ATMO 105 Key Concepts ETC
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• Understand the processes that promote the growth of cloud droplets,
Condensation: Water vapor → tiny droplets (up to ~20 μm).
Collision-coalescence: Droplets collide and merge → large raindrops (millimeters).
Ice processes: Ice crystals grow at the expense of water droplets → snow or rain after melting.
Understand the relationship between droplet size and likelihood of evaporation prior to
hitting the surface,
Small droplets → high likelihood of evaporation before reaching the surface.
Large droplets → low likelihood of evaporation, more likely to reach the surface as rain.
Understand the relationship between drop size, max velocity of droplet descent, uplift
velocity, and likelihood of droplet growing to precipitation size,
Its terminal velocity must exceed the updraft velocity to start falling.
It must collide and merge with smaller droplets efficiently during descent.
If too small, it may stay suspended or evaporate before growing.
Be able to diagnose probability of drizzle vs. rain using figure (pg. 82) and know
relationship between cloud thickness and probability of drizzle vs. rain
Drizzle: Thin clouds, small droplets, slow growth, low terminal velocity.
Rain: Thick clouds, larger droplets, efficient collision-coalescence, high terminal velocity.
Rule of thumb: The thicker the cloud, the higher the probability of rain instead of drizzle.
Supercooled water
liquid water that exists below 0 °C.
Latent Heat,
energy absorbed or released by a substance during a phase change
Collision and Coalescence,
the process by which larger cloud droplets collide with smaller droplets as they fall and merge (coalesce) into bigger droplets.
Bergeron Process,
explains how ice crystals grow at the expense of supercooled water droplets in clouds below freezing
• Understand how cloud height affects the composition of the cloud (ice vs liquid water),
Low = liquid water, middle = mixed liquid/ice, high = mostly ice.
• Understand what characteristics are used to classify clouds,
Their form and height
• Understand the relationship between pressure and temperature,
As pressure increase so does temperature
Cloud,
a visible accumulation of liquid water droplets, ice crystals, or a mixture of both suspended in Earth's atmosphere
Fog,
a visible accumulation of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface, essentially a cloud that touches the ground
Adiabatic process,
a change in an air parcel's temperature and volume without any heat exchange with its surroundings
Diabatic process,
a change in an air parcel's temperature that is caused by the exchange of heat with its surroundings, rather than by pressure-induced expansion or compression
Cloud condensation nuclei,
how atmospheric water vapor condenses onto tiny airborne particles called cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs) to form cloud droplets and, ultimately, clouds
low clouds,
clouds with bases at or below approximately 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) above the Earth's surface Stratus, Stratocumulus, Cumulus, and Cumulonimbus
middle clouds,
forming between approximately 6,500 and 23,000 feet (2,000-7,000 meters). The three main types of middle clouds are altocumulus, altostratus, and nimbostratus
high clouds,
cirrus, cirrocumulus, and cirrostratus. These clouds are found above 20,000 feet made of ice crystals
clouds of vertical development,
those that form from convection (rising air) and extend through multiple atmospheric layers, rather than being layered horizontally
• Be able to identify sources/mechanisms of air rising/lifting in the atmosphere,
Orographic lifting, frontal wedging, convergence, and localized convective lifting
• Understand why the moist adiabatic lapse rate (MALR) is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)
as saturated air rises and cools, the water vapor within it condenses into liquid water droplets, releasing latent heat
Air parcel -
a conceptual, imaginary pocket of air that is treated as a self-contained, uniform unit with its own temperature, pressure, and humidity
atmospheric lifting -
the upward vertical movement of air, a critical process that causes air to cool, condense its moisture into clouds, and often lead to precipitation
• Understand the relationship between stability and if a parcel will rise or sink.
An air parcel rises if it is warmer (less dense) than its surroundings and sinks if it is colder (denser) than its surroundings
• Understand under what conditions favor cloud formation/convection.
moisture, a lifting force, and atmospheric instability
Positive lapse rate
the atmospheric condition where temperature decreases as altitude increases
negative lapse rate (inversion),
occurs in a temperature inversion, where air temperature increases with height instead of decreasing, as is normal
Isothermal lapse rate,
occurs when there is no change in temperature with an increase in altitude, resulting in a lapse rate of zero
Inversions
an atmospheric condition where a layer of warm air sits above cooler air, trapping it near the ground and preventing normal air mixing
Dew point depression
the difference in degrees between the ambient air temperature and the dew point temperature
cloudy layer,
a continuous or fragmented horizontal sheet of clouds, all sharing the same base altitude and appearing as a distinct layer in the sky
mixing ratio
the mass of water vapor divided by the mass of dry air in an air parcel, typically expressed in grams per kilogram
saturation mixing ratio,
the maximum amount of water vapor, in grams, that can be present in a kilogram of dry air at a given temperature and pressure
dry adiabats,
describes the temperature change of an air parcel as it rises or sinks in the atmosphere without exchanging heat with its surroundings
Moist adiabats,
lines on thermodynamic diagrams (like a Skew-T Log-P chart) that show how the temperature of a saturated air parcel changes as it rises and cools
Isotherms
a line on a weather map or chart that connects points of equal temperature at a specific time or over a given period
Isobars,
a line on a weather map connecting points of equal atmospheric pressure
inversions: radiation,
occurs when the ground rapidly cools on a clear, calm night by radiating heat into space, which in turn cools the air directly above it
frontal
occurs when a cold air mass wedges under and lifts a warm air mass, creating a layer of warm air above cold air, which is the opposite of the typical temperature decrease with height
Subsidence,
a type of temperature inversion where air sinks over a large area, warms due to adiabatic compression, and creates a layer of warmer air aloft, trapping cooler air below
Stratospheric.
occurs naturally and inherently within the stratosphere, the atmospheric layer from about 15 to 50 km (9 to 31 miles) altitude, where temperature increases with height due to the absorption of UV light by ozone
Note 
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