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Meteorology > Exam 2 Content > Flashcards

Exam 2 Content Flashcards

1
Q

What is saturation?

A

When an air parcel is holding all the water it can handle at a specific temperature.

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2
Q

What is Dalton’s Law?

A

The total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressure exerted by each gas..Ex: 780 mb (nitrogen) +210 mb (oxygen) +10 mb (water vapor)= 1000 mb total pressure.

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3
Q

Can warm air hold more or less water vapor than cold air?

A

Warm air has the capacity to hold more water vapor than cold air.

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4
Q

Why are adiabatic processes unique in regards to heat transfer?

A

Adiabatic process allow a change in temperature to occur without the transfer of heat energy.

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5
Q

What happens adiabatically when a parcel rises?

A

The air parcel gets bigger, the molecules move slower. As a result, the air parcel cools.

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6
Q

What happens adiabatically when an air parcel sinks?

A

The air parcel will contract, the molecules will move faster. The parcel will warm up.

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7
Q

What is the value of the dry adiabatic lapse rate? (DALR)

A

10 degrees Celsius/1000m

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8
Q

What is the value of the moist adiabatic lapse rate? (MALR)

A

Can range from 2 to 9.5 degrees celsius. AVERAGE IS 6 DEGREES CELSIUS/1000M

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9
Q

What is the value of the environmental lapse rate? (ELR)

A

6.5 C/1000m (not a parcel lapse rate, regards to temp change with height)

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10
Q

Why is the MALR less than the DALR?

A

Cooling doesn’t occur as efficiently during MALR as it does during the DALR.

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11
Q

What happens when a parcel is lifted to the lifting condensation level?

A

The parcel will become saturated

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12
Q

What is the difference between bead and hoar frost?

A

Bead frost occurs when dew forms and the temperature falls below freezing point, which causes the frost to freeze into tiny beads of ice. Hoar frost occurs when air temp cools to dew point temp and the water vapor goes directly to ice.

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13
Q

How is fog different than a cloud?

A

Clouds can form at different altitudes while fog forms near the ground.

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14
Q

What are the four types of fog?

A

Radiation, Advection, Upslope, and Evaporation

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15
Q

How does radiation fog form?

A

Occurs when the surface/ ground is rapidly cooled.

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16
Q

How does advection fog form?

A

Occurs when warm, moist air moves over a cold surface.

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17
Q

How does upslope fog form?

A

Occurs when moist air goes up a mountain or up a slanted surface.

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18
Q

How does evaporation fog form?

A

Occurs when warm moist air meets the cold dry air.

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19
Q

What are hygroscopic nuclei?

A

The are nuclei that love water (seek it). Condensation can occur even when relative humidity is less than 100%

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20
Q

What are hydrophobic nuclei?

A

Condensation nuclei that resist waster. Resist condensation when relative humidity is 100%.

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21
Q

How do clouds form?

A

Air will rise, temps drop, relative humidity increases, air parcel becomes saturated, condensation occurs, clouds then form.

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22
Q

How are clouds classified?

A

They are classified according to appearance and height.

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23
Q

What are the different types of atmospheric stability?

A

Absolute Stability, Absolute Instability, Conditional Instability.

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24
Q

What happens during absolute stability?

A

The ELR is less than the MALR and the DALR. (ELR <MALR<DALR). Environment is cooling slower than a saturated air parcel.

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25
Q

What happens during absolute instability?

A

occurs when the ELR is greater than the DALR. (ELR>DALR>MALR). Environment is cooling faster than a dry air parcel.

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26
Q

What occurs during conditional instability?

A

Happens when the ELR is between the MALR and the DALR (MALR<ELR<DALR). Environment is cooling slower than a dry air parcel but faster than a moist air parcel.

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27
Q

What clouds are expected during absolute stability?

A

stratiform type clouds may form

28
Q

What clouds are expected during absolute instability?

A

Clouds of vertical development

29
Q

What clouds are expected during conditional instability?

A

stratiform clouds/clouds of vertical development.

30
Q

What are the four uplift mechanisms in the atmosphere?

A

Convection, topographic ascent, widespread ascent due to convergence of air near the surface, uplift along frontal boundaries.

31
Q

How does convection result in uplift?

A

vertical movement occurs due to density differences between the air parcel and surrounding environment.

32
Q

How does topographic ascent result in uplift?

A

The airflow is pushed up and over a mountain range and continues on.

33
Q

How does convergence of frontal boundaries result in uplift?

A

winds will meet horizontally which pushes them up into the atmosphere through forceful lifting.

34
Q

How does the collision and coalescence process work in warm clouds?

