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131 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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what symbol represents precip falling in the form of rain?
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.
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Of the 4 most abundant gases in the atmosphere, which one shows the most variation from place to place on the earth's surface?
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Water
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Why does air pressure decrease with increasing heights above the surface
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Because as altitude increases, there is always less air above you (more below you), hence less mass weighing down on you
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temperature ___________ in the stratosphere due to the conversion of uv radiation into heat
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increases
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even though the actual concentration of oxygen is close to 21 percent in the upper troposphere, explain why you would need an oxygen mask in an airplane if it loses cabin pressure
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Because the outside pressure is so low that 21 percent of the gas at that height is not enough oxygen to breathe.
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A rising air parcel:
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expands and cools
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Condensation from a vapor to a liquid phase results in:
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latent heating
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As a black body the earth absorbs all incident energy and then re-emits that energy. Energy emitted from out -59 degree planet is primarily in the form of:
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infrared radiation
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CO2 is an effective greenhouse gas because:
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it is a selective absorber of longwave radiation.
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Seasons are controlled by the amount of solar energy received at a given location which in turn depends on distance from sun, duration of sunlight, and:
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sun angle
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The angle at which sunlight strikes the earth is most direct:
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near 66.5 degrees N and S
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Over the course of a year, changes in day length at high latitudes are:
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greater than those at lower latitudes
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The greater atmospheric thickness that sunlight passes through, the more chance there is for scattering of the incoming light. Thickness of the atmosphere penetrated:
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increases with increasing sun angle
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An adiabatic process is one in which and air parcel cools or warms without:
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exchanging heat with its surroundings
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An air parcel that is warmer than surrounding air will:
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rise
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The environmental lapse rate is:
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the rate of temperature change with elevation at a given location
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The dry adiabatic lapse rate is greater than the moist adiabatic lapse rate because water phase changes in saturated air:
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moderate the amount of warming and cooling with increasing elevation
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A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is referred to as:
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an adiabatic process
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If the environmental lapse rate is 5 degrees C per 1000m and the temperature at the earth's surface is 25 degrees C then the air temperature at 2000m above the ground is:
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15 degrees C
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The difference between the moist and dry adiabatic rates is due to the fact that:
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latent heat is released by a rising parcel of saturated air.
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When air is saturated, the rate of evaporation is _______ than the rate of condensation.
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equal to
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Water departments in the desert southwest encourage their customers to water lawns early in the day. This is because the relative humidity is at its ___________ value in the morning and the rate of evaporation from wet soil will be relatively ______
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highest, low
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The term alto tells you something about cloud _______
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altitude
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Because of the effect of ____ wind speeds generally increase with height above the ground.
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friction
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Ordinarily, the downward force of _____ acting on a parcel of air is balanced by an upward _________ force, producing a condition known as hydrostatic equilibrium.
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gravity, pressure gradient
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Differences in ________ create pressure gradients that cause sea and land breezes to blow.
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temperature
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A _______ is a wind system with a seasonal change in direction
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monsoon
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A good source region for an air mass would be:
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generally flat areas of uniform composition with light surface winds.
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A warm, moist air mass that forms over water is called:
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mT
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A sea breeze circulation is caused by ______ differences.
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temperature
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Clouds and precipitation are frequently found on the downwind side of a large lake. This would indicate that the air on the downwind side is:
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converging and rising.
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The summer monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by:
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wet weather and winds blowing from sea to land
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The surface pressure pattern shown below could lead to which of the following?
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Santa Ana wind
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According to the three cell general circulation model, at the equator we would NOT expect to find
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a ridge of high pressure
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On a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds would be observed:
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south of the subtropical highs
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In terms of the three cell general circulation model, the driest regions of the earth should be near
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30 degrees latitude and the polar regions
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Ideal air mass source regions are usually those dominated by a large _________ pressure system.
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high
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air masses are classified according to their _______ and ______ characteristics.
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temperature, moisture
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Upwelling occurs along the northern California coast because:
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winds cause surface waters to move away from the coast.
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The name given to the current of warm water that replaces cold surface water along the coast of Peru and Ecuador during December is:
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El Nino
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Which of the following would not be associated with a major El Nino event?
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record fish catch in the ocean off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.
