The Atmosphere

Front 1

atmosphere

Back 1

mixture of gases that surrounds planet, moon, or other celestial body ozon

Front 2

ozone

Back 2

gas molecule that is made under of three oxygen atoms

Front 3

atmospheric pressure

Back 3

force per unit area that exerted on a surface by the weight of the atmosphere

Front 4

troposphere

Back 4

lowest layer of the atmosphere in which temperature drops at a constant rate as altitude increases the part of the atmosphere where weather conditions exist

Front 5

stratosphere

Back 5

layer of the atmosphere that lies between the troposphere and the mesosphere and in which temperature increases as altitude increases contains the ozone layer

Front 6

mesosphere

Back 6

coldest layer of the atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere in which temp decreases as altitude increases

Front 7

thermosphere

Back 7

the uppermost layer of the atmosphere in which temp increases as altitude increases includes the ionosphere

Front 8

electromagnetic spectrum

Back 8

all the frequencies or wavelength of electromagnetic radiation

Front 9

albedo

Back 9

fraction of solar radiation that is reflected off the surface of an object

Front 10

greenhouse effect

Back 10

warning of the surface and lower atmosphere of earth that occurs when carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases in the air absorb and reradiate infrared radiation

Front 11

conduction

Back 11

transfer of energy as heat through a material

Front 12

convection

Back 12

movement of matter due to differences in density that are caused by temp variations can result in the transfer of energy as heat

Front 13

coriolis effect

Back 13

curving of the path of a moving object from an other wise straight path due to earths rotation

Front 14

trade winds

Back 14

prevailing winds that blow from east to west from 30 degrees latitude to the equator in both hemispheres

Front 15

westerlies

Back 15

prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres

Front 16

polar easterlies

Back 16

prevailing winds that blow from east to west between 60degrees and 90 degrees latitude in both hemispheres

Front 17

jet stream

Back 17

narrow band of string winds that blow in the upper troposphere

Front 18

latent heat

Back 18

heat energy that is absorbed or released by a substance during a phase change

Front 19

sublimation

Back 19

process in which a solid changes directly into a gas (the term is sometimes also used for the reverse process)

Front 20

dew point

Back 20

constant pressure and water vapor content the temp at which the rate of condensation equals the rate of evaporation

Front 21

absolute humidity

Back 21

mass of water vapor per unit volume of air that contains the water vapor, usually expressed as grams of water vapor per cubic meter of air

Front 22

relative humidity

Back 22

ratio of the amt of water vapor in the air to the amt of water vapor needed to reach saturation at a given temperature

Front 23

cloud

Back 23

collection of small water droplets or ice crystals suspended in air which forms when air is cooled and condensation occurs

Front 24

condensation nucleus

Back 24

solid particle in the atmosphere that provides the surface in which water vapor condenses

Front 25

adiabic cooling

Back 25

process by which the temp of an air mass decreases as the air mass rises and expands

Front 26

advective cooling

Back 26

process by which the temp of an air mass decreases as the air mass moves over a cold surface

Front 27

stratus close

Back 27

gray cloud that has flat uniform base and that commonly forms at very low altitudes

Front 28

cumulus cloud

Back 28

low-level billowy cloud that commonly has a top that resembles cotton balls and dark bottom

Front 29

cirrus cloud

Back 29

feathery cloud that is composed of ice crystals and that has the highest altitude of an cloud in the sky

Front 30

fog

Back 30

water vapor that has condensed very near the surface of earth because air close to the ground has cooled

Front 31

precipitation

Back 31

any form of water that falls to earth surface from clouds includes rain,snow, sleet and hail

Front 32

coalescence

Back 32

formation of large droplet by the combination of smaller droplets

Front 33

supercooling

Back 33

condition in which a substance is cooled below its freezing point, condensation point, or sublimation point w/out going through a chnage of state

Front 34

cloud seeding

Back 34

process introducing freezing nuclei or condensation nuclei into a cloud in order to cause rain to fall

Front 35

air mass

Back 35

large body of air throughout which temp and moisture content are similar

Front 36

cold front

Back 36

front edge of a moving mass of cold air that pushes beneath warmer air mass like a wedge

Front 37

warm front

Back 37

front edge of an advancing warm air mass that replaces colder air with warmer air

Front 38

stationary front

Back 38

front of air masses that moved either very slow or not at all

Front 39

occluded

Back 39

front that forms when a cold air mass over takes a warm air mass off ground and over another air mass

Front 40

midlatitude cyclone

Back 40

area of low pressure that is characterized by rotating wind that moves toward the rising air of the central low pressure region

Front 41

thunder storm

Back 41

usually breif heavy storm that consist of rain, strong winds, lightning, and thunder

Front 42

hurricane

Back 42

severe storm that develops over tropical oceans and whose strong winds more than 120km/h spiral in toward the intesnsely low pressure storm center

Front 43

thermometer

Back 43

an instrument for measuring and indicating temperature

Front 44

barometer

Back 44

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

Front 45

barometer

Back 45

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

Front 46

anemometer

Back 46

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

Front 47

wind vane

Back 47

tool used to measure the direction of the wind

Front 48

radiosonde

Back 48

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

Front 49

radar

Back 49

a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by sending out pulses of high-frequency electromagnetic waves that are reflected off the object back to the source.

Front 50

climate

Back 50

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

Front 51

specific heat

Back 51

heat required to raise the temperature of the unit mass of a given substance by a given amount (usually one degree).

Front 52

el niño

Back 52

an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years,

Front 53

monsoon

Back 53

a seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and Southeast Asia, blowing from the southwest between May and September and bringing rain (the wet monsoon ), or from the northeast between October and April (the dry monsoon ).

Front 54

tropical climate

Back 54

tropical climate in the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures of at least 18 °C (64 °F). ... In tropical climates temperature remains relatively constant (hot) throughout the year.

Front 55

middle-latitude climate

Back 55

South and 66°33'39" South latitude, or, the Earth's temperate zones between the tropics and the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. Weather fronts and extratropical cyclones are usually found in this area, as well as occasional tropical cyclones which have traveled from their areas of formation closer to the equator.

Front 56

polar climate

Back 56

The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers. Every month in a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C

Front 57

microclimate

Back 57

the climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area.

Front 58

microclimate

Back 58

the climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area.

Front 59

climatologist

Back 59

the scientific study of climates

Front 60

global warming

Back 60

a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.