Physical Geography and Geoscience Fundamentals Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from Chapters 1 through 4 of physical geography lecture notes covering geography, systems, atmosphere, solar radiation, heat transfer, weather dynamics, and oceanic circulations.

Geography

The study of the relationship between people and their environment, which helps us understand differences between places.

Physical Geography

The spatial study of all elements, processes, and systems that make up the natural environment, as well as the study of interactions between humans and natural systems.

Open System

A system that receives inputs of energy or matter and produces outputs of energy or matter.

Closed System

A system that is shut off from the surrounding environment so that it is self-contained; rare in nature.

Steady State Equilibrium

A condition in a system when the rates of inputs and outputs are equal, keeping the amounts of energy and matter in storage constant.

Dynamic Equilibrium

A condition where a system exhibits an increasing or decreasing trend and may change to a new operational level upon reaching a tipping point.

Negative Feedback

Feedback information that discourages change in a system, promoting self-regulation and stabilizing the system.

Positive Feedback

Feedback information that encourages change in a system, destabilizing it.

Latitude (Parallels)

Lines on the geographic grid that run east to west and are equidistant from each other.

Longitude (Meridian)

Lines on the geographic grid that run north to south.

Map Scale

The relationship between distance on a map and distance on the ground.

Map Projections

Systematic representations of Earth's surface on a flat map that contain distortion and can have accurate sizes or accurate shapes, but not both.

Remote Sensing

The technique of obtaining information about something without having direct physical contact, such as capturing visible imagery, temperatures, UV wavelengths, or chemical levels.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Systems that measure and triangulate the time delay of signals from a minimum of three (usually four or more) GPS satellites to analyze geospatial data.

Plane of the Ecliptic

The plane formed by Earth's orbital path around the Sun.

Electromagnetic Radiation

Energy that travels through space as waves at the speed of light.

Wavelength

The distance from one wave crest to the next.

Sun Altitude

The angle of the Sun above the horizon.

Solar Declination

The latitude where the Sun is directly overhead at noon, also known as the subsolar point.

Axial Parallelism

The property of Earth's rotation axis staying pointed in the same direction as Earth orbits the Sun.

Troposphere

The lowest atmospheric layer where temperature decreases with increasing altitude.

Stratosphere

The layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere where temperature increases with altitude and where the ozone layer is located.

Ozone Layer

A region located in the stratosphere around $19\text{--}50\text{ km}$ containing ozone ($O_3$), which absorbs harmful UV radiation from the Sun.

Albedo

The proportion of incoming shortwave radiation that is reflected or scattered upward by a surface.

Rayleigh Scattering

Scattering of light where shorter wavelengths scatter more than longer wavelengths, which explains why the sky is blue and sunrises/sunsets appear red.

Radiation (Heat Transfer)

Heat transfer in the form of energy traveling through air or space.

Conduction

Heat transferred from molecule to molecule through direct physical contact.

Convection

Heat transferred by the movement of air, particularly vertical movement.

Advection

Heat or air moving primarily in a horizontal direction.

Net Radiation

All radiant energy coming into a surface minus all radiant energy leaving it.

Temperature

A measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules.

Heat

Energy that moves from a warmer object/area to a colder object/area.

Isotherms

Lines on a map connecting locations that have the same temperature.

Urban Heat Island

A urban condition where cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas because buildings, roads, and pavement absorb and store heat.

Air Pressure

The force per unit area caused by the weight of air above a surface.

Barometer

An instrument used to measure air pressure.

Anemometer

An instrument used to measure wind speed.

Wind Vane

An instrument used to measure wind direction.

Pressure Gradient Force (PGF)

The main force that creates wind by moving air from high-pressure areas toward low-pressure areas.

Coriolis Force

A force that deflects moving air to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, altering wind direction without changing wind speed.

Anticyclone

A high-pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere where winds spiral outward and clockwise, producing sinking air, clear skies, and cooler temperatures.

Cyclone

A low-pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere where winds spiral inward and counterclockwise, producing rising air, clouds, precipitation, and warmer temperatures.

Geostrophic Wind

Upper-level wind that moves parallel to isobars.

Jet Streams

Narrow bands of very fast-moving winds high in the atmosphere.

Monsoons

Regional wind systems that change direction seasonally, causing distinct wet and dry seasons.

Santa Ana Winds

Strong, dry winds that develop when high pressure builds over the Great Basin and blow toward Southern California, warming and compressing as they descend.

Katabatic Winds

Strong, gravity-driven downslope winds that occur when cold, dense air flows downhill from elevated areas; common around Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.

Gyres

Large circular ocean current patterns formed by surface winds and modified by the Coriolis force, moving clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Upwelling

The rising of deep ocean water toward the surface that occurs when surface water is moved away from a coast.

Downwelling

The sinking of surface ocean water that occurs where surface water accumulates.

Thermohaline Circulation

Deep ocean currents driven by differences in water density caused by temperature and salinity variations.

El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Periodic oscillations of air pressure and circulation in the Pacific Ocean that cause major year-to-year variations in global temperature and precipitation patterns.