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110 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Who developed the Biometeroligical applications?
RG Steadham
What are the two factors of the Biometerological applications? and what is it based on?
Temperature and humidity.
Cooling process
Wind Chill Index.
Developed for who?
Polar scientists in 1940
What are the two factors taken in account in computation:
air temperature and wind speed
What are some other important factors:
Relative humidity/ solar radiation
how much percentage of body heat is loss from the shoulders up?
80 to 85 percent
Intro to Atmospheric moisture


What is probably the most important element in the atmosphere when considering weather and climate?
Water vapor
Intro to atmospheric moisture

The amount of water vapor (gas) ..... (finish the sentence)
in the atmosphere is highly variable ranging from 4% near the equator/ tropical regions to near 0% in the polar/colder regions
Intro to atmospheric moisture

water vapor is VERY important when considering what?
atmospheric stability
The Hydrologic Cycle
name the 4 things in it...
Evaporation
Condensation
Transpiration
Infiltration
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat

Evaporation
Liquid to gas

Heat Absorbed

Cooling process
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat

Condensation
Gas to liquid

Heat Released


Warming process
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat


Melting
Solid to liquid

Heat absorbed
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat


Freezing
Liquid to solid

heat released
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat


Sublimation
Solid to gas


heat absorbed

Example: dry ice
Moisture/Phase Changes and Latent Heat


Deposition
Gas to solid


Heat released
Humidity


Whats the definition?
Refers to any one of a number of different ways of specifying the amount of water vapor in the air.
Name the three ways we can express the humidity...
Absolute Humidity

Specific Humidity


Mixing Ratio
Absolute Humidity
The weight (mass) of the water vapor per volume of air (parcel). Usually expressed as grams of water vapor per cubic meter of air. Also reffered to as the "water vapor density"
Specific Humidity
Comparing the weight (mass) of the water vapor per volume of air (parcel) with the total weight (mass) of the air in the parcel including the water vapor. Usually expressed in grams of water vapor per kilogram of air.
Mixing Ratio
Comparing the weight (mass) of the water vapor per volume of air (parcel) with the weight (mass) of the remaining dry air. Usually expressed as grams of water vapor per kilogram of dry air.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Definition
Ratio of the air's actual water vapor content compared with the amount of water vapor required for saturation a given temperature.
True or False
Is Relative Humidity expressed as a percentage?
Yes
Relative Humidity tells us how close we are to what? and not much about what?
How close we are to saturation. not much about actual moisture vapor content of the air
Relative humidity can be influenced or changed by:
1. adding/subtracting moisture to air
2. Changing the given temperature
In the real atmospheric environment, temperature change affects Relative Humidity through:
1. Daily temperature changes
2. Air moves horizontally one place to another (and effect relative humidity
3. air moves vertically in the atmosphere
Dew point Temperature
The temperature to which parcel of air would need to be cooled to, assuming no change in air pressure or moisture, in order for the given parcel of air to reach saturation.
Dew point temp is (ALWAYS or NEVER) less than or same as what?
ALWAYS

air temperature
Dew point temperature is much more telling conceding what?
The actual moisture conent of the air
HUMIDITY BRAIN TEASER
VERY CRITICAL! KNOW FOR TEST!
LOOK IT CHART ON NOTES!!!
How we measure humidity

Dew cell- (define)
Piece of technology that directly measure the air actual water vapor pressure. Very technology advanced.
Chilled Mirror Technology
Cooling a surface (mirror) in contact with a sample gas (air) condensation occurs
Why don't we use chilled mirror technology anymore?
Maintenance was so high on keeping the mirror clean.
Sling Psychorometer uses what?
dry/wet bulb thermometers
Dry bulb-
Record actual air temperature
Wet bulb-

(know important last point in answer)
(shoestring on bulb) after wetting shoestring and slinging it, evaporative cooling yields a wet bulb temperature (this is NOT the dew point temperature!)
Test question: Is Wet bulb temperature dew point temperature?
NO!
Through the use of psychometric tables, after determining dry and wet bulb temperatures, we can determine what?
relative humidity and the dew point temperature
how we measure humidity

Hair hygrometer (explain it)
Based on fact that hair strand slightly lengthens with higher RH and shrinks slightly with lower RH

-Hair strands attached to index dial.
How we measure Humidity.
3 ways
Electronic Hygrometers

Infrared Hygrometer

Atmospheric Stability
Electrical conductor coated with moisture absorbing chemical carbon

the passage of current varies as relative humidity varies
Electronic Hygrometers
Electronic hygrometers are used in what?
Radiosondes, rawinsondes
Infrared Hygrometer

Measures the amount of....



and used by...
Measures the amount of infrared energy absorbed by water vapor in a given sample of air.


