Earth Science Test 2

Front 1

Pressure produced by the motion, size, and number of gas molecules in the air and exerted on surfaces in contact with the air, that is measured by a barometer.

Back 1

Barometric Pressure

Front 2

Air weight is _______ at sea level

Back 2

14.7 lbs/sq inch

Front 3

Standard pressure at sea level_______, or ________

Back 3

1013.2 mb / 29.92 inches of Hg

Front 4

A device that measures air pressure using a column of mercury in a tube, one end of which is sealed, and the other end inserted in an open vessel of mercury

Back 4

Mercury barometer

Front 5

a device that measures air pressure using a particularly evacuated, sealed cell.

Back 5

Aneroid barometer

Front 6

Wind blows down the gradient from _______ to _______

Back 6

highs to lows

Front 7

The apparent deflection of moving objects (wind, ocean currents, missiles) from traveling in a straight path, in proportion to the speed of Earth’s rotation at different latitudes. Deflection is to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere; maximum at the poles and the Equator.

Back 7

Coriolis effect

Front 8

The effect of drag by the wind as it moves across a surface. Slows the wind, therefore reduces the effectiveness of the coriolis force.

Back 8

Frictional Drag

Front 9

The gradient force is clockwise in a high pressure zone, and counter-clockwise in a low pressure zone, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Back 9

Gradient force

Front 10

A dynamically or thermally caused area of low atmospheric pressure with converging and ascending airflows. Rotates counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.

Back 10

Cyclone

Front 11

A dynamically or thermally caused area of high atmospheric pressure with descending and diverging airflows that rotate clockwise in the Northern hemisphere, and counter-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere

Back 11

Anticyclone

Front 12

A wind moving between areas of different pressure along a path that is parallel to the isobars. It is a product of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force.

Back 12

Geostrophic wind

Front 13

An isoline connecting all points of equal atmospheric pressure.

Back 13

Isobars

Front 14

The wetter intercepting slope

Back 14

Windward

Front 15

The drier far-side slope

Back 15

Leeward

Front 16

A device that measures wind velocity

Back 16

Anemometer

Front 17

A weather instrument used to determine wind direction; winds are named for the direction from which they originate

Back 17

Wind vane

Front 18

Santa Anna winds- easterlies driven by clockwise rotation

Back 18

California high

Front 19

the gatekeeper of hurricanes.

Back 19

Bermuda high

Front 20

acts as a steering current/high velocity wind current that effects weather patterns

Back 20

Jetstreams

Front 21

uses the principle that human hair changes as much as 4% in length between 0% and 100% relative humidity

Back 21

Hair hygrometer

Front 22

Bring tongues of cold air southward, with warmer tropical air moving northward. Mid-latitude cyclones follow these.

Back 22

Rossby waves

Front 23

used to measure relative humidity.

Back 23

Sling psychrometer

Front 24

Fabric tube that fills w/air that goes downwind, away from prevailing winds

Back 24

Windsock

Front 25

takes place when temperatures drop below the dewpoint.

Back 25

Condensation

Front 26

a cloud layer on the ground, with visibility restricted to less than 1 km (3300ft.) Tells us that the air temperature and the dew-point temperature at ground level are nearly identical, indicating saturated conditions.

Back 26

Fog

Front 27

when radiative cooling of a land surface, especially on clear nights in areas of moist ground; occurs when the air layer directly above the surface is chilled to the dew-point temperature, thereby producing saturated conditions.

Back 27

Radiation

Front 28

active condensation formed when warm, moist air moves laterally over cooler water or land surfaces, causeing the lower layers of the air to be chilled to the dew-point temperature

Back 28

Advection fog

Front 29

Forms when moist air is forced to higher elevations along a hill or mountain and is thus cooled.

Back 29

Upslope fog

Front 30

A tiny water particle that constitutes the initial composition of clouds. Each droplet measures approximately 0.002cm in diameter and is invisible to the unaided eye.

Back 30

Cloud droplet

Front 31

Microscopic particles necessary as matter on which water vapor condenses to form moisture droplets; can be sea salts, dust, soot, or ash.

Back 31

Condensation nuclei

Front 32

A combination of fog and smoke containing sulfur gases.

Back 32

Smog

Front 33

Concentration of microscopic particles and air pollution that diminishes air clarity)

Back 33

Haze

Front 34

Wispy, filamentous ice-crystal clouds that occur above 6000 m (20,000 ft); appear in a variety of forms, from feathery hair-like fibers to veils of fused sheets.

Back 34

Cirrus

Front 35

Bright and puffy cumuliform clouds up to 2000 m in altitude. (6500 ft.)

Back 35

Cumulus

Front 36

A stratiform (flat, horizontal) cloud generally below 2000m (6500 ft)

Back 36

Stratus

Front 37

Alto

Back 37

mid-level

Front 38

Nimbo

Back 38

rain-producing

Front 39

a relatively cooler air parcel tends to settle back into its original position

Back 39

Stability

Front 40

The less dense air parcel will continue to lift.

Back 40

Unstable

Front 41

small droplets, swirl on the way down to the ground.