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the reversal of positions of surface high and low pressure at opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean is called
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the Southern Oscillation
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occluded fronts form relatively _____ in a mid latitude storm's development.
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Late
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Surface winds tend to blow parallel to a __________ front.
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Stationary
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Middle latitude cyclones will often form along the _______, a semicontinuous global boundary separating cold polar air from warm subtropical air
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polar front
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frontal waves which grow into large middle latitude storms generally develop and dissipate over a period of several _______
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days
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an ordinary cell thunderstorm is a:
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scattered or isolated storm that is not severe.
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The initial stage of an ordinary cell t storm is the:
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cumulus stage
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ordinary cell thunderstorms only last about one hour and begin to dissipate when:
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when the downdraft spreads throughout the cloud and cuts off the updraft.
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A supercell storm is:
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an enormous thunderstorm that lasts for several hours.
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The most likely time for an ordinary cell thunderstorm to form is:
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late afternoon
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A hook shaped echo on a radar screen often indicates:
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the possible presence of a tornado producing thunderstorm.
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What are the three atmospheric conditions needed for ordinary cell thunderstorm to develop:
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moisture, instability, source of lift
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The skies in the center of a hurricane are often cloud free. This is because the air in the eye:
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is sinking
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Pressure at the center of a hurricane is ______ than the surrounding air at the surface and _______ than the surroundings aloft.
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lower, higher
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The vertical structure of the hurricane shows upper level _____ of air, and a surface______ of air
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outflow, inflow
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Hurricane winds rotate in a clockwise direction:
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in the Southern hemisphere only
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Just before a storm becomes a fully developed hurricane, it is in the ___________ stage.
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tropical storm
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The main source of energy for a hurricane is the:
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warm ocean water and release of latent heat energy by condensation
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Which of the following is considered a climatic control?
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ocean currents, intensity of sunshine and its variation with latitude, prevailing winds, altitude.
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A rainshadow desert is normally found:
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on the downwind side of a mountain range.
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The Koppen scheme for classifying climates employs annual and monthly averages of:
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temperature and precipitation.
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In a tropical wet-and-dry climate, the dry season occurs with the:
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low sun period (winter)
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the temperature of a rising air parcel:
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always cools due to expansion
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When naming clouds, the term strato means:
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layer clouds
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Energy transferred by electromagnetic waves is called:
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radiation
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The rate at which the actual air temperature changes with increasing height above the surface is referred to as the
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environmental lapse rate
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Where are the days and nights of equal length all year long?
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at the Equator.
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A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is referred to as:
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an adiabatic process
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For maximum winter warmth in the Northern Hemisphere, large windows in a house should face:
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south
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Inches of mercury (Hg) are commonly used units of:
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atmospheric pressure
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The blueness of the sky is mainly due to:
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the scattering of sunlight by air molecules.
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The cold feeling that you experience when leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry, summer day is:
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heat transport by latent heat
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The main reason for warm summers in the middle latitudes is that:
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the sun is higher in the sky and we receive more direct solar radiation.
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What is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?
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water vapor
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The proper order from shortest to longest wavelength is:
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ultraviolet, visible, infrared
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What tells you about the altitude where a cloud has formed?
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cirro
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The term cumulo tells you something about cloud
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appearance
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Much of Tibet lies at altitude over 18000 feet where the pressure is about 500 mb. At such altitudes, the Tibetans live above roughly
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50% of the air molecules in the atmosphere
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The earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at
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infrared wavelengths
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The cooling of the ground to produce dew is mainly the result of:
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radiational cooling
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The albedo of the earth's surface is only about 4%, yet the combined albedo of the earth and the atmosphere is about 30%. Which wet of conditions below BEST explains why this is so?
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high albedo of clouds, low albedo of water.
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The reason that rising saturated air cools at a lesser rate than rising unsaturated air is:
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latent heat is released by rising saturated air.
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The albedo of the moon is 7%. This means that:
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7% of the sunlight striking the moon is reflected.
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Clouds____ infrared radiation and _____ visible radiation.
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absorb, reflect
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Water vapor:
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is invisible
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The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on changes in the vertical profile of:
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air temperature
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The sun emits its greatest intensity of radiation in:
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the visible portion of the spectrum
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When we see the moon at night, we are seeing:
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visible light reflected by the moon.
