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109 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Capillary Action |
The surface tension that allows water to be pulled upward through small openings (roots, soil) |
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Hydrogen Bond |
The attraction of water molecules to other water molecules |
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Epiphytes |
Plants with roots that do not reach soil |
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water expands by 9% when it freezes and causes...? |
Rocks to begin breaking apart over time.
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Water is slow to heat and to cool, which is due to what? |
Water has a high specific heat (amount of energy needed to heat a substance) |
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heat is consumed by water during...? |
Evaporation (or melting) |
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heat is released by water during...? |
Condensation (or freezing) |
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Sublimation |
solid turning into a gas or gas turning into a solid |
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water vapor |
colorless, odorless gas, which is .02%-4% of the lower atmosphere causes humidity |
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humidity |
amount of water vapor in the air |
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Absolute humidity |
mass of water vapor per volume of air |
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Specific humidity |
mass of vapor per mass of air |
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Relative humidity |
a ratio that describes the amount of water vapor in the air & the amount the air can hold at any given temp RelHum= amt of vapor/amt air can hold *100 |
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Saturation |
100% Relative humidity |
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Dew Point |
The temp at which condensation occurs |
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Lifting Condensation Level |
the height at which the relative humidity (RH) of an air parcel will reach 100% when it is cooled by dry adiabatic lifting. |
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Upslope Fog |
Fog that forms from a moving front elevating over a hill or mountain range |
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Advection Fog |
From warm, moist air blowing over a cold surface |
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Evaporation Fog |
From cold air moving over a warm, moist surface |
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Rime |
Supercool fog droplets freezing on contact with the Earth's surface |
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1st name of a cloud indicates...? |
Height |
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Strato...? |
Low clouds < 6500ft |
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Alto...? |
Mid Level Clouds, 6500ft - 19700ft |
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Cirro...? |
High Level Clouds, 19700ft+ |
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2nd name of cloud indicates...? |
Shape |
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Stratus...? |
Layered Sheetlike clouds |
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Cumulus...? |
Puffy Clouds |
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Cirrus...? |
Wispy Clouds |
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Nimbo or Nimbus...? |
Rain |
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A Cumulonimbus Cloud describes...? |
A large violent rain cloud that may produce lightning and hail |
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A Mammatus Cloud describes...? |
Sagging pouch like clouds caused from descending air. Thunderstorms are commonly associated with these clouds, as they naturally form with Cumulonimbus Clouds |
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Precipitation |
any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity |
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Drizzle |
Light rain |
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Shower |
Heavy Rain |
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Snow |
Made by Sublimation |
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Sleet |
Half Frozen rain |
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Glaze |
Supercool rain that freezes on contact with surfaces of Earth |
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Causes of Precipitation |
Convecting Lifting & Frontal Lifting |
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Convecting Lifting |
from warm air rising & cooling to dew point |
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Frontal Lifting |
Air rising when 2 different air masses collide |
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Front |
a boundary between 2 different air masses |
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Bergeron Process |
cause of precipitation, formation of ice crystals |
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Orographic Lifting |
Air that is forced to rise over a mountain |
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Lenticular Clouds form from...? |
Orographic Lifting |
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Convergence Lifting |
Converging winds causing air to rise due to crowding |
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Rain shadow Effect |
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Acid Rain |
Deposition of acidic material on the Earth's surface |
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What causes Acid Rain? |
Sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide emissions from power plants & cars |
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Acid |
increases the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution |
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Base |
decreases the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution |
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Air mass letter code |
helps define fronts and where they originated from |
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1st letter = lowercase (humidity) |
"m" = maritime "c" = continental |
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2nd letter = Capital (temperature) |
"T"= Tropical (warm) "E"= Equatorial (very warm) "P" = Polar (cold) "A" = Arctic (very cold) |
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cT = |
Hot and dry |
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mT = |
Hot and wet |
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cP |
Cold and dry |
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Surface of Discontinuity...? |
The three dimensional area separating air masses |
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Cold front |
when a cold air mass advances into a warm air mass |