Back 41

Mist

Front 42

More vertical fall, bigger droplets

Back 42

Drizzle

Front 43

Biggest droplets

Back 43

Rain

Front 44

ice crystals that form due to sublimation- goes straight from water vapor into an ice crystal

Back 44

Snow

Front 45

snow that melts, then re-freezes

Back 45

Graupel

Front 46

Formed when a raindrop is repeatedly circulated above and below the freezing level in a cloud, with each cycle freezing more moisture onto the hailstone until it becomes too heavy to stay aloft

Back 46

Hail

Front 47

frozen rain

Back 47

Sleet

Front 48

Cold air falls to the ground and warm air rises up into the cloud. The Earth’s surface is heated. Is the most common in DFW

Back 48

Convectional

Front 49

In the mountainous areas

Back 49

Orographic

Front 50

cool air crashes into warm air

Back 50

Frontal

Front 51

Happens near the Equator. Warm air rises up into the cloud

Back 51

Convergent

Front 52

Summer. Warm and moist. Fuels tropical cyclones and severe thunderstorms.

Back 52

Martime Tropical, mT

Front 53

Hot and dry

Back 53

Continental Tropical cT

Front 54

cool, moist

Back 54

Martime polar, mP

Front 55

from Canada, cold, dry

Back 55

Continental polar, cP:

Front 56

from the arctic, cold, dry

Back 56

Continental Acrtic, cA:

Front 57

equatorial calms

Back 57

Doldrums

Front 58

the winds converging on the equatorial low-pressure trough

Back 58

Trade Winds

Front 59

zones of windless, hot, dry desert air, deadly in the era of sailing ships

Back 59

Horse latitudes

Front 60

Where masses of air with different characteristics battle.

Back 60

Polar front

Front 61

The descend and diverge clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) form weak, variable winds

Back 61

Polar easterlies

Front 62

steep air mass that hugs the ground, caused by its greater density and uniform physical character. Is shown on weather maps as a line with triangular spikes that point in the wind direction

Back 62

Cold front

Front 63

leads the edge of an advancing warm air mass, which is unable to push cooler, passive air out of the way; it tends to push up the cooler, underlying air into a wedge shape; identified on a weather map as a line with semicircles pointing in the direction of frontal movement.

Back 63

Warm front

Front 64

A frontal area of contact between contrasting air masses that shows little horizontal movement; winds in opposite direction on either side of the front flow parallel along the front.

Back 64

Stationary front

Front 65

an organized area of low pressure, with converging and ascending airflow producing an interaction of air masses; migrates along storm tracks. Such lows or depressions form the dominant weather pattern in the middle and higher latitudes of both hemispherers

Back 65

Mid-latitude cyclone

Front 66

 Updraft,
 Convection
 Vertical development
 Darkens at base
 No precipitation

Back 66

Cumulus stage

Front 67

 Precipitation starts
 Updraft intensifies
 Downdraft starts
 Lightning
 Anvil top
 Develops hail

Back 67

Mature Stage

Front 68

 Energy cut off
 Rain decreases
 _______ broadens
 Rain stops

Back 68

Dissipating stage

Front 69

The violent expansion of suddenly heated air, created by lightning discharges, sending out shock waves as an audible sonic bang.

Back 69

Thunder

Front 70

Flashes of light caused by tens of millions of volts of electrical charge heating the air to temperatures of 15,000 to 30,000 degrees Celsius

Back 70

Lightning

Front 71

F0- 18-32m/s and F1 – 33-49 m/s

Back 71

Weak Tornadoes

Front 72

F2 – 50-69 m/s and F3 – 70-92 m/s

Back 72

Strong Tornadoes

Front 73

F4 – 93-116 m/s and F5 – 117-142 m/s

Back 73

Violent Tornadoes

Front 74

A tropical cyclone that is fully organized and intensified in inward-spiraling rainbands; ranges from 160-960 km in diameter, with wind speeds in excess of 119 kmph; a name used specifically in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific

Back 74

Hurricane

Front 75

A cyclonic circulation originating in the tropics, with winds between 30 and 64 knots; characterized by closed isobars, circular organization, and heavy rains.

Back 75

Tropical Cyclone

Front 76

Tropical Depression

Back 76

0- 38 mph

Front 77

Tropical Storm

Back 77

39-73 mph

Front 78

Hurricane

Back 78

74 mph

Front 79

can form from the tail end of frontal zones in the subtropics and tropics All form in the easterly flow along the southern side of the subtropical ridge or belt of high pressure which lies north and south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

Back 79

Easterly Wave

Front 80

an Atlantic hurricane that develops near the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa

Back 80

Cape Verde Storms

Front 81

an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the ionization of the air during thunderstorms inside of a strong electric field. a low density, relatively low temperature plasma caused by massive atmospheric electrical potential differences

Back 81

St. Elmo’s Fire

Front 82

forms as precipitation falls into drier air below the cloud, the liquid droplets evaporate into water vapor. The water vapor cools and at the dewpoint it condenses and fog forms

Back 82

Frontal Fog

Front 83

the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. The winds are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere. Together with the trade winds, the westerlies enabled a round-trip trade route for early European sailing ships

Back 83

Westerlies