Earth Science Midterm

Earths atmosphere is made up of

78% nitrogen 21% Oxygen

Water vapor in the atmosphere is the source of

clouds and rain

The amount of energy the atmosphere aborbs depends on

carbon dioxide levels

Solid particles in the atmosphere consist of

salt and dust

Ozone layer is earths most important layer bc

absorbs harmful radiation

Stratosphere

temp increases with altitude, contains concentrated ozone

Mesosphere

Layer above stratosphere,coldest middle layer temps decrease with altitude

Troposphere

Weather occurs within the layer, high pressure, temps decrease with altitude

Exosphere

Outermost layer, above thermosphere

Thermosphere

between mesosphere and exosphere, hottest,lowest pressure contains ionosphere and aurora borealis, temp increases with altitude.

Sun

source of all energy that reaches the Earth

methods energy is transferred from Earths surface to the air

Conduction, Convection and Radiation

Convection

the transfer if thermal energy by the movement of heated gas/liquid circulating. Warm air vertically rises expands and sinks and cools creating a convection current.

Conduction

Heat transferred through direct contact, heats between land and air when molecules collide.

Radiation

Heat is transferred through electromagnetic waves

Temperature

measure if how rapidly or slowly molecules move,measured in kelvin,celsius and most commonly in the U.S Farenheit

Heat

the transfer of energy that takes place bc of temp differences

Rain drops

Water vapor goes through condensation (cools and turns from gas to liquid)

Condensation

Air must be saturated before this occurs, water vapor cooling and turns from gas to a liquid state.

Saturation

the point at which air holds as much water vapor it can possibly hold

Dew point

The temp at which air must be cooled at constant pressure to reach saturation then condensation can occur

Lifted condensation

The height above the surface at which condensation occurs

Need to know :)+=

Air is denser near Earths surface than high in the atmosphere

Need to know :)=+

Particles of air in the atmosphere exert pressure on Earths surface

Need to know :)+

Air pressure is lower at the top of a mountain than at lower elevations

Need to know :)=

In the troposphere air increases with decreasing altitudes along with air pressure that increases

Need to know :)-

As you move up from earths surface wind speed increases bc air meets with less friction from earths surface

Relative humidity

The amount of water in the air compared to the amount of water it could possibly hold

What is the relative humidity of fully saturated air

100%

what happens to the air as it forms clouds

Warm air rises and expands and cools which leads to water vapor condensing to form clouds

What causes the air to rise in this pic

Orographic lifting

What causes the air in this pic to rise

the collision of the warm air mass with the colder one (warm air rises)

What type of cloud formation is shown

Orographic lifting

How does condensation nuclei help clouds form?

Water vapor condenses on the nuclei and forms around them

Precipitation

All forms of water that fall from clouds

Stratus

Low, layered clouds

Coalescence

when small cloud droplets collide to form lager ones

Cirrus

Wispy, high altitude clouds made of ice crystals

Cumulus

form at all altitudes "heap upon" look like cotton balls

Cumulonimbus

indicate storms

Water cycle

the constant movement of water between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface

Evaporation

the process of water changing from a liquid to a gas

Condensation

water vapor rises in the atmosphere, cools, changes into liquid cloud droplets

Precipitation

Cloud droplets combine to form larger droplets and fall to the Earth

Sun

The water cycles draws its energy from this

Ozone layer

blocks ultraviolet radiation from the Sun

Need to know :)1

Both temp and pressure decrease with height in the Troposphere

Need to know :)2

The amount of water in a given volume of air is its absolute humidity/saturation

Need to know :)33

The height in the atmosphere at which condensation occurs is the lifted condensation level

Need to know :)9

A temp inversion is an increase in temp with height in its atmosphere

Cloud droplets form

Condensation nuclei are particles of dust at which this forms

Orographic lifting, clouds form when moist winds....

encounter mountains

latent heat

heat that is stored in a substance

How do we name air masses?

Humidity and Temp

How do we characterize air masses that form over Oceans?

Wet(humid)

How do we characterize air masses that form over land?

dry(Continental)

How do we characterize air masses that form near the equater

wet,wwarm (MAritime Tropics)

How do we characterize air masses that are near the Poles

(Cold) Arctic Polar

What time of air masses form over Oceans?

Maritime

What type of Air masses form over land?

Continental

What type of air masses would be colder?

Polar

What type of air masses would be warmer?

Tropical

Whats the humidity and temp of Ct

Dry and Warm

Whats the humidity and temp of Mt

Wet and Warm

Who were the scientists that supported the Geocentric Model?

Aristotle and Ptolemy

Who were the scientists that supported the Heliocentric model?

Galileo and Copernicus

What is the alignment of a lunar eclipse?

Sun, Earth, Moon

What is the alignment of a solar eclipse?

Sun, Moon, Earth

What is the reason Earth has seasons?

Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt

What is apehelion?

occurs on July 4th, Earth is farthest away from the Sun

What is perihelion?

Occurs on january 4th, Earth is closest to the Sun

eletromagnetic spectrum

types of electromagnetic radiation arranged according to wave length and frequency

albedo

percentage of sunlight that is reflected by the surface of a planet or a satellite, such as the moon

highland

light colored, mountanius heavily cratered area of the moon, composed mostly of Lunar breccias

Maria

dark colored smooth plains of the moons surface

ejecta

materials that falls back to the lunar surface after being blasted out by the impact of a space object

ray

long trail of ejecta that radiates outward from an impact crater

rille

valley like structure that meanders across some regions of the moon's maria

ecliptic plane

plane of earth's orbit around the sun

equinox

time of year during which earth's axis is at a 90 degree angle to the sun; both hemispheres receive exactly 12 hours of sunlight and the sun is directly over head at the equator

synchronous rotation

the states at which an orbiting body's orbital and rotational periods are equal

solar eclipse

when the moon passes between the earth and the sun and the moon casts a shadow on earth blocking earth's view of the sun; can be partial or total; occurs only during new moon phase

perigee

closest point in the moon's elliptical orbit to earth

apogee

farthest point in an object's orbit to earth

lunar eclipse

when earth passes between the sun and moon, and earth's shadow falls of the moon, occurs only during a full moon

rotation

spinning on an axis

revolution

The movement of an object around another object

neap tide

when the Sun, Earth and Moon make a right angle and the high tides are lower than usual and the low tides are a little higher than usual.

spring tide

when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are lined up and high tides are higher and low tides are lower.

axis

imaginary line that passes through the Earth's center from the North to the South

orbit

Earths path as it revolves around the sun

tide

the rise and fall of Earth's water

new moon

looks like darkness. has no light reflected

lunar cycle

A sequence of phases of the moon as it revolves around the Earth once every 29.5 days.

waxing

describes phases following a new moon, as more of the Moon's lighted side becomes visible

waning

describes phases that occur after a full moon, as the visible lighted side of the Moon grows smaller

solstice

In summer and winter and the Earth has the longest day/shortest night or the shortest day/longest night

summer

The Northern Hemisphere of the Earth is tilted in toward the sun.

winter

The Northern Hemisphere of Earth is tilted away from the sun.

ellipse

The shape of Earth's orbit