Lauren Chapter 12 Flashcards

Front 1

Weather

Back 1

the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc..

Front 2

Climate

Back 2

the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period

Front 3

Air mass

Back 3

a body of air with horizontally uniform temperature, humidity, and pressure.

Front 4

Source Region

Back 4

the type of area from which an air mass originates.

Front 5

Coriolis Effect

Back 5

an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force ) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. On the earth, the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems.

Front 6

Polar Easterlies

Back 6

the dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the polar highs at the north and south poles towards low-pressure areas within the Westerlies at high latitudes.

Front 7

Prevailing Westerlies

Back 7

the winds from the west that occur in the temperate zones of the Earth

Front 8

Trade Winds

Back 8

a wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, esp. at sea. Two belts of trade winds encircle the earth, blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator.

Front 9

Jet Stream

Back 9

a narrow, variable band of very strong, predominantly westerly air currents encircling the globe several miles above the earth. There are typically two or three jet streams in each of the northern and southern hemispheres.

Front 10

Front

Back 10

the line that forms the boundary between two air masses. Unless they are very similar in temperature and humidity, they will not mix.
•Fronts usually produce unstable weather.

Front 11

Cold front

Back 11

the boundary of an advancing mass of cold air, in particular the trailing edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.

Front 12

warm front

Back 12

the boundary of an advancing mass of warm air, in particular the leading edge of the warm sector of a low-pressure system.

Front 13

Stationary front

Back 13

a boundary between two different air masses, neither of which is strong enough to replace the other. On a weather map, this is shown by an inter-playing series of blue spikes pointing one direction and red domes pointing the other.

Front 14

Occluded front

Back 14

a composite front produced by occlusion.

Front 15

Thermometer

Back 15

an instrument for measuring and indicating temperature, typically one consisting of a narrow, hermetically sealed glass tube marked with graduations and having at one end a bulb containing mercury or alcohol that expands and contracts in the tube with heating and cooling.

Front 16

Barometer

Back 16

an instrument measuring atmospheric pressure, used esp. in forecasting the weather and determining altitude.

Front 17

Anemometer

Back 17

an instrument for measuring the speed of the wind, or of any current of gas.

Front 18

Hygrometer

Back 18

an instrument for measuring the humidity of the air or a gas.

Front 19

Radiosone

Back 19

an instrument carried by balloon or other means to various levels of the atmosphere and transmitting measurements by radio.

Front 20

Doppler Effect

Back 20

an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and observer move toward (or away from) each other. The effect causes the sudden change in pitch noticeable in a passing siren, as well as the redshift seen by astronomers.

Front 21

Station Model

Back 21

A station model is a symbolic illustration showing the weather occurring at a given reporting station. Meteorologists created the station model to plot a number of weather elements in a small space on weather maps

Front 22

isobar

Back 22

a line on a map connecting points having the same atmospheric pressure at a given time or on average over a given period.

Front 23

Isotherm

Back 23

a line on a map connecting points having the same temperature at a given time or on average over a given period.

Front 24

Digital Forecast

Back 24

created by applying physical principles and math to atmospheric variables and then making predictions about how these variables will change over time.

Front 25

Analog forecast

Back 25

based on comparison of current weather patterns to similar weather patterns from the past