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Why are cold fronts more violent than warm fronts? |
warm air rises fast which causes violent weather (faster movement) |
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What is the surface discontinuity ratio for a cold front? |
1:50 |
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Warm front |
when a warm air mass advances into a cold air mass |
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Why are warm fronts calmer than cold fronts...? |
warm air rises slowly, which causes gentle rain and nimbostratus clouds |
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What is the surface of discontinuity ratio for a warm front? |
1:300 |
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Stationary Front |
Neither air mass advances -very calm air |
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Occluded Front |
When cold air has pushed all warm air aloft -produces inversions -calm weather |
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Mid Latitude Cyclones |
Huge cyclonic storms in the mid latitudes where fronts occur. -approx. 1000 miles in diameter |
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What direction do Mid Latitude cyclones travel from? |
West to east -due to the movement of the westerlies |
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In which way do Mid Latitude cyclones rotate? |
They rotate counter-clockwise in the N.H. (20-30MPH) cold front moves faster warm front moves slower |
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Mid Latitude Anticyclones |
huge areas of high pressure & sinking & diverging air which feed into mid latitude cyclones |
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Rosby Waves |
inertial atmospheric waves |
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Meridnal Flow |
causes violent fronts |
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Zonal Flow |
causes stationary fronts |
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Squall Lines |
lines of thunderstorms along the cold front |
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Tornadoes |
most violent storms on earth by press. gradient & by wind speed (300mph) |
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Tornado Alley |
Where most tornadoes occur in the mid-west US |
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Tornado season is in |
Late Spring Early Summer |
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Dry Line |
Area where cP & mT air masses meet: usually in Oklahoma (tornadoes occur here) |
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Wind Shear |
A change in wind speed & direction w/ altitude (causes rotation of tornadoes) |
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Mesocyclone |
a large rotating cumulonimbus cloud that may spawn multiple tornadoes |
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The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies...? |
Tornadoes |
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Wind speed is recorded using...? |
Doppler Radar |
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The Doppler effect is the...? |
compression of electromagnetic waves as objects approach or move away |
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Water spout |
a tornado located in the ocean |
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Tropical Easterly Waves
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The beginning of hurricane formation =weak low pressure systems that are elongated N-S, off the coast of west africa |
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Tropical Easterly Waves grow into... |
Tropical Disturbances & Tropical Storms |
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Tropical Disturbances |
Wind speeds of 39mph or less |
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Tropical Storms |
Windspeeds of 39-73mph -Names are given at this point |
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74 MPH |
marks the classification of a hurricane |
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Regional Names of Hurricanes |
Hurricane in North America Typhoon in East Asia
Baguios in Phillipines Willy-willies in Australia |
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77F water |
major factor in development of hurricane |
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Hurricane season is |
late summer or early fall (when water temp is highest) |
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Saffir-Simpson Scale |
Scale used to classify hurricane intensity |
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Damage during Hurricanes |
-high winds -lightning -hail -tornadoes -storm surges |
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Storm Surges |
High sea level that accompanies a hurricane due to low pressure & on shore wind (main cause of death from hurricanes, due to the flooding) |
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Worst hurricanes in North America |
-1900 in Galveston, TX - 8000 died -2005 in New Orleans, LA - 1300 died |
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Worst hurricanes in the World occur in |
1737 in Bangladesh, 300,000 died - 1876, 300,000 died - 1970, 500,000 died - 1991, 175,000 died 2008 in Myanmar, 130,000 died |
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Storm Surges are more severe if... |
they occur during a monsoon season |
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Deltas cause storm surges |
to be more severe |
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Tides |
The rise and fall of sea level due to the sun and moon's gravity |
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Spring Tide |
Extra strong tide from the sun & moon's gravity together |
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Neap Tide |
A weaker tide from the sun & moon being at right angles |
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Perrige |
When the moon is closest to the Earth |
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Apogee |
When the moon is farthest from the Earth |
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Hurricane Protection |
-Hard Protection -Soft Protection |
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Hard Protection from Hurricanes |
Structures built to protect cities from floods (dikes, levees, & sea walls) |
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Soft Protection from Hurricanes |
Natural buffers (beaches, offshore bars, barrier islands) |
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Barrier Islands |
Islands of sand that are parallel to the shore |
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Delta vegetation such as marshes & storms do what? |
Dissipate storm energy |
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The Mississippi river delta is in a state of decline because of...? |
Dams & Levis depriving river of sediment load |
