EDW Midterm

Weather

Day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere. The current temperature, humidity, wind conditions, amount and type of cloud cover, and the presence/absence of precipitation are all elements of weather

Climate

Average weather condition of a place studied of a long period of time. Climatology concerns itself with the same elements of weather but over a longer time scale.

The properties of air vary with [blank]?

Distance from the Earth's surface

The sun heats the surface of the Earth, some of this heat goes into [blank]?

Warming the air near the surface, which then goes into the atmosphere

Air Temperature is highest [blank]?

Near the surface and decrease with altitude

What is the pressure of air related to [blank]?

The weight of air over a given location

Thin air exerts less pressure than air at a [blank]?

Lower altitude

Air Density

Depends on both temperature and the pressure through the equation of state
- Also decreases with altitude

The atmosphere

-Contained within a relatively shallow envelope surrounding the planet
-8000 mile diameter and 60 miles thick
-Not uniform; fluid properties are constantly changing with time and location

Atmospheric Compostition

-Heterosphere
-Homosphere
-Exosphere

Atmospheric Temperature

-Thermosphere
-Mesosphere
-Stratosphere
-Troposphere

Atmospheric Function

-Ionsphere
-Ozonesphere

Heterosphere

-The outer atmosphere beginning from about 50 miles from the earth's surface and extending to space
-Gases are not evenly mixed but assorted by gravity according to their atomic weight and reaction of the gases with solar radiation
-Less than 0.001% of the mass of th4e earth's atmosphere is in the heterosphere

Homosphere

-Extends from the Earth's surface to about 50 miles
-Density of air changes with altitude bet the proportion of gases is nearly uniform
-Exceptions are: Ozone, Water Vapor, Pollutants, and Some trace chemical.

Mixture of Gases in the Homosphere

-Nitrogen
-Oxygen
-Argon
-Carbon Dioxide