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EES 023 > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

(79 cards)

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1
Q

What percent of the atmosphere is N2?

A

78%

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2
Q

What percent of the atmosphere is O2?

A

21%

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3
Q

What are the other gases of the atmosphere (not oxygen or nitrogen)?

A

Greenhouse gases, trace gases (argon, helium, hydrogen, xenon), aerosols, cfcs

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4
Q

What is the equation for pressure?

A

P= F/A

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5
Q

What are the units for pressure?

A

pascals or millibars

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6
Q

What is a pascal?

A

(kg)(m)/(s2)(m2)

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7
Q

What direction does wind flow around a low pressure system in the northern hemisphere?

A

Counter clockwise

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8
Q

What direction does wind flow around a high pressure system in the northern hemisphere?

A

Clockwise

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9
Q

What are the weather conditions in a low pressure system?

A

Rising air and cloud formation

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10
Q

What are the weather conditions in a high pressure system?

A

Sinking air and clear skies

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11
Q

Which layer of the atmosphere is the troposphere?

A

The first layer

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12
Q

Is the lapse rate positive or negative in the troposphere?

A

Negative

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13
Q

What is the heat source for the troposphere?

A

Surface infrared radiation

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14
Q

What layer of the atmosphere is the stratosphere?

A

The second layer

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15
Q

Is the lapse rate positive or negative in the stratosphere?

A

Positive

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16
Q

What is the heat source of the stratosphere?

A

The ozone layer

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17
Q

Why is the upper stratosphere warmer than the lower stratosphere, even though the ozone is in the lower stratosphere?

A

Because the top of the stratosphere, the air is less dense, so it is more efficient at heating

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18
Q

What layer of the atmosphere is the mesosphere?

A

The third layer

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19
Q

What is the lapse rate of the mesosphere?

A

Negative

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20
Q

What layer of the atmosphere is the thermosphere?

A

The top most layer

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21
Q

What is the lapse rate of the thermosphere?

A

Positive

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22
Q

What is the heat source for the thermosphere?

A

O2 absorption of UV rays

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23
Q

Does cold air aloft and warm air at surface favor stability or instability?

A

Instability

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24
Q

Does warm air aloft and cold air at the surface favor stability or instability?

A

Stability

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25
What is it called when warm air is aloft and cold air is at the surface?
An inversion
26
What is a cold front?
When cold air moves into warm air, forcing the warm air up vertically
27
What are the weather conditions that come with a cold front?
Storms, drop in temperatures, fall, then rise in pressure, fall in dew point
28
What are the clouds that come with a cold front?
Altocumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrostratus, cirrus
29
What is a warm front?
When warm air pushes into cold, and as a result of the lower density of warm air, rides over the cold air
30
What are the weather conditions that come with a warm front?
Slow rise in temperatures, leveling of pressures, drizzle or no precipitation, and a steady/slightly rising dew point
31
What clouds are associated with warm fronts?
Stratocumulus, stratus, nimbostratus, altostratus, cumulocirrus, cirrus
32
What is a continental polar air mass like?
Cool and dry, with high pressures over land, cold, clear in winter, lake effect snows
33
What is a lake effect snow?
When cold, dry continental polar air crosses a warmer body of water, picking up moisture and warmth from that water. The now more buoyant air rises, forming clouds that deposit snow on the side of the shore. Unstable atmospheric conditions
34
What is a maritime polar air mass like?
Cool and moist, unstable
35
When do nor'easters occur?
When maritime polar air from the Atlantic and maritime tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico occur at the same time, so when the air masses meet, they create a stationary front, which leads to snow and rain north of the front
36
What is a maritime tropical air mass like?
Warm and moist, with fog in the Gulf
37
What is a continental tropical air mass like?
Hot and dry with droughts
38
What is the ideal gas law?
P=RpT, when R=gas constant, p=density, and T=temperature (K)
39
Why is the ideal gas law important?
It shows why cold fluid air is more dense than warm air, as pressure increases, so does density
40
What is compressional heating?
Sinking air compresses and warms, while rising air expands and cools
41
What is an example of compressional heating?
Air passing over the Appalachian (colder in Pittsburgh than Philly)
42
What is latent heat?
Heat required to change state, does not result in temperature change
43
Why is evaporation a cooling process?
Because heat is required to change state, so when it evaporates from the surface, it leaves it cooler
44
What is sensible heat?
Heat that results in a temperature change
45
What is convection?
The transfer of heat by mass movement of fluid (think convection cells)
46
What is conduction?
Heat transfer from molecule to molecule
47
What is radiation?
When particles of medium move perpendicular to the direction of the electromagnetic wave
48
What is heat capacity?
Amount of heat absorbed/temperature increase (J/degree celsius)
49
Why do oceans heat slower than land?
They have a higher heat capacity
50
What is a blackbody?
A perfect absorber and emitter
51
What is Wein's displacement law?
Max wavelength= 3000/T (K)
52
What is the equation for energy flux?
Ef= (5.67 x 10^-8) (T^4)
53
How do you find total energy using energy flux?
E= Ef*Surface area
54
What does the solar constant represent?
Energy flux of the sun at Earth (E(sun)/circle around Earth and sun)
55
What type of radiation does the sun emit?
Visible
56
What type of radiation does the Earth emit?
Infrared
57
What type of body is the atmosphere?
A greybody
58
What type of radiation do the greenhouse gases absorb?
Infrared radiation
59
What are the greenhouse gases?
Water vapor, CO2, CH4 (methane), ozone (O3), CFCs, N2O
60
How does the greenhouse effect work?
The sun emits energy, which the Earth absorbs and emits back out into the atmosphere, which the greenhouse gases absorb, and in turn emit it agin. They emit it in all directions, including back to Earth, where the extra energy makes the Earth warmer
61
What is a stationary front?
A separation of warm and cold air masses, with no movement
62
What is an occluded front?
When a cold front overtakes a warm front
63
What is albedo?
The effectance of the radiation
64
What is the scale of albedo?
0 to 1
65
What is the albedo of the Earth?
.3
66
What causes most of the planet's albedo?
Clouds
67
What on Earth has the highest albedo?
Snow and ice
68
What is energy balance?
Energy gained by the earth at the surface is also lost at the surface
69
What is the perihelion?
The closest approach of Earth to the sun
70
When does the perihelion occur?
January
71
What is the aphelion?
The furthest Earth gets from the sun
72
When is the aphelion?
July
73
Where is the sun directly overhead during the summer solstice?
The Tropic of Cancer
74
Where is the sun directly overhead in the winter solstice?
the Tropic of Capricorn
75
where is the sun directly overhead at the equinoxes?
The equator
76
Where can there be 24 hours of darkness/light?
Within 23.5 degrees latitude of the poles
77
Why is the maximum surface radiation at 30 degrees?
Because the sun can hit directly, and does not have to go through as much atmosphere but, is also less cloudy
78
Why is there less radiation at the poles?
Because the sun is only ever hitting at an angle, so it has to pass through more atmosphere, and is dispersed further
79
Why is there a higher seasonality in the northern hemisphere?
Because there is a higher land to water ratio

EES 023 (3 decks)

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