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If a parcel of unsaturated air with a temperature of 30 degrees C rises from the surface to an altitude of 1000m the unsaturated parcel temperature at this altitude would be about:
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10 degrees C colder than at the surface.
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Which of the following ingredients are needed for ozone formation in the stratosphere?
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oxygen molecules (O2) and oxygen atoms (O)
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If the amount of energy lost by the earth to space each year were not approximately equal to that received,
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the atmosphere's average temperature would change.
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The only substance near the Earth's surface that is found naturally in the atmosphere as a solid, liquid, and gas:
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water
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At jetcraft cruising altitude (33,000ft or about 10km) you are:
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near the top of the troposphere
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The atmospheric greenhouse effect is due primarily to the fact that:
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carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb infrared radiation.
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The heat energy released with water vapor changes to a liquid is called:
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latent heat of condensation.
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High latitudes lose______ amount of energy to space as (than) they receive from the sun
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More
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Fair weather _________ clouds resemble white balls of cotton.
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cumulus
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______ provides a measure of the average speed or kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules in air
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temperature
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If there is 21% oxygen at 25,000ft, where commercial aircraft fly, why do you need an oxygen mask if the airplane suddenly loses pressure?
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Because the air is under so little pressure that the molecules are so spread out they cannot support you.
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The surface pressures at the bases of warm and cold columns of air are equal. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
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pressure will decrease with increasing height at the same rate in both columns
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A warm, moist, air mass that formed over water is called
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mT
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One would expect a cP air mass to be:
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cold and dry
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Cyclonic flow means _______in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere
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circulation around a low pressure center
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We can generally expect the air to be _____ above areas of surface low pressure and ________ above areas of surface high pressure.
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rising,sinking
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If the earth's gravitational force were to increase, atmospheric pressure at the ground would:
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increase
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Sea level pressure values generally fall in the range:
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950-1050mb
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Which is usually not true concerning a sea breeze circulation?
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They mainly occur at night
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When comparing an average cold front to an average warm front, which is not correct
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generally, precipitation covers a much broader area with a cold front.
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Which type of air mass would be responsible for hot, muggy summer weather in the eastern half of the US?
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mT
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On an upper level chart the winds tend to blow:
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parallel to the isobars or contours
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the contour lines drawn on a 500mb chart are lines of constant:
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pressure
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The summer monsoon in eastern and southern Asia is characterized by:
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wet weather and winds blowing from sea to land.
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the net force acting on air which is blowing parallel to straight contours at constant speed is:
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zero
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Pressure changes:
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more rapidly in the vertical direction than in the horizontal.
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What type of weather front would be responsible for the following forecast: Increasing high cloudiness and cold this morning. Clouds increasing and lowering this afternoon with a chance of snow or rain tonight. Precipitation ending tomorrow morning. Turning much warmer. Winds light easterly today becoming southeasterly tonight and southwesterly tomorrow?
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warm front.
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The pressure gradient force is directed from higher pressure toward lower pressure:
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at all places on Earth.
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Alternating lines of blue and red on a surface map indicate:
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a stationary front.
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Chicago, Illinois (latitude 42 degrees N) is located in:
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the westerlies
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The ITCZ is a region where:
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northeast trades me southeast trades
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The world's deserts are found at 30 degrees latitude because:
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of the sinking air of the subtropical highs.
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A sea breeze circulation is caused by _______ differences
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temperature
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An air mass is characterized by similar properties of _______ and _____ in any horizontal direction.
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temperature, moisture
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The rate of the Earth's rotation determines the strength of the:
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Coriolis Force
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In the 3 cell model of general circulation, areas of surface low pressure should be found at:
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the equator and 60 degree latitude
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Which of the following forces does not have a direct effect on horizontal wind motion?
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gravitational force.
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On an upper level chart, normally we find warm air associated with ____________ pressure, and cold air associated with _________ pressure
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high, low
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While on a fly fishing trip you notice that the wind is blowing upstream. From this you might deduce that the wind is a:
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valley breeze
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A surface low pressure center is generally associated with ______ on an upper level isobaric chart.
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a trough
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A _____ usually indicates clearing weather or fair weather
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steadily rising pressure
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In addition to the rate of rotation of the earth on its axis, the strength of the Coriolis force depends on:
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latitude, wind shear
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