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85 Cards in this Set

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  • Back
Phase Change
Reorganization of a substance at the atomic or molecular level resulting in a change of the physical state of matter (a change from a solid liquid to a gas)
Sublimation
Phase change from a solid state to vapor
Latent heat
The amount of energy in the form of heat released or absorbed by a substance during a change of phase
The _____ is an important determinant of rainfall distribution and temperature moderation
hydrologic cycle
Potential Evapotranspiration
Maximum moisture that could be lost from soil and vegetation if the ground were wet all the time
Absolute humidity
A direct measure of water vapor content of air. As air volume changes, absolute humidity changes
Specific humidity
The mass of water vapor in a given mass of air. As air volume changes, specific humidity does NOT change.
Relative humidity
Amount of water vapor in the air compared with the total amount there could be if the air were saturated.
_____ has an inverse relationship with temperature.
Relative humidity
Dew point
the air temperature at which saturation is reached
Fog: what is it and how does it form?
A cloud whose base is at or very near ground level. No physical difference between a cloud and fog. Formed either when Earth’s surface cools to below its dew point or when enough water vapor saturates the air
Types of fog: radiation, advection, evaporation
Radiation fog is when the temperature falls below the dew point, happens in the early morning in the fall or spring or on a clear calm night. Advection fog is when warm moist air moves over a cold surface. Evaporation fog is when warm air moves over cold water, which causes liquid to evaporate and rise into the air.
Types of fog: upslope, valley
Upslope fog is the cooling of air as it moves upslope. Valley fog is when cold air drains down the mountain slopes with cold air even if the surface is warm.
Clouds are classified by...
form and height
High clouds
cirrus, stratus, cirrocumulus
Middle clouds
Altostratus, altocumulus
Low clouds
Stratocumulus, stratus, nimbostratus
Vertical development of clouds
Cumulus, cumulonimbus
Adiabatic cooling
large masses of air can be cooled to dew point and expand as they rise
Adiabatic cooling is what produces _____ and ______.
clouds and rain
Wet adiabatic lapse rate
The rate at which a saturated air parcel will warm or cool
4 types of atmospheric lifting
Convective, orographic, frontal, convergent
Convective
The unequal heating of different surface areas which warms an air parcel but not the air around it.
Orographic
Ascending air cools adiabatically to dew point, water vapor leaves a rainshadow, descending air warms adiabatically
Rain shadow area
The area of low rainfall on the leeward side of a topographic barrier
Frontal
When unlike air masses meet, air is cooled to the dew point: creation of a zone of discontinuity (a front) causes warm air to rise over cool air.
Convergent
Air parcels converge and the crowding forces uplift (air forces move in and up)
Ice Crystal Formation
Ice crystals grow faster than the cloud droplets in clouds that contain both, air gets saturated more quickly by ice crystals than liquid droplets (crystals have a smaller equilibrium vapor pressure)
Collision and coalescence of water droplets
Rain produced by the collision and merging of water droplets.
Sleet
small raindrops that freeze during descent. Formed by the direct conversion of water vapor to ice.
Glaze
Rain that turns to ice the instant it collides with a solid object
Hail
Rounded or irregular pellets or lumps of ice produced in cumulonimbus clouds as a result of active turbulence and vertical air currents.
Front
a transition zone between two air masses of different temperature and moisture content (different densities)
5 criteria used to locate fronts
Sharp temperature changes, sharp dew point changes, wind shifts, pressure changes, the presence of clouds and precipitation.
Cold front
Clouds of vertical development, short duration, intense precipitation and steep frontal slope.
Warm front
Stratiform clouds, long duration, light precipitation, gentle frontal slope
Stationary front
Cloud types depends on the atmospheric stability and precipitation intensity depends on the situation.
Occluded Front
Clouds and precipitation depend on atmospheric stability
Midlatitude cyclone, what kind of pressure?
Low pressure
Midlatitude anticyclone, what kind of pressure?
High pressure
Storms usually travel from ____ to _____ in north America all year.
From west to east
Storms shift ______ in the summer and _____ in the winter.
North in the summer and south in the winter.
