General Meterology Chap. 1

Current numerical weather prediction is based on the conservation of what?

Mass, Momentum, and Energy

What are the three major gases that account for 99.96% of the atmosphere?

Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Argon

Where is most of Earth’s weather generated?

In the troposphere.

How far does the atmosphere extend?

From 0 to 500 km

Why is the air pressure decrease non-linearly?

Because of the compressionability of air

What causes the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere?

Clouds, aerosols, and gas molecules

The Troposphere

Is well mixed because temperature decreases with altitude.

The Stratosphere

Extends from the tropopause to 50 km. It’s extremely dry and ozone rich. Temperatures increase with the altitude.

The Mesosphere

From Stratopause to 85 km. Temperature decreases with altitude

Zonal Velocity

(+ westerly) (- easternly)

Local Derivative (Eulerian)

The rate of change at a fixed point.

Total derivative (Lagrangian)

The rate of change following an air parcel as it moves through the atmosphere

Meridional velocity

(+ southernly) (- northernly)

The average lapse rate in the troposphere?

6.5 °C/km

Horizontal Pressure Gradient

Perpendicular to the isobars and is directed from lower towards higher pressure. It is inversely proportional to the horizontal spacing between isobars.

How do cyclones spin in the different hemispheres.

Counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere

In either hemisphere the circulation around low pressure center is ______ and around high is _________.

cyclonic; anticyclonic

Hadley Cells

Large atmospheric circulation patterns that move air from the equator to the poles and back

For Atlantic and Pacific oceans, at low latitude, surface wind blows _________ on the eastern side of the ocean; on western side _______, winds advect warm, humid, tropical air into middle latitude.

Equatorward (N to S)

Poleward (S to N)

Shallow Convection

The convections are confined to the mixed layer.

Eulerian rate of change

d/dt

Lagrangian rate of change

d/dt

Aerosols

Tiny liquid droplets or tiny solid particles that are so small they remain suspended in the air

What can climate be affected by?

Long-term changes in the geosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere.

Standard Sea level pressure

1013.25 mb = 760 mm = 29.9 in. mercury

How much solar radiation is scattered back into space?

22%

At any point on the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere exerts a downward force on the underlying surface due to _____ _______

gravitational attraction

Pressure is equal to

The measure of the mass that lies at a given height

Isobars

Lines or contours along which the pressure is equal to a constant value

Baroclinic waves

Causes the weather to vary from day-to-day. A wavelength about 4000km long that propagates eastward at 10m/s.

What kind of wind blows at middle-latitude for the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?

A westerly wind

What is atmospheric science?

A relatively new discipline that’s concerned with the structure, evolution, and phenomena of the planetary atmospheres.

What are the six naturally occurring atmospheric gases that are commonly called the “greenhouse gases”?

CO2, water vapor, methane, ozone, CO, and nitrous oxide

The five variables that meteorologists use to define the weather?

Temperature, pressure, humidity, cloud cover, wind (speed & direction)

What two components of the earth’s atmosphere are highly variable from place to place and time to time on Earth’s surface?.

Water and aerosols

What are the positive effects of greenhouse gases?

Keeps the air warm, absorbs lethal radiation, creates Earth’s life-maintained blanket

What are the negative effects of greenhouse gases?

Increased release of them results in global warming which results in worsening weather/climate.

What is the ITCZ

InterTropical Convergence Zone

Why is precipitation on the wind side of the Rocky Mountains larger than the lee side?

Wind rises on one side, causes saturation, and falls down the other side. This causes the wind to warm and drop down the other side.

Average lapse rate equation

-T₂ - T₁/ Z₂ - Z₁

Equation for Celsius to Fahrenheit

(C° x 9/5) + 32°F