GY 101 Lab - Final Exam

temperature

a measure of the average kinetic energy of an object

Farhenheit, celsius, kelvin

what are the three temperature scales?

1.8

a 1 degree change in celsius equals a _________ degree change in Fahrenheit

0.5556

a 1 degree change in Fahrenheit equals a ___________ degree change in celsius

1

a 1 degree change in Celsius equals a _________ degree change in Kelvin

air pressure

_________ is the pressure exerted by the weight of the air above a point

millibars (mb)

what unit is air pressure measured in?

0.014

one millibar equals _______ pounds per square inch (psi)

703.1

1 psi = ________ kilograms per square meter

0.07031

1 psi = ___________ kilograms per square centimeter

angle of incidence (AOI)

how far the sun is above the horizon

zenith angle

how far the sun is from being directly overhead

90

both the AOI and the Zenith Angle add up to _________ degrees

90

"sun directly overhead" means AOI is ____________ and the Zenith angle is 0

66.5°N

Arctic Circle

23.5°N

Tropic of Cancer

0°

Equator

23.5°S

Tropic of Capricorn

66.5°S

Antarctic Circle

90° N

North Pole

90° S

South Pole

summer solstice

the sun is overhead at the tropic of cancer during the ____________

vernal equinox

the sun is overhead at the equator during the _________________-

winter solstice

the sun is overhead at the tropic of capricorn during the ___________

autumnal equinox

the sun is overhead at the equator during the _______________

Wein's Law

a relationship between the temperature and the wavelength at which it emits the most electromagnetic energy

shorter

according to Wien's law, hot objects emit ___________ radiation wavelengths compared to cold objects

albedo

the amount of insolation that is reflected

shortwave radiation

high energy waves emitted from the sun

longwave radiation

infrared rays re-emitted from the ground

wavelength

the distance between peaks in a repeating pattern of traveling energy

infrared thermometer (pyrometer)

instrument that infers temperature from the amount of thermal radiation being emitted

solar radiation sensors (pyranometers)

instrument that measures the power of light and heat from the sun

humidity

is temperature dependant

temperature

RH changes as _____ changes

higher, lower

RH is usually ________ in the mornings and __________ in the afternoons

relative humidity

even if moisture content in the air stays the same, _________ will change because the temperature changed

dew point

is an absolute measure of the air's moisture content

dew point

is usually steady throughout the day unless there is a weather feature in the area

humid/muggy

higher dew point feels ________

temperature

dew point is a __________ and is measured on the same scale

latent heat

a body's use of perspiration to cool itself is ____________

latent heat

energy stored or released during a phase change

evaporation and condensation

examples of changes of state

saturation

water vapor pressure is equal to vapor capacity

isobars

lines of equal pressure

windy weather

isobars that are closer together means more _________

red semicircles

warm fronts are represented by ________

blue triangles

cold fronts are represented by _________

mb (millibars)

air pressure indicated by numbers scattered across a weather map, measured in _________

alternating red semicircles and blue triangles

stationary fronts are represented by _________

purple semicircles and triangles

occluded fronts are represented by _______

high pressure

-wind blows AWAY from high pressure to low pressure

-clockwise motion

-associated with fair weather

low pressure

-wind blows TOWARD low pressure

-counterclockwise motion

-associated with stormy/severe weather

weather station plot

severe weather ingredients

-CAPE (convective available potential energy): measurement of lift/instability; highest in the warm season

-Wind shear: change in wind speed or direction with increasing altitude off the surface

-SRH (storm relative helicity): measurement of wind shear; highest during cold season

-CAPE and SRH can be combined into EHI (energy helicity index) which is a good predictor of damaging tornado potential

1-2

EHI values greater than _____ have been associated with significant tornados in supercells

recurrence intervals

the value indicates how frequent or rare an event is

often

the lower the value of the recurrence interval, the more ________ it happens

climographs

a graphical representation of a region's climate

monthly average temperature, monthly average precipitation

climographs use _________________ and _____________ for the y-axis

months

on a climograph, ______ are on the x-axis

line

on a climograph, temperature is represented as a _______

precipitation

on a climograph, ___________ is represented as bars

units, axis labels, title

what must a climograph include?

climate

long term pattern of weather

thresholds of temperature and precipitation

the Koppen Climate Classification System focuses on ________

tropical, arid, temperate midlatitude, harsh midlatitude, and polar

what are the 5 major categories of the Koppen system?

major climate group

In the Koppen system, the first letter represents the ______

precipitation patterns

in the Koppen system, the second letter represents the _________

f

wet year-round

s

dry Summer

w

dry Winter

m

experiences Monsoon

polar

uppercase second letter for arid and _____ climates

temperature patterns

if a third letter is present, it denotes ______

A - Tropical

•Warm temperatures year round

•Precipitation mainly due to trade winds and ITCZ

B - Arid

•Cover greatest portion of Earth's land surface

•Desert and steppe climates

•Can be hot or cold

•Low precipitation, high evaporation

•Descending air along subtropics

•Rain shadow

•Cold ocean currents

C - Temperate Mid-Latitude

•Moderate temperatures and precipitation

•High human activity

•Occur mostly in subtropical latitudes

•Precipitation occurs mainly when high pressure cells are not dominant

D - Harsh Mid-Latitude

•More severe winters because they are dominated by continental air masses

•Decently even distribution of precipitation year round

•Midlatitude cyclones bring precipitation

•Westerlies

E - Polar

•High latitudes in Northern and Southern hemispheres

•Extremely cold

•Low precipitation totals

•High albedo

temperature anomoly

the difference from the average temperature

postitive anomoly

warmer than average

negative anomoly

colder than average

anomoly = annual average (mean) = long term average

can determine wether a given year was warmer or colder than average with this equation

potential long-term issues for temperature data collection

-instrumentation improves (is more recent data collected with newer, better instruments more accurate than older data?)

-collection methods change (ocean temperatures used to be collected with ships that were too warm but are now collected with buoys)

-where is the weather station located? (often much warmer than surrounding sites

-land use and land over change near weather stations (more roads and buildings may inflate temperature readings like albedo and urban heat island)

paleoclimatology

the study of past climates

uniformitarian principle

the present to the key is the past

methods of study to paleoclimatology

-ice cores

-corals

-sediments

-pollen deposits

-tree rings

dendrochronology

-the dating and study of annual rings in trees, as well as environmental factors such as fires or insects

crossdate

various techniques are used to _________ wood samples to assure accurate dating

crossdating

ensures that each individual tree ring is assigned an exact year of formation

width

the ________ of each tree ring is related to how conductive the tree's environment was for growth that year. more rain = wider ring, less rain = narrow ring

increment borers

samples are collected using _______________, which is a hollow drill used to extract a bore from the bark to the core of a tree. this allows scientists to study trees without having to cut them down

earlywood

light colored layer that grows in spring

latewood

dark colored layer that grows in late summer

tree age, pests, temperature, human impacts, disease, fire

factors that can affect tree growth