A

Condensation will collide into others and eventually form a droplet. This droplet will collide with others to eventually be able to fall.

35
Q

What is the Bergeron Findeisen process?

A

It shows how ice crystals form in cold clouds. The rapid growth of ice crystals at the expense of surrounding cloud droplets

36
Q

Why do ice crystals grow faster than liquid droplets in cold clouds?

A

Ice crystal grows a bit faster because it is further from its ice saturation line than the liquid droplet is from liquid saturation line.

37
Q

Which fall faster, large or small droplets?

A

Large droplets fall faster

38
Q

What is supercooled water?

A

Liquid drops that exist at temperatures below freezing.

39
Q

What is the difference between freezing rain and sleet?

A

Freezing rain occurs when rain falls through a cold layer, right at the ground and freezes on contact, causing a layer of ice to form. Sleet forms when snow falls from the cloud, melts as it falls through a layer above freezing and then falls back through another layer below freezing.

40
Q

What is a pressure gradient?

A

The pressure gradient refers to the change in pressure over the change in distance.

41
Q

How to differentiate weak and strong pressure gradients?

A

Weak pressure gradients are apparent when isobars are far apart from each other. Strong pressure gradients are apparent when the isobars are crowded together.

42
Q

How does wind speed relate to pressure gradient?

A

slow winds=low pressure gradient
fast winds-high pressure gradient

43
Q

What does frictional force do to the wind?

A

Friction slows the wind and changes its direction.

44
Q

Why are the Coriolis and Centrifugal considered apparent?

A

They arise from the rotation of the earth.

45
Q

How does Coriolis force influence wind direction?

A

It deflects the direction of the wind to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

46
Q

Where is the Coriolis the strongest

A

It is the strongest at the poles.

47
Q

What two forces are in balance, vertically, such that the atmosphere doesn’t fly off into space?

A

Vertical pressure gradient force and gravitational force.

48
Q

What is geostrophic flow?

A

the wind that results from the balance between the coriolis force and the pressure gradient force

49
Q

How does wind flow around High and Low pressure centers?

A

Counterclockwise around low pressure and clock wise around high pressure.

50
Q

How does wind move vertically associated with H and L pressure centers?

A

Air goes up around a low, air goes down at a high.

51
Q

What is the difference zonal and meridional flow?

A

zonal-In an area where the upper-level
winds blow primarily from the west
toward the east
meridional-When the upper-level winds blow in
large, looping, meanders in
northeast, southeast directions. (ridges and troughs)

52
Q

What does Dine’s Compensation Law tell us?

A

an area of convergence in the atmosphere must be
compensated for by an area of divergence
and vice versa.

53
Q

What is the jet stream?

A

currents of fast moving air.

54
Q

What is an air mass?

A

an extremely large
volume of the atmosphere with (fairly)
homogeneous temperature and
moisture characteristics (i.e. density).

55
Q

What are the different air mass labels?

A

Classified by latitude (Arctic-A, Polar-P, Tropical-T, Equatorial-E) and moisture: continental (c) and maritime (m).

56
Q

What is a stationary front?

A

Represented by triangles and half circles. Cold air meets warm and the air stays “stationary”

57
Q

What is a cold front?

A

Cold air goes toward the direction of the blue triangles.

58
Q

What is a warm front?

A

Warm air goes in the direction of the red half circles.

59
Q

What is an occluded front

A

represented with purple color with teeth and mounds. Warm air gets caught between two cold masses.

60
Q

What is a dry line front?

A

dry air pushes up the moist air. Dry lines, depicted on surface maps in beige, with hollow semicircles pointing in the direction of movement.

61
Q

What are the two things needed for cyclogenesis to occur?

A

1.) A frontal boundary between air masses of different character.
2.) An area of divergence in the upper atmosphere levels with an area of positive vorticity advection.

62
Q

What is vorticity?

A

rotation or spin in the atmosphere

63
Q

Why does vorticity occur?

A

1.) horizontal variations in wind velocity
2.) curvature of wind flow

64
Q

Where do thunderstorms most often occur in the United States?

A

Florida (Specifically Orlando)

65
Q

What is a supercell storm?

A

A storm that is typically associated with severe weather. It lasts longer and is much larger than a typical thunderstorm. (2-4 hours versus 1 hour) (20-50km versus 10km)

66
Q

What are the requirements for a storm to be classified as severe?

A

Must have at leas 1 inch sized hail in diameter and or damaging winds at least 58 mph, or 50 knots. NOT OFFICIAL BUT PRESENCE OF A TORNADO WOULD GIVE A THUNDERSTORM THE “SEVERE” DESIGNATION.

Meteorology (1 decks)

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