Week 6 - ICCR

Atmospheric Stability?

Resistance to vertical motion

Difference between dry and regular adiabatic lapse rate?

Specifically happening inside a cloud

T/F: Both dry and regular lapse rate change

True, due to a changing temperature

What happens to air as it is risen in a stable environment?

Wants to sink back down - stable = staying the same

What happens to air as it is risen in an unstable environment?

It will get warmer and it is buoyant so it will keep rising

What does it mean for environment to be unstable?

When there is a strong decrease in temperature but hot air will continue to rise

How can you feel the different lapse rates throughout the day?

By feeling different temperatures in the environment

Elevated inversion

When warm air is blocked from entering the earth’s surface and remains in the atmosphere

Is elevated inversion stable or unstable?

Very stable (horses are tall and live in a stable)

Why is elevated inversion a big problem for pollutants?

Pollutants rise up and get stuck under this inversion and cannot mix. Inversion is like a lid on a jar!

What would happen if inversion did not exist?

Pollutants would be much more diluted since they would continue up into the atmosphere

Can substance get into our atmosphere?

Yes, think forest fires

What are the six different ways to describe how much water vapor is in the air?

Partial pressure, saturation vapor pressure, dewpoint, specific humidity, relative humidity, and wet bulb depression

What is condensation?

When water vapor changes to a liquid

What is evaporation?

When a liquid changes into a gas or vapor

What creates a cloud?

Water vapor condensing

What does it mean if there are no clouds in the sky?

Air is only sinking

What does it mean if there are only clouds in the sky?

Air is only rising (think of a cloud as a boat, it wouldn’t sink)

What does it mean if there are some clouds and some air in the sky?

Air is both rising an sinking

What are the different ways to create a cloud?

Adding water vapor, cooling air by removing heat, and adiabatic expansion

What is saturation vapor pressure?

The partial pressure of water vapor in a condensed phase (when some particles will change from liquid to gas)

How does saturation vapor pressure occur?

When the number of particles leaving the liquid equals the amount returning. the number of particles hitting the wall creates saturation pressure.

Mackerel Sky

Looks banded; air is rising where there are clouds and sinking where there is not

Cirro-stratus clouds

A think ayer of continuous cloud that is made up of ice

Cumulus Congestus

A cumulus cloud that continues to grow

What does nimbus mean?

Rain

Cumulonimbus cloud

It is a cumulus cloud with rain coming out of it

Mammatus cloude?

Air that descends into lump shapes (looks spherical)

Lenticular Cloud

When air descends to the lee side of the mountain this cloud is created (looks like a UFO over a mountain)

Tornados create _______

A cloud vortex

Why can we see tornados?

Because of clouds

What kind of pressure is there in tornados?

Low pressure in the middle of a vortex

What are clouds made up of?

Both liquid and/or ice

What temperature causes a cloud to be strictly ice?

-40 degrees celsius

What do we call it when the temperature of a cloud forming is between 0 and -40 degrees celsius?

Supercooled Liquid

Which of these is NOT a way a cloud is created:
a. adiabatic expansion

b. adding water vapor

c. condensation

d. cool air by removing heat

C

In a stable environment, the air and its surrounding ________ interact with each other

Environment

When there is a stable environment, the temperature ________

Remains constant

What is the definition of condensation?

When water vapor/gas changes to a liquid

What creates clouds?

Water vapor condensing

Which is NOT a way to describe how much water vapor is in the air:

a. Dewpoint

b. Specific humidity

c. wet bulb depression

d. adiabatic expansion

D

T/F: Elevated Inversion involves warm air remaining in the atmosphere

True

Which of the following can cause forest fires:

a. substances getting into the atmosphere

b. heat lowering from the atmosphere and the heat starts a fire

c. Both A and B

d. Neither A or B

C

There is a different ______ at each point of the day/temperature?

Lapse Rate

T/F: You can find the concentration of the pollutant by dividing the mass of the pollutant by the mass of the air

True

What are the ways clouds can be created?

Clouds are created when water vapor is added or air is cooled by removing heat. Additionally, adiabatic expansion can cause formation of clouds by lifting parcels into the atmosphere. ​

What does adiabatic mean?

Not adding heat

Choose the option below that best matches this description: “A cloud that has a flat bas and a cauliflower top, but has continued to grow”

Cumulus congestus

What is saturation vapor pressure?

The partial pressure of water vapor in a condensed phase

T/F: Cumulus clouds are the most common type of cloud

True

Which of the following is the most common type of cloud?

Cumulus

Nimbus means ______.

Rain

Vortices always have _____ pressure at the ______

Low, middle

T/F: Clouds are made of both liquid and ice

True

At what temperature will clouds always be ice?

Below -40 degrees celsius

Which type of cloud looks banded?

Mackerel sky

T/F: Lenticular clouds move around rapidly

False