Science chapter 17

Latent heat

When water changes at state, but there is no temperature change

Liquid to gas

evaporation (heat is released)

Gas to liquid

condensation (releases)

Solid to gas

sublimation (absorbed)

Solid to liquid

melting (absorbed)

Liquid to solid

Freezing (released)

Gas to solid

deposition (released) [frost]

Humidity

The amount of water vapor in the air

Saturation

the state or process that occurs when no more of something can be absorbed, combined with, or added.

Relative humidity

The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can contain at a particular temperature

Dew point temperature

the temperature to which a parcel of air would need to be cooled to reach saturation

Collision + Coalescence process

in warm clouds liquid water droplets collide with one another and become bigger eventually falling from the cloud (rain)

Bergeron process

in cold clouds supercooled water droplets form into ice crystals because of particles allied ice nuclei that act as surfaces for them to form they grow and eventually fall out of the cloud (snowflakes)

steam fog

forms when cold air moves over relatively warmer water, causing the water to evaporate

Frontal fog

Fog that forms when warm, moist air is forced to rise over a front, cooling and condensing to create fog.

advection fog

a fog formed when warm, moist air is blown over a cool surface

radiation fog

earth releases heat and cools condenses with the moisture in the air

upslope fog

fog created when air moves up a slope and cools adiabatically

stratus clouds

look like flat blankets and cover much of the sky are usually the lowest clouds in the sky

cirrus clouds

Wispy, feathery clouds made of ice crystals that form at high levels.

cumulus clouds

puffy white clouds that tend to have flat bottoms mid-level

cloud classification

altitude and shape

orographic lifting

when moist air rises over mountains, cools and expands, condenses and causes precipitation

frontal wedging

warmer, less dense air, is forced over cooler, denser air

convective lifting

Unequal heating of different surface areas causes a parcel of air near the ground to be warmed by conduction. Density of the warmed air is reduced as the air expands, and so the parcel rises toward a lower-density layer. Causes unstable conditions, rain, clouds, etc.

convergence lifting

Flowing air masses converge and are both forced upward

Adiabatic cooling

The process by which air cools as it rises and expands in the atmosphere without exchanging heat with its surroundings.

A cloud

Water droplets suspended in the air

Wet adiabatic rate

The rate adiabatic temperature change in saturated air

Dry adiabatic lapse rate

The adiabatic rate of cooling or heating that applies only to unsaturated air

Front

Air masses flowing together

Absolute humidity

The actual amount of water vapor present in a given volume of air

2 ways go increase relative humidity

Decreasing the temperature and increasing the amount of water vapor