (Water is at its warmest from absorbing summer heat, air masses are the first cool air masses of autumn – air directly over water warms, but as it rises into cooler air above, reaches dew point and forms fog – looks like the lake is “steaming”)