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56 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Why is the earth's surface headed unevenly (3 reasons)
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1. non uniform in composition and distribution
2. earth's tilt 3. earth's rotation, causing day and night |
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What factors contribute to the non-uniformity of the earth?
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1. different amounts of ocean vs. continental plate
2. different levels of albedo |
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What is albedo and insolation
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albedo- reflectance of a substance
insolation- amount of time sunlight is hitting the earth |
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what's the meterological equator?
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place where the sun rays and the earth are at a 90 degree angle; varies over the seasons
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describe the thickness and density of the atmosphere.
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poles= thinner and denser
equator= thicker and less dense |
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how is the atmosphere classified?
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temperature and composition
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name the layers of the atmosphere from closest to farthest from earth by temperature
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troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
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describe the temperature change in each of the four layers of atmosphere
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down, up, down, up
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What is the environmental lapse rate?
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the rate at which the temperature decreases as altitude increases in the troposphere
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name the layers of the earth by composition from closest to farthest from earth
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homosophere, heterosphere
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What elements are found in the homosphere?
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Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon
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Explain the Hadley cell.
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Describes surface winds. Surface flow is equator-ward and aloft flow is poleward.
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What are Rossby waves?
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The west-to-east jet streams found in the upper troposphere that goes across the US (kind of dips down at one point)
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Coriolis effect?
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tendency of wind to bend right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere. due to the earth's rotation.
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Intertropical convergence zone?
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ITCZ. Belt of clouds at meteorological equator. ari rises and condenses. no wind.
aka "doldrums" |
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Horse latitudes?
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about 30 degrees latitude. air sinks. cloudless skies. very weak winds.
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Name the order of the winds, plus the direction they point, from the north pole down to the equator
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polar easterlies [southwest], westerlies [northeast], trade winds [southwest]
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Which type of satellite is used to see clouds from space?
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GOES
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What does the visible light channel measure and what do white and black represent?
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1. reflectivity
2. white=lots; black=little |
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What does the IR channel measure and what do white and black represent?
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1. temperature
2. white=cold, black=warm |
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What are the important characteristics of water vapor?
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1. polar
2. 3 natural states 3. high heat capacity |
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What is the process when air goes straight to ice?
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Deposition
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What is the latent heat of melting and of evaporation, respectively?
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80 cal/kg and 600 cal/kg
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Which holds more water... warm or cold air?
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warm!
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What is the SVPP?
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Saturation Vapor Pressure Point. Point of 100% relative humidity. aka "dew point." temperature dependent
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What is relative humidity?
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water in the air divided by water that could be in the air
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What tool is used to measure humidity?
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Sling psychrometer
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Describe absolute humidity.
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How much water a given volume can hold. AKA capacity.
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Describe specific humidity.
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AKA mixing ratio. mass of water in a particular mass of air.
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What's an isobar?
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A line of equal barametric pressure
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Describe cyclonic air flow
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Counter-clockwise. inwards.
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Describe anti-cyclonic air flow
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clockwise. outwards.
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Which is greater, dry or wet adiabatic lapse rate?
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dry.
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What is the adiabatic lapse rate?
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The rate at which cooling occurs due to a change in density as altitude increases.
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What is a front?
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Where there's a change between warm and cold air
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What's a rain shadow?
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The phenomenon where the far side of a mountain where wet air is blown over it is warmer than the temp on the near side.
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Why would air be lifted?
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1. orographic lifting
2. convective heating 3. convergence 4. frontal wedging |
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What the hay is orographic lifting?
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When air is pushed up a mountain.
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Which is steeper, when cold slides into warm or when warm slides into cold?
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When cold slides into warm.
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What's an airmass?
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a HUGE bubble of air. usually about as big as 7 states. same temperature and humidity throughout (horizontally)
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What are the conditions for the formation of an airmass?
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1. formed over uniform areas of composition.
2. no wind. |
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How much snow is in 1 inch of rain?
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10 in of snow!
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Define stable and unstable air.
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stable- adiabatic rate > environmental lapse
unstable- adiabatic rate < environmental lapse |
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Define conditionally unstable.
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dry adiabatic rate > environmental.
wet adiabatic rate < environmental |
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Describe the "snow map" and the "rain map"
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Snow is always frozen, but it gets warmer and then cooler as it falls.
Rain is never frozen and just gets warmer as it falls. |
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Describe the sleet and freezing rain "maps."
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Both go from freezing to liquid to freezing, but the "bulge" for sleet is higher than the "bulge" for freezing rain.
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What is rime?
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The supercooled water that lines existing slowflakes.
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What's a graupel?
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A coated snowflake in the sky.
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Explain radiation fog.
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Air w/ little wind in contact w/ cold surface. as air cools, it reaches the dew point and fog is formed.
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Explain advective fog.
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Warm air moves over a cool surface and condenses.
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Explain steam fog.
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Cold air is over warm water.
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How are clouds named?
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Altitude and shape
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Name the cloud types based on altitude.
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cirrus = high level
alto = mid level |
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Name the characteristics of the different cloud shapes
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cumulus = convective and unstable. fluffy.
stratus = condensation and stable. wispy. |
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What are the 2 mechanisms w/ which cloud droplets become big enough to rain?
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1. collision-coalescence
2. Bergeron process |
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What's the Bergeron process?
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When ice crystals and cloud droplets exist in the same air parcle, the ice tends to grow at the expense of the cloud droplets.
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