Atmosphere - Horizontal Circulation

Question 1

General Atmospheric Circulation

Answer 1

Refers to any atmospheric flow of the Earth, and regional movements of air around area of high and low pressure.

Question 2

Horse Latitudes

Answer 2

About 30 degrees north/south of the equator

Question 3

Which way do NH winds blow depending on the pressure of the system?

Answer 3

Clockwise in HPS and counter-clockwise in LPS

Question 4

Which way do SH winds blow depending on the pressure of the system?

Answer 4

CCW in SPS and CW in LPS

Question 5

Why is atmospheric circulation important for ecosystems?

Answer 5

Solar radiation is unevenly distributed, thus important in temperature regulation.

Question 6

What would a horziontal atmospheric field of pressure with no variation mean for terrestial/ocean lands?

Answer 6

Sea heats and cools slowly over the day whilst terrestial lands drastically fluctuate, being hot at day and equally cold at night.

Question 7

What happens when land temperature increases?

Answer 7

Air rises, forcing air above to rise, with pressure at the surface due to overlying air.

Question 8

Due to physics of sea/land surface atmosphere, what happens at shore transition zones?

Answer 8

Forcing pressure towards sea during summer due to pressure gradients, with circulation due to the now decrease pressure on land.

Question 9

How does surface pressure relate to land/sea?

Answer 9

Low pressure surfaces on land, with high pressure surfaces above oceans.

Question 10

Hadley Cell

Answer 10

An atmoshperic convection cell where air rises at the equator, sinking in medium latitudes(30 degrees north and south)

Question 11

Why does the equator spin faster than the poles?

Answer 11

It is wider, travelling 1,000 mph

Question 12

What would a northward bound air pocket at constant speed from the equator do?

Answer 12

Diverge eastwards

Question 13

Why do air masses move eastwards in the NH?

Answer 13

Its equatorial velocity is larger than the velocity of the solid earth below.

Question 14

What did hadley propose to explain easterly winds?

Answer 14

Momentum transfer from air to ground at the equator reduces wind speed, flowing easterly due to being unable to keep up with increasing speed.

Question 15

Angular Momentum

Answer 15

The quantity rotation of a body, the product of its inertia and angular velocity.

Question 16

What does Hadleys Model neglect?

Answer 16

The conservation of nangular momentum nor changing velocities.

Question 17

Inertia

Answer 17

A property of matter, where it continues in its existing state of rest in a straight line, unless changed by a force.

Question 18

Coriolis Force

Answer 18

A force relative to the surface of the Earth, causing deflection of moving objects to the ing in the NH and left in the SH.

Question 19

What does Newton say about velocity change?

Answer 19

There is accompanied acceleration, implying a force.

Question 20

What force causes angular momentum of atmosphere?

Answer 20

Coriolis force

Question 21

What is an important note on the Coriolis forc

Answer 21

The object itself is not moving, only the surface below it

Question 22

Why else does an air mass deviate from its path?

Answer 22

The tangenital velocity of a location of Earth, relates and is dependent on latitude.

Question 23

What is an example of coriolis force in effect?

Answer 23

If you fired something from the equator northwards, it would land east of its target, east rotation being faster than the eqwuator.

Question 24

Centrifugal Force

Answer 24

A force arising from a bodys inertia, causing an object moving in a circular path to move out and away from the center of its path.

Question 25

Explain centrifugal force

Answer 25

If a particle at constant speed is moving at the circumfernce of a circel, a force(centripetal force) is required to kepe that constant velocity TOWARDS centre of a circle, with an opposing force keeping it from the centre, the centrifugal.

Question 26

What is an example of centripetal force?

Answer 26

A string from the circle with tension force.

Question 27

What causes westerlies?

Answer 27

Hadley circulatioin flows to about 30 degrees, terminating, air sinks to surface, returns to tropic at ground level, coriolis directs it westward

Question 28

Geostrophic Current

Answer 28

This is a current where the pressure gradient force is balance by the coriolis effect.

Question 29

Pressure Gradient Forces

Answer 29

Forces when there is a difference in pressure across surface.

Question 30

What does atmosphere vertical structure reflect?

Answer 30

Vertical pressure gradients pushing upwards and gravitational forces pulling downards

Question 31

What is an example of Geostrophic current?

Answer 31

A NH air mass in a west-east pressure gradient subjects to eastern movement by coriolis until a point air masses coriolis force exactly cancels out pressure gradient force.

Question 32

How does geostrophic currents reflect in low pressure systems?

Answer 32

Stationary air mass moving towards a direction, moving right in NH in CCW due to coriolis force, thus geostrophic balance.

Question 33

What do frictional forces do?

Answer 33

Transfers linear motion to the surface of contact, changing the linearity due to an imposed force.

Question 34

What causes change of lienarity when wind recieves friction?

Answer 34

Friction opposes direction of the air