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56 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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In a volume of air near the earth's surface, _______ occupies 78% of the volume and _______ occupies nearly 21%.
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Nitrogen; oxygen
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Wet soil has a _______ specific heat than dry soil and the water in the soil makes it warm _______ _______ than dry soil.
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higher; more slowly
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In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally _______ with increasing height.
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increases
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The processes _______ and _______ release heat to the environment.
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condensation; freezing
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why are cloud nights often warmer than clear nights?
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Clouds absorb and reradiate longwave radiation emitted from the earth.
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The midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere have warm summers mainly because _______ & _______.
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The sun is higher in the sky and the days are longer in the summer.
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At noon on March 21, the sun will be directly overhead at
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0 degrees (the equator)
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In July, if we compare the average temperature in Minnesota to the average temperature at the same latitude over the Atlantic Ocean, we would expect that the temperature in Minnesota would be _______ than the temperature over the Atlantic Ocean.
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warmer than
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Relative humidity changes with addition of _______ _______ to the air, _______/_______ in air temperature.
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water vapor; increase/decrease
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As the air temperature increases, the saturation vapor pressure _______.
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increases
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If the environmental lapse rate is steeper (closer to horiztonal) than the dry adiabatic lapse rate, the atmosphere is _______.
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absolutely unstable
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Asphalt or snow has a lower albedo?
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Asphalt
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What energy transfer is accomplished by the horizontal motion of air containing latent heat and sensible heat?
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Advection
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As the solar elevation increases, the depth of the atmosphere through which the solar radiation passes is _______, and the solar radiation received at the earth's surface is spread out over a smaller/larger area.
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decreased; smaller
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The dry adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which...
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the temperature changes in a rising or descending parcel of unsaturated air.
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At the earth's surface, a rising saturated air parcel would cool most slowly when its temperature is _______ degrees.
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+20C degrees
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An unsaturated parcel of air has a temperature of 0 degrees C. It sinks a distance of 1 km. what will its temperature be after sinking?
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10°C.
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What set of conditions is most likely to make the atmosphere become absolutely stable? (Hint: close to vertical)
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Cool the surface and warm the air aloft.
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The sun emits most of its radiation at a wavelength of about __ micrometers.
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.5
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The total amount of energy emitted by the earth is _______ than that emitted by the sun, because the earth's temperature is _______ than the temperature of the sun.
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less; lower
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Two important greenhouse gases are _______ and _______.
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h20 and CO2
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In the troposphere, the air temperatures normally _______ as elevation increases.
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decreases
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True or False: Air is a poor conductor of heat.
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True.
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True or False: A psychrometer is the instrument that measures atmospheric pressure.
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False.
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True or False: If you travel from Dallas, Texas to St. Paul, MN in January, you are likely to experience greater temperature variations than if you make the same trip in July.
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True.
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Describe Wien's Law in words.
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As temperature of an object increases, the wavelength of emission decreases (because hotter objects have shorter wavelengths).
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Why are the warmest air temperatures in the troposphere usually observed near the ground?
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Because the Earth absorbs whatever that is left over from what the atmosphere didn't absorb.
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Event hough the atmosphere at the summit of Mount Everest (about 29,000ft above sea level; 320mb) contains 21% oxygen, why have mountain climbers described climbing at such altitudes the equivalent of "running on a treadmill and breathing through a straw?"
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Because the air at that elevation is less dense.
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Why is the climate on the upwind (windward) side of a mountain generally more moist than the climate on the downwind (leeward/away) side of a mountain?
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Because as the air moves up to the elevation at the top, it loses its content as it decreases.
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Why is the dewpoint temperature a better measure of how much water vapor is in the air than its relative humidity?
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Because relative humidity depends on both temperature and water vapor, not just water vapor.
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Match each instrument with what they measure.
1) Hygrometer 2) Psychrometer 3) Anemometer 4) Barometer |
1) Humidity
2) Humidity 3) Wind speed 4) Pressure |
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An infrared thermometer measure the temperature of an objects based on _______.
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the amount of longwave radiation emitted by the object.
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What determines the total amount of radiation that is emitted by an object?
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Temperature.
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The greenhouse effect occurs because of gases in the earth's atmosphere that transmit/absorb _______ radiation.
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absorb/infrared
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The midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere have warm summers because there is a shorter/longer path length for solar radiation in summer than in winter.
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shorter
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The solar declination latitude ranges between _______ and _______.
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23.5°S and 23.5°N
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Air currents (wind) can transport sensible/latent heat.
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sensible AND latent heat
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On average, about what percent of the solar energy that strikes the outer atmosphere is absorbed by the atmosphere and the earth's surface together?
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70%
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On average, high latitudes receive more/less energy from solar radiation than they emit in the form of longwave radiation.
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less
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Suppose last night the sky was overcast. Tonight, the skies are clear. From this, you would expect that tonight's minimum temperature would be [same/lower/higher] than last night's minimum temperature.
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lower
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The earth's "atmospheric window' is in the _______ wavelengths.
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infrared
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As the sun cools, the total amount of energy it emits will [increase/decrease] and the wavelength at which the most energy is emitted will shift to a [shorter/longer] wavelength.
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decrease; longer
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The transfer of sensible heat (energy) between the earth's surface and the atmosphere is [larger than, smaller than, the same as] the energy transferred by latent heat.
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smaller than
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If very cold air is brought indoors and warmed WITHOUT changing the moisture content, the relative humidity of this air will [increase/decrease/remain constant].
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decrease
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The temperature to which air must be cooled in order to become saturated is the...
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dew point temperature
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Which of the follow environmental lapse rates would represent the most unstable atmosphere?
• -0.1°C per 100 m • -0.3°C per 100 m • -0.9°C per 100 m • -1.2°C per 100 m |
-1.2°C per 100 m
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The rate at which the actual (measured) air temperature changes with increasing height above the surface is called the:
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environmental lapse rate
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A rising parcel of SATURATED air would cool most RAPIDLY when its temperature is:
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-5°C
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If an unsaturated parcel of air with a temperature of -20°C sinks 2.5 km (2500m), what is its new temperature?
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5°C
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True or False: At the equator at noon on June 21, the sun will be directly overhead.
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False.
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True or False: More than 50% of solar radiation is in the ultraviolet wavelengths.
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False.
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True or False: In the troposphere, the air temperature sometimes increases with height.
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True.
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True or False: Rising parcels of air always cool more slowly than rising parcels of unsaturated air.
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True.
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True or False: At night, radiational cooling will decrease the atmospheric cooling.
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False.
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You observe that the daytime surface temperature over a dry asphalt surface is much higher than the temperature over recently-watered grass. Give one reason that could explain this temperature difference (justify your answer).
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More solar radiation is absorbed due to lower albedo over asphalt than the grass, making the asphalt to absorb more radiation rather than reflect it.
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Give one reason why water warms and cools more slowly than land.
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Water has a higher specific heat than land, so it takes longer to heat up or cool down.
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