c9/10 key terms Flashcards
(22 cards)
Continental polar definition
Cold, dry, originates from high latitudes
Maritime polar definition
Cool, moist, originates as Cp air and is modified as it transitions to oceanic zones
Continental tropical definition
Hot, dry, comes from arid regions typically during summer
Maritime tropical definition
Mild, damp in winter, hot, muggy in summer. Originates from warm equatorial regions typically in summer, can appear in winter.
Air mass modification overview
Air masses will gain properties of underlying surface during movement
ex. colder over warmer becomes unstable, warm over cool stabilizes
Types of fronts
Cold, warm, stationary, occluded
Occluded front definition
When a cold front overtakes a warm front and forces it aloft
takes ‘comma’ structure, with cold on left, warm on right and divergent occluded projection from top
Cloud sequence mechanics
When warm overtakes cold, causes air to heat+rise and then cool to condense into cloud structures
When cold overtakes warm, cold displaces warm air and causes rising, and thusly condensation into clouds
Norwegian cyclone stages- beginning
Low pressure system forms on front as wave and is embedded in jet stream, moving over front. Stationary front changes into a cold front and warm front as air masses move
Fronts are kinked at this point
Norwegian cyclone stages- intensification
Cold+warm fronts begin to smooth out, lose chaotic qualities
comma structure forms w/ no occlusion
Norwegian cyclone stages- maturity
Occluded front forms due to movement of cold front towards warm front; will generate intense weather patterns during this process
Dissipation
Occluded front eventually segregates warm front, causing dissipation of low pressure system
Norwegian cyclone stages- maturity-wind patterns/structure
Wind blows cc around occlusion, horizontal across cold/warm front
Why occlusions happen
Air mass overtaking the warm front is colder than the cool air ahead of the warm front and plows beneath both masses, to form occlusion
Rossby waves
Synoptic scale atmospheric wave phenomena where waves stretch across oceanic planetary surface westwards
Significance of rossby waves
transfer heat from the tropics toward the poles and cold air toward the tropics
Meridional vs zonal flow
Meridional- horizontal movement of isobars with small ridge/trough projections
Zonal- horizontal qualities, but extended ridge/trough projections on mesoscalic level
Dynamic vs thermal lows/high (dynamic defs)
Dynamic high- strongly descending air is usually associated with high pressure at the surface
Dynamic low- strongly rising air is usually associated with low pressure at the surface
Dynamic vs thermal lows/highs (thermal defs)
Thermal high- very cold surface conditions are often associated with high pressure at the surface
Thermal low- very warm surface conditions are often associated relatively low pressure at the surface
Vorticity def
The impact of the earth’s rotation on the movement of air/water masses
relative vorticity in N hemisphere
‘cyclonic rotation’
+ vorticity: cc
-vorticity: c
global vorticity
a factor in the coriolis effect; the total consideration of the earths rotation on all fluids/air masses
