DES Exam 1

Wavelength

The distance between corresponding points on any two successive waves of energy.

Photon

A unit of electromagnetic energy.

Frequency

Number of waves passing a fixed point per second.

Blackbody

A perfect absorber of radiant energy that absorbs and emits all the radiant energy it receives.

Shortwave radiation

Radiation that is made up of short, visible wavelengths. It is the type of radiation that comes from the sun.

Longwave radiation

Radiation that is concentrated in infrared wavelengths. It is the type of radiation that comes from the Earth.

Thermopause

The outer boundary of the Earth’s energy system, approximately 480 km (300 miles) above Earth’s surface.

Insolation

The total solar radiation intercepted by the Earth.

Solar constant

The average insolation received at the thermopause when the Earth is at the average distance from the sun.

Sub-solar points

Points where insolation arrives perpendicular to the surface (lower latitudes).

Net radiation

The balance between incoming shortwave energy from the sun and all outgoing radiation from the Earth.

Altitude

The angle between the horizon and the Sun.

Declination

The latitude of the sub-solar point.

Daylength

The duration of exposure to insolation, which varies during the year, depending on latitude.

Revolution

The Earth traveling around the Sun.

Axial tilt

The Earth’s tilt.

Rotation

The time to turn once on an axis.

Axial parallelism

Through the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, the Earth’s axis maintains the same alignment relative to the plane of the ecliptic.

Air

A simple mixture of gases, blended so thoroughly that is behaves as if it were a single gas.

Heterosphere

The outer atmosphere in terms of composition (50 miles out). The region is not uniform and its gases are not evenly mixed.

Homosphere

Below the heterosphere. The blend of gas is mostly uniform besides the ozone layer.

Constant gases

Gases so common that their relative abundance does not significantly vary (nitrogen, oxygen, argon)

Variable gases

Gases that are rare enough that fluctuations do occur (water vapor, CO2, CH4, hydrogen, N2O, O3)

Lapse rate

Refers to the linear change in temperature as altitude increases, which varies with latitude.

Tropopauses

Occurs when the lapse rate ceases and temperature changes with altitude reach a breakpoint.

Ionosphere

The functional layer of the atmosphere that removes most of the harmful wavelengths of incoming solar radiation and charged particles. Extends throughout the thermosphere and into the mesosphere below.

Ozonosphere

The functional layer of the atmosphere where the highest cluster of ozone is found. The ozone absorbs the shorter wavelengths of UV radiation.

Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs)

Greenhouse gas and ozone depleter

Aerosols

The collective category of all particulate and liquid droplets created by natural sources.

Anthropogenic atmosphere

A human-made creation as the atmospheric conditions we are creating have not been observed in human history.

Photochemical smog

The major component of anthropogenic air pollution; it is responsible for the hazy sky and reduced sunlight in many of our cities. Is created from the interaction of sunlight and the combustion products in automobile exhaust-nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.

Ozone

One product of photochemical smog. Near the Earth’s surface it can be a strong irritant for humans and damages plants.

NO2

Emitted from automobiles, can react to form peroxyacetyl nitrates and reacts with water vapor to form nitric acid.

Industrial smog

Air pollution associated with coal-burning industries.

Sulfur dioxide

Primary product of industrial smog. Once the chemical reacts with oxygen and water, sulfuric acid becomes a deposition acid.

Acid deposition

The technical term for acid rain. The phenomenon occurs when industrial and photochemical smog contributes SO2 and NOx to the atmosphere, which reacts with O2 and water to produce nitric and sulfuric acid.

Clean Air Act amendments of 1990

Targeted reductions in SO2 and NOx emissions from power plants and automobiles.

Transmission

Refers to the uninterrupted passage of shortwave and longwave energy.

Work

The energy transferred to or from an object via the application of force.

Energy

The capacity to do work.

Kinetic energy

The energy of motion.

Potential energy

Stored energy.

Heat

The flow of kinetic energy between molecules and from one body to another.

Sensible heat

Can be “sensed by humans as temperature because it comes from the kinetic energy of molecular motion.

Latent heat

Hidden heat; when the energy gained/lost when a substance changes from one state to another.

Convection

The transfer of heat by mixing or circulation.

Advection

Convection when horizontal motion dominates.

Radiation

The transfer of heat in electromagnetic waves, such as from the Sun to Earth.

Conduction

The molecule-to-molecule transfer of energy as it diffuses through a substance.

Refraction

The bending of light as the light moves from medium to medium, thus this only occurs when light transitions among types of matter.

Reflection

The portion of the arriving energy that bounces directly back into space.

Albedo

The reflective quality of a surface (%).

Steady-state equilibrium

The Earth-atmosphere system naturally balances itself with equal inputs and outputs of energy.

Greenhouse Effect

Certain gases in the atmosphere delay longwave energy losses to space and thus warm the lower atmosphere.

Global dimming

A general term describing the pollution-created decline in insolation reaching Earth’s surface.

Temperature

A measure of the average kinetic energy of individual molecules in matter.

Solar energy

The principle heat source at Earth’s surface.

Elevation

Refers to the height of a point on Earth’s surface above some plane of reference.

Snowline

Refers to the lower limit of permanent snow and indicates where winter snowfall exceeds the amount of snow lost through summer melting and evaporation.

