GY-101 Lab FInal

Latitude of Tropic of Cancer

23.5 N

Latitude of Equator

0

Latitude of Tropic of Capricorn

23.5 S

Longitiude of Prime Meridian

0

Longitude of International Date Line

180

June Solstace

June 21, Directly overhead at tropic of cancer

December solstace

December 21, Directly overhead at tropic of capricorn

March Equinox

March 20, Directly over the equator

September Equinox

September 23, Directly over the equator

What is Ls and Lp

Ls is light perpandicular, Lp is light parraell

Stefan-Boltzmann Law

the total thermal energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body per unit time is directly proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature

Wien’s Law

peak wavelength of radiation emitted by a blackbody is inversely proportional to its absolute temperature

Properties of longwave radiation

Infrared light, less energy, reemitted by the Earth

Properties of shortwave radiation

Visible light, lots of energy, emitted by the Sun

What is Albedo

a measure of how effectively a surface reflects sunlight, expressed as a percentage or fraction from 0 to 1

What does it mean to have a low or high albedo?

High albedo reflect, low albedo absorb

What is the Dew Point?

the temperature to which air must be cooled, at constant pressure, for water vapor to condense into liquid water

RH

because it measures the actual amount of water vapor present, independent of air temperature

Relative Humitidy

the percentage of water vapor currently in the air compared to the maximum amount the air could hold at a specific temperature

Is relative humidity temperature dependant?

Yes

Latent Heat

the energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its physical state (solid, liquid, or gas) that occurs without changing its temperature

How to find Relative Humidity

Sling Psychrometer

Types of Fronts

Cold, Warm, Oculded, and Stationary

Weather with high pressure

fair weather

Weather with low pressure

Stormy weather

High Pressure air flow

Northern - Clockwise. Southern - Counterclockwise

Low pressure air flow

N - Counterclockwise. S - Clockwise

What is a Land Breeze

a local, nocturnal wind that blows from land to water, occurring at night and early morning

What is a Sea Breeze

a cool, gentle wind that blows from the sea towards the land, occurring during the day when the land warms faster than the water

When do land and sea breezes occur?

Sea Breeze during day, Land breeze during night.

Land and Sea breeze Air directon

Sea - Sea to land. Land - land to sea.

Movement of water vapor over mountains

occurs when wind is forced upward by terrain, causing cooling, condensation, and precipitation on the windward side

How does airflow affect temp?

Gets colder on the way up, lower on the way down.

What is a tornado?

A violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a thunderstorm

When are tornados common and where do they occur

Great plains(May - June) and Gulf Coast (October - December)

What is the tornado recurrance interval

the average time, in years, between tornadoes of a certain magnitude or intensity in a specific area

EF scale

the standard system used to estimate tornado strength (EF0-EF5) by assessing damage severity

Watch vs Warning vs emergancy

Watch = possible, warning = Reported, emergancy = big threat

Koppen climate system

a widely used, vegetation-based method that categorizes world climates into five main groups (A, B, C, D, E) based on annual/monthly temperature and precipitation averages

Climographs

a visual tool displaying a location's average monthly temperature and precipitation over a year

Climate v weather

long term weather avg, daily weather

Temperture Anomolies

A positive anomaly indicates temperatures were warmer than the baseline, while a negative anomaly indicates they were cooler

Problems with long term temperature data

Historical innacuries, man made things affecting temps

Dendrochronology

the scientific method of dating tree rings to their exact year of formation to analyze past environmental conditions

Tree rings

Every ring roughly a year, lighter spring growth and darker winter growth

Earlywood v. latewood

Spring is light, winter is dark

Permanent atmospheric gases

Nitrogen (, 78.08%), Oxygen (, 20.95%), and Argon (, 0.93%), with minor amounts of neon, helium, and hydrogen.

Variable atmospheric gasses

water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), ozone (), methane (), and aerosols

Ozone

highly reactive, pungent-smelling, pale blue gas composed of three oxygen atoms

The Greenhouse Effect

a natural process where atmospheric gases—such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor—trap heat radiating from Earth toward space, preventing it from escaping and thus maintaining a warmer surface temperature