Air Pressure and Wind Flashcards

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Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes about air pressure and wind.

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25 Terms

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Air Pressure

Force exerted by the weight of the air above.

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Millibar (mb)

Unit of measurement for air pressure; standard sea level pressure is 1013.2 mb."

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Barometer

Instrument for measuring air pressure.

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Aneroid barometer

Barometer that uses an expanding chamber and does not contain liquid; 'without liquid.'

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Barograph

Instrument that continuously records air pressure.

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Wind Vane

Instrument for measuring wind direction.

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Cup anemometer

Instrument used to measure wind speed.

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Isobars

Lines of equal air pressure.

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Pressure gradient

Pressure change over distance.

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Coriolis Effect

Apparent deflection in the wind direction due to Earth's rotation.

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Geostrophic winds

Winds that generally blow parallel to isobars in the upper air.

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Jet stream

A 'river' of air; high altitude, high velocity winds.

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Cyclone

A center of low pressure.

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Anticyclone

A center of high pressure.

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Monsoon

Seasonal change in wind direction.

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Rossby Waves

Develop at the polar front and form convoluted waves; primary mechanism for poleward heat transfer.

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Land breeze

Local wind that blows from land to sea.

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Sea breeze

Local wind that blows from sea to land.

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El Niño

A countercurrent that flows southward along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru, usually appearing during the Christmas season.

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Southern Oscillation

Pressure change between the eastern and western Pacific related to El Nino.

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La Niña

Opposite of El Niño; triggered by colder than average surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific.

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Polar Easterlies

Cold, subsiding air spreads equatorward and produces polar easterly winds

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Polar Front

Area of storms, in the Subpolar low pressure zone, warm and cool winds interact

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Trade Winds

Air traveling equatorward from the subtropical high.

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Westerly Winds

Air traveling poleward from the subtropical high.