4 Steps of hurricane development
1. Surface air spirals into the center of a low pressure system to create convergence. (Air cools and moisture condenses which releases latent heat into the air.) 2. Warm air is less dense than cooler air. 3. When the surface pressure decreases, a larger pressure gradient is formed and more air converges toward the center of the storm. (warm moist air rises above the surface and as it cools condenses into clouds) 4. Enhance convection.
Wind speed of a tropical depression
Winds near the center are constantly between 20 and 34 knots
Wind speed of a tropical storm
Winds are between 35 - 64 knots
Wind speed of a hurricane
Speeds reach 64 knots, and a pronounced rotation develops around the central core.
Ingredients for hurricane formation (there are 7)
Warm sea surface temperatures, depth of 50m or more, light winds, convergence, ITCZ, easterly wave, 5-20 degrees latitude,
Hurricanes are not formed on the equator because
There is no coriolis effect
Hurricanes typically go from east to west because of the
Trade winds
Thunderstorm formation (3 conditions)
Warm, moist, unstable air
Thunderstorms are encouraged to form by
diverging air aloft
Thunderstorm life cycle
1. Cumulus stage (air rises to the freezing level due to adiabatic cooling and unequal heating) 2. Mature stage (air rises then falls back down) 3. Dissipating stage (air falls down)
Where are thunderstorms most frequently located?
Closer to the equator where the air is warm and moist
What is the role of lightning?
To equalize differences in electrical potential that occur from cloud separation
Tornadoes have ______ ____ pressure cells
Cyclonic low pressure cells
Wind shear
A change in direction or strength of winds from the top and bottom of a storm. Friction starts the spin.
_____ in biomes depend on precipitation and temperature
Vegetation
The hydrologic cycle is the....
Endless circulation of water from the atmosphere to the earth and back to the atmosphere through condensation, precipitation, evaporation and transpiration.
The Cyrosphere
Second only to the oceans as a place to store water. It is land ice (alpine glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps, and ocean ice)
How much surface water is there?
Only .25% of the world's total moisture supply
NPP is the
difference between photosynthesis and respiration
Hydrogen cycle
watery solutions dissolve nutrients and carry them to all parts of the organism....it is the medium of all life processes.
the most abundant single substance in the biosphere is
water
Carbon cycle
photosynthesis pulls atmospheric carbon into the biosphere then carbon moves constantly from the living system to organic reservoirs and back. The main component of transfer or carbon from CO2 to living matter and then back to CO2.
What is a byproduct of photosynthesis and how does it happen?
Oxygen through the Oxygen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
conversion of the gaseous form to of nitrogen to nitrates, primarily done by soil microorganisms and plants and then by lightning and cosmic radiation / marine organisms.
Autotrophs
Self-feeders that fix carbon-storing energy (animals)
Heterotrophs
Primary consumers (herbivores) and secondary consumers (carnivores)
What is an ecosystem?
All of the interactions among organisms and their environment in any area
What is a biome?
A large, recognizable assemblage of plants and animals in functional interaction with their environment
_____ moves constantly from the living system to organic reservoirs and back
Carbon
O2 is a byproduct of
photosynthesis
Photoperiodism
how much light an organism receieves in a 24 hour period
Xerophytes have roots that are modified for
a very little precipitation environment
Hydgrophytes
extensive roots and pliable stems (swamp land)
Floristic terminology is based upon
reproduction (spore or seed), stem or trunk composition (woody vs. herbaceous), leaf retention (deciduous vs. evergreen), leaf shape, supposed structure (hardwood vs. softwood)
The plants in shrublands are
short and woody
The plants in woodlands are
tree-dominated but far apart
Adret slope
direct angle of sun's rays
Ubac slope
low angle, less heating and evaporation (more vegetation occurs here)
Vertical zonation of plants
is the horizontal layering of different plants on a mountainside or hillside and is caused by a variety of local environmental conditions
Soil layers are known as
horizons
Eluviation
the downward transport of fine soil particles, removing them from the upper soil horizon
Illuviation
accumulation in a lower soil horizon of materials eluviated from higher horizons
5 Factors in Soil formation
parent material (composition has a direct impact on soil chemistry and fertility), climate, vegetation, topography, time