Weather Test 2

Front 1

high vapor pressure means what?

Back 1

lost of water vapor in the air

Front 2

Saturation vapor pressure

Back 2

the vapor pressure in the case where the atmosphere has all the water vapor it can hold

Front 3

cloud type on cover of book? it forms on the underside of the ancil of what kind of cloud?

Back 3

Mammatus clouds are what form under the anvil of a Cumulonimbus cloud

Front 4

The suns energy curve peaks in what part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum? What kind of EM energy would a very cold (3K) object emit

Back 4

the suns energy peaks at visible light which is about .5 wavelength. In order to compute the type of energy use WEIN'S LAW (2900/T(K)), so 2900/3= 966.67 which is infrared waves)

Front 5

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is absorbed by which atmospheric gas?

Back 5

Oxygen and Ozone

Front 6

T/F: anything with a temp >0k emits energy all the time. What law quantifies this relationship?

Back 6

True. The stefan-boltzmann law states that E=t^4. as long as T>0 Energy will be emitted

Front 7

what weather instrument is launched at the same time all around the world

Back 7

radiosonade also known as a weather balloon

Front 8

Why is water weird

Back 8

it boiles at much higher temp
it melts at much higher temp
it is present in all 3 phases

Front 9

Define:
evaporation
condensation
freezing
melting
sublimation
deposition

Back 9

evap- liquid to gas
cond-gas to liquid
freezing- liquid to solid
melting- solid to liquid
sublimation-solid to gas
deposition-gas to solid

Front 10

who do uv, infrared, and microwave energy affect a water molecule diff?

Back 10

UV= breaks up the water molecule
Infrared- Stretches and bends the water molecule
Microwave- Rotates the water molecule

Front 11

T/F: warmer air can hold more water vapor than cold air becuase the air expands to make more room for water.

Back 11

FALSE. Warmer air does fold more water vapor but the reason is becuase there is a greater number of water molecules that have the potential to evaporate, causing a greater kinetic temp

Front 12

two choices for measuring water vapor in the air

Back 12

Absolute(counting molecules) & Relative(versus the max pos amt of saturation)

Absolute- tells you how much of an energy jolt/drain that will occur with condensation/evap.

Relative- relative to max pos moisture in air, best for human applications

Front 13

dew point

Back 13

the temp air must be colled to, in order to become saturated

Front 14

relative humidity formula

Back 14

(vapor pressure/ saturation vapor pressure) X100%

OR (Moisture in the air/Max moisture possible) X 100%

Front 15

Lapse rate

Back 15

how temp changes as you go up

Front 16

Dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)

Back 16

how much temp changes as a dry air parcel goes up/down, due to the fact that the atmospheric pressure on the outside of the air parcel chages as you go up/down

Front 17

numerical value of DALR

Back 17

10 deg C

Front 18

air parcel temp goes DOWN as parcel goes ___?

Air parcel temp goes UP as parcel goes ___?

Back 18

up

Down

Front 19

Saturated Adiabatic lapse rate (SALR)

Back 19

temp change as a saturated air parcel goes up/down

Front 20

conditional instability

Back 20

air parcels are stable if they are dry and unstable if they are saturated

Front 21

temp inversion

Back 21

is wehre regions of the atmosphere in which the temp inc with altitude

Front 22

3 basic cloud types

Back 22

wispy-cirro
lumpy-cumulo
sheety-strato

Front 23

what cloud is precipitating

Back 23

nimbus

Front 24

types of clouds appearance

Back 24

cumulus: lumpy: high and wispy

Cumulonimbus: lumpy with an anvil, a thunderstorm cloud

Cirrostratus: high and sheety, lots of ice

Front 25

what cloud has a flat "anvil" top? the anvil is near what "pause" level of the atmosphere?

Back 25

Cumulonimbus; the "anvil" located near the tropopause becuase the temp inversion in the stratosphere is putting a "lid" on the rising air

Front 26

instruments used to observe:
Temp
pressure
RH
wind
Precip

Back 26

temp: thermometer
Pressure: barometer
RH: hygrometer
Wind:anemometer
Precip: rain guage

Front 27

What’s the acronym for the method by which American surface weather observations are made today? Why use it?

Back 27

f. ASOS; We use it becuase its can obs more often, obs from remote regions easily, obs standardized across nation, human error reduced, more economical.

Front 28

whats a radiosonde? What does it measure?

Back 28

Radiosonde- is a weather balloon that records humidity, temp., and pressure

Front 29

What is ACARS and what’s it on?

Back 29

ACARS- are aircraft observations from instruments on commercial jets.

Front 30

Contrast “passive” vs. “active” remote sensing

Back 30

Passive sensing takes info in, “sees” it (weather satellite), Active sensing sends out a signal and “sees” what comes back (weather radar)

Front 31

What are the two different types of satellite orbits (rhyming nicknames) and which orbit is best for seeing high latitudes?

Back 31

Geo-synchronous- can view both hemispheres’ weather near Equator simultaneously, but not the polar regions. at 36,000 km out.
Leo- used to see high latitudes (polar) but cannot view simultaneously

Front 32

2. Important Satellite Stuff: How is an infrared image more useful than a visible image? How is a water vapor image more useful than either visible or infrared? What kinds of clouds show up better in infrared vs. visible?

Back 32

With infrared images, you have the advantage of 24-hour coverage. When you use a water vapor map, you can see detail everywhere, even in non-cloudy air. Stratus clouds show up better on visible images rather than on infrared images.

Front 33

What are the different things that can happen to light?

Back 33

light can be Defracted Absorb Reflect Refract Transmit Scatter

Front 34

refraction

Back 34

in air can cause:
Mirages
green flash
twinkling stars

In ice:
halos
Sundogs

Liquid water:
Rain

Front 35

reflection

Back 35

ice crystals can cause:
sun pillar

Liquid water:
Bows

Front 36

scattering

Back 36

air:
Blue skies
Blue mtns
Red sunrise/sunsets

Ice crystals:
white clouds

Liquid water:
White clouds with dark bases

Front 37

diffraction

Back 37

liquid water:
corona
iridescence

Front 38

what cloud type causes haloes in the sky around the sun or moon

Back 38

currostratus- means bad weather coming

Front 39

inferior mirag

Back 39

image that appears upside down

HOT: sand, highway

Front 40

superior mirage

Back 40

an image that appears above, not below, the true position of hte object

COLD: snow,ice,cold lake or ocean

Front 41

4 ways air can go up in the atmosphere

Back 41

orographic lifting
frontal lifting
convection
convergence

Front 42

orographic lifting

Back 42

air going over mtns

Front 43

frontal lifting

Back 43

less densem warm air forced to rise over the cooler

Front 44

convection

Back 44

important in summer

solar energy oasses through atmosphere and heats the surface. air near suface warms and becomes less dense than the air, therefore it rises

Front 45

convergence

Back 45

air near the suface flows together from diff direction