Weather satellites
Atmospheric Stability

refers to a state of...
Equilibrium of the atmosphere
How do we determine atmospheric stability?


Before making that comparison we must...? and what do we HAVE to remember..
we look at the temperature of a parcel of air as it rises and/ or sinks in the atmosphere and compare that temperature to the temperature of the surrounding environmental air (outside of the parcel)

Determine the rate of temperature change within a parcel of air as it rises or sinks.

Remember the heat lost to the air during evaporation (latent heat of evaporation/vaporization) and the heat added to the air during condensation (latent heat of condensation)
If its colder parcel it will ____
Sink
If it becomes same temperature than it will ____
Stop
When you force a parcel of air to rise what does it do?
It expands and cools
When you force a parcel of air to sink what does it do?
It compresses and warms
the rate at which air cools or warms depends on what?
The air moisture content.. and whether the air is saturated (through condensation) or unsaturated
ADIABATIC PROCESS*** (this is what we are going to assume in the atmosphere) (we assume there is no exchange of heat.)
When a given parcel of air expands/cools..or compresses/warms..with no interchange of heat with its outside environment
DIABATIC PROCES*** (just the opposite)
When a given parcel of air expands/cools..or compresses/warms..with interchange of heat with its outside environment.
In our atmosphere...

As air parcels rise or sink in the atmosphere, we assume....
Adiabatic cooling/heating processes.
In unsaturated air (dry adiabatic rate) air cools/heat=
Rate of 5.5.f/1000 feet or 10 C/1000 meters
In saturated air (wet adiabatic rate) air cools/heats=
rate of 3.3. f/1000 Feet or 6C/1000 meters
How do we determine stability of the atmosphere? By comparing...
The temperature of a rising parcel of air to the temperature of the surrounding environmental air.
If a given parcel of air is or becomes colder than the surrounding environmental air... what happens?
? Look up online
If a given parcel of air is or becomes warmer than the surrounding environmental air...what happens?
? Look up online
ENVIRONMENTAL LAPSE RATES
By looking at the environmental temperature profile via thermodynamic diagrams we can determine what?
Stability
The overal atmospheric temperature profile (how quickly it actually cools with height) can determine what as well?
Stability
Environmental lapse rates test questions...

When the ELR is greater than MALR (3.3f/1000 feet) but less than the DALR (5.5 F/1000 Feet)... The atmosphere is said to be ...
"conditionally unstable"
6.5 Farenheit of 1000 feet means it ABSOLUTELY what?
Unstable.

When environmental lapse height is about 5.5 it means that it is unstable
When the ELR is less than MALR (3.3 F/1000 Feet) the atmosphere is said to be ...
"Absolutely Stable"
High Clouds are at or above ...?
20,000 AGL
Thin, wispy clouds blown by high winds a lot into long streamers..Name that cloud...
Cirrus CI
Small rounded whit puffs that can occur individually or in long rows.. name that cloud...
Cirrocumulus Cc
Thin sheetlike cloud often covering the entire sky; shadows still cast the ground.
Cirrostratus
Middle Level Clouds
what is the AGL?
6.500 to 20,000
What is the prefix of middle level clouds?
Alto
Gray, puffy masses sometimes rolled out in a parallel waves or bands; sign of mid level instability
Altocumulus (Ac)
Gray to blue-gray (never white) cloud layer that often covers the entire sky; no shadows cast at the ground.
Altostratus (As)

