Comprehensive Pilot Weather Knowledge: Troposphere, Icing, Turbulence, and Charts

Troposphere thick the thickest where

Equator

Standard lapse rate

- 2 C per 1000 ft

Standard temperature at sea level

15 C

Ways to measure temperature

Kelvin, Celsius, Fahrenheit

Low pressure association

A trough

High pressure association

A ridge

High pressure conditions

Better is usually associated with that, low pressure is worse

Stable air expectation

Poor visibility

Causes for turbulence

Mechanical, convective, clouds

Conditions for aircraft icing

Visible moisture and below freezing temps

Effect of frost on aerodynamics

Decreases lift and increases drag

A concentrated area of windshear that flows down and out from a strong thunderstorm

Microburst

Items in an AIRMET

Moderate turbulence, moderate icing, poor visibility

Items in a SIGMET

Severe icing, severe turbulence, etc.

Items in a convective SIGMET

Hail greater than ¾ inches, Tornadoes, Thunderstorms, etc.

Aviation weather report

Metar

Temperature/wind forecast issuance frequency

4 times a day

Surface analysis chart information

Fronts, pressure systems, weather conditions

Surface analysis chart issuance frequency

Issued every 3 hours

Cold front representation

Line of blue triangles

Warm front representation

Red semicircles

Temperature inversion indicator

Stable air

Cumulus stage of thunderstorm characteristic

Up drafts

What layer of the atmosphere is most of the ozone layer going to be located in

The stratosphere

Temperature change in the troposphere

Decreases with height

Temperature change in the stratosphere

Increases with height

Temperature change in the mesosphere

Decreases with height

Which type of fog is common on calm, clear, cool nights

Radiation

Winds and temperature aloft forecast issuance frequency

Four times a day

Jet streams strongest season

Winter

Minimum temperature occurrence

After sunrise

Which type of weather can only be directly observed during flight and then reported in a PIREP

Turbulence and structural icing

Airborne weather radar purpose

Avoid severe weather

WS

Sigmet

Jet stream winds for clear air turbulence

In excess of 100 knots

Aircraft icing conditions

Both temperatures below freezing and visible moisture are needed

Characteristic of stable air

Poor visibility

Density altitude definition

Pressure altitude correct for non-standard temperature

Elongated area of low pressure

Trough

U.S. weather systems movement

West to East

A concentrated area of wind shear that flows downward and outward from a strong thunderstorm

microburst