Evaporation

Dissipates large amounts of energy arriving at the ocean’s surface.

Heat capacity

The amount of heat require to raise a material to a certain degree.

Gulf Stream

The warm current that carries warm water far into the North Atlantic.

Marine Effect

Refers to the moderating influence of the ocean and usually occurs in locations along coastlines or on islands.

Continental Effect

Refers to the greater range between maximum and minimum temperatures on both a daily and yearly basis that occurs in areas that are inland from the ocean or distant from other large water bodies.

Pressure

The force per unit area that the mass of air exerts on Earth.

Barometers

Measure air pressure by responding to slight differences in how much mass is exerted on them.

Gravitational force

Counteracts the outward centrifugal force acting on Earth’s spinning surface and atmosphere.

Pressure gradient force

This drives air from areas of higher barometric pressure to areas of lower gradients.

Gradients

Refer to the rate of change in some property over distance.

Isobar

Lines on pressure gradient maps that indicate transitions between high and low pressure zones.

Coriolis

Makes wind traveling in a straight path appear to be deflected in relation to Earth’s rotating surface.

Friction force

Creates drag as the wind moves across Earth’s surface, which decreases with height.

Anticyclones

An anticyclone is a pattern of winds (or air mass) that circulates a high-pressure system. It rotates clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. It is typically associated with dry and fair weather.

Cyclones

A cyclone is a pattern of winds (or air mass) that circulates a low-pressure system. It rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. It is typically associated with wet and stormy weather.

Primary circulation

General worldwide circulation patterns

Secondary circulation

Migratory high-pressure and low-pressure systems.

Tertiary circulation

Local winds and weather patterns.

Meridional flows

Wind flows those that move north or south.

Zonal flows

Winds that move east or west along a parallel.

Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)

The equatorial low pressure zone of primary pressure and associated winds caused by thermal or dynamic factors.

Hadley Cells

Causes warm, dry air to descend on 30 degree latitude which creates subtropical high pressure zones where conditions are hot and dry.

Westerlies

The dominant winds flowing from the subtropics toward the higher latitudes.

Trade winds

Winds that converge at the equatorial low.

Rossby Waves

Cold air that is creates by variations in wind intensity that disrupt cells.

Polar Jet Stream

Meanders between 30 and 70 degrees north at the tropopause along the polar front and 25,000 and 35,000 feet and can migrate as far south as Texas, steering cold air masses into North America and influencing surface storm paths traveling eastward.

Subtropical Jet Stream

In subtropical latitudes near the boundary between tropical and mid-latitude air, from 20 and 50 degrees North latitude.

Stratosphere

The second layer of the atmosphere of Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air high in the sky and the cool layers of air in the low sky, close to the planetary surface of the Earth.

Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the landmark multilateral environmental agreement that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances.

Heat inversion

A meteorological phenomenon in which a layer of cool air at the surface is overlain by a layer of warmer air. This is a reversal of the normal behavior of temperature in the troposphere, in which air temperature usually decreases with height. Layers can occur anywhere from close to ground level up to thousands of feet into the atmosphere.

Revolution, rotation, tilt, and sphericity

What four attributes of Earth’s path through space affect the duration and variability of seasons?

Temperature decreases as you go up through the troposphere, increases through the stratosphere, decreases through the mesosphere, and increases through the thermosphere.

How does temperature change from Earth’s surface to the top of the atmosphere?

The blackbody radiation curve for different temperature peaks at a wavelength is inversely proportional to the temperature. The radiation emitted by the blackbody is known as blackbody radiation. To stay in thermal equilibrium, a black body must emit radiation at the same rate as it absorbs, so it must also be a good emitter.

What is the relationship between the intensity of radiation emitted from a blackbody and the temperature of the blackbody surface?

The atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface (the homosphere) is a blend of gases that is mostly uniform and evenly mixed. The atmosphere on top of that (the heterosphere) is not uniform and its gases are not evenly mixed.

How does the gaseous composition of the atmosphere change with altitude?

Nitrogen (78.1%), Oxygen (20.9%), Argon (0.93%), Carbon Dioxide (0.04%), Trace Gases, Water Vapor (Variable)

What gases comprise the majority of the atmosphere?

Function, composition, and temperature

Describe three means in which we can identify specific layers of the atmosphere.

The ozone layer absorbs a portion of the radiation, known as UVB, preventing it from reaching the planet's surface. The destruction of the ozone layer leads to increased chances of skin cancer among humans and reduced plant health.

What does stratospheric ozone do for us?

CFC interaction with atmospheric ozone leads to a chemical reaction where the CFC molecules are broken up by ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine atoms, which are able to destroy ozone molecules.

How do CFCs change this important ecosystem service?

The ozone layer is most depleted over the Arctic and Australia. CFCs are capable of staying in the atmosphere for a long period of time, so the ozone hole is shrinking fairly slowly over time.

Where is the ozone layer most depleted and is it temporally constant?

An international treaty, adopted in Montreal on September 16, 1987, aimed to regulate the production and use of chemicals that contribute to the depletion of Earth’s ozone layer. It serves as a model for global policy agreements on climate and environmental-based issues.

What did the Montreal Protocol do and what may it serve as a model for?

Smoke, ash, dust, pathogens, pollen, etc.

List some sources of natural air pollution.