Reminder- Look up all of these online!
Low Level clouds. WHat is the AGL?
Near surface to 6.500 AGL
Uniform grayish cloud that can cover parts of the sky or the entire sky
Stratus (St)
Low, lumpy cloud layer that can appear in rows, in patches or rounded masses with blue sky noted between individual cloud elements. Which cloud is this?
Stratocumulus (Sc)
Is fog a form of precipitation?
No absolutely not
Dark gray "wet looking: cloud layer associated with light to moderate continuously falling precipitation. What cloud is this?
Nimbostratus
For more information Read handout for clouds!!!!
READ IT NICK
surface weather observations (METARS) estimate cloud coverage in where?
Octas
0/8th cloud coverage-
CLR or SKC
1/8-2/8th cloud coverage
FEW
3.8th- 4/8th cloud coverage
bKN
8/8th Cloud Coverage-
OVC
Satellite Observation of Clouds

22,500 miles above the ground.
Images of same geographic area continuously
Geostationary Satellites
532 Miles above ground;closely parallel the Earth's meridian Lines; They pass one the north and south polar regions with each pass.
Polar Orbiting Satellites
Low level moisture is not depicted in what?
Water vapor Imagery
Precipitation Formation Processes

Warmer temperature process.
Name this process...
Collison Coalescene process
Temperature below freezing. Cloud droplets remain in a liquid form, as long as nothing disturbs it. If an ice crystal form in the middle of it then essentially it has been disturbed.
Beregon Ice Crystal Process
Very small, numerous and uniformly dispersed water droplets that appear to float and fall to the ground. Droplet diameter less than .02 inch
Drizzle
Precipitation types (FROM HANDOUT!)
Liquid water droplets falling from a cloud layer. Droplet diameter greater than .02 inch
Rain
Precipitation that falls in liquid from size greater than .02 inch and then freezes upon contact with a cold object or with the ground when the surface air temperature is near or less than the freezing mark.
Freezing rain
Cold weather phenomena. Small spherical to lumpy translucent to transparent ice particles that form when rain droplets freeze while falling through a fairly substantial layer of freezing air.
Ice Pellets/sleet
Cold weather Phenomena precipitation produced in super cooled clouds where water vapor is deposited as ice crystals that remain frozen during their entire descent to the surface.
Snow
Thunderstorm/ Cumulonius related: precipitin produced in a large, convective cloud that takes the form as hard, rounded pellets or lumps of ice that are formed as strong updrafts and downdrafts transport an initial particle of hail repeatedly through the freezing layer.
Hail
True or false.
Hail size isn't important of determining strength of up rafts and downdrafts and severity of thunderstorm.
FALSE!
Change 1 inch or larger (last sentence for hail) in handout.
DO IT!
Precipitation Measurement.
name the three.
1. Standard Rain Gauge
2. Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge
3. Weighing Type Rain Gauge
How to measure Snowfall.
- Avoid areas with drifting/blowing snow
-Away from trees/building
-Measure equivalent of snowfall (Average 1 inch liquid rainfall equals 10 inch of snowfall.. but varies greatly. Wet snow may yield 1 inch liquid to 5 inch snow while dry powdery may yield 1 inch liquid to 15 inch snow.
What is air pressure?
The weight of air above a given surface.
As you climb in elevation, there are fewer air molecules above you. Therefor, air pressure ______ decreases with ______
ALWAYS.

HEIGHT.
If pressure fails we feel more pain.
True or False.
TRUE!
Atmospheric Pressure Models
Two identical Columns of air (fixed width with the same air pressure.)

If we warm one column what happens with the molecules? What happens to the air?
They move faster and spread farther apart.

The air becomes less dense and the column expands in height.
What happens when we cool the other column?
The molecules move more slowly and closer together. the Air becomes more dense and the column shrinks in height.
True or False
It takes a shorter column of cold, dense air to exert the same surface pressure as a taller column of warm, less dense air.
TRUE!
Atmospheric pressure _________ more rapidly with elevation in a cold column of air.
decreases
Atmospheric pressure decreases more ______ with elevation in a warmer column of air.
slowly
Atmospheric pressure decreases more _______ with elevation in a cold column of air.
rapidly
What is normally associated with higher atmospheric pressure aloft?
Test question!
Warmer air Aloft
Warmer air aloft is normally associated with ______ atmospheric pressure aloft.
Resulting in what?
higher/

more stable atmosphere
What is normally associated with LOWER atmospheric pressure aloft?
Colder air Aloft
Colder Air Aloft is normally associated with _____ atmospheric pressure aloft. Resulting in what?
lower

more unstable atmosphere.