What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather- Is the condition of the atmosphere in any particular time and place.
Climate- is "average weather" of an area.
What are the two lowest layers of the atmophere and what do they represent?
Troposphere-A region of circulating air extending upward from the earth's surface to where the air stops becoming colder with height.
Stratosphere- The layer of atmosphere above the troposphere, generally characterized by an increase in temperature with h
What weather phenomena causes the most deaths in the United States and world-wide?
Excessive heat cause almost half the deaths annually, and it is typically people over the age of 65 that are the most vulnerbale. Next is tornadoes, lightening and flooding.
What is radiant energy?
It is the energy that drives the atmosphere into patterns of everyday wind and weather, and allows life to flourish.
What is atmosphere?
A thin gaseous envelope comprised mostly of Nitrgen, and Oxygen.
What is "weather" comprised of?
1. Air temperature
2. Air Pressure
3. Wind
4. Humidity
5.Clouds
6. Precipitation
7. Visibility
What is Climate?
Climate represents the accumulation of daily and seasonal weather events over a long period of time.
What is the "temperature" of the air?
A measure of the average speed of atoms and molecules, higher temperatures=faster speeds, lower temperatures=lower speeds.
What is temperature inversion?
Temperature increasing with height
What is lapse rate?
The rate at which the air temperature decreases with height in the lower atmosphere. (strongly influences tornados and thunderstorms)
Stratosphere...
The stratophere is the second layer of the atmosphere, in which air beging to rise with height instead of decline with height. This inversion keeps the troposhpere seperate from the statosphere. Ozone plays a maor part in heating the air in the stratosphe
What is air pressure?
The ammount of force exerted over any area of surface.
THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE
The earth's atmosphere is a thin, gaseous envelope
Almost 99% of the atmosphere is within 20 miles of the earth's surface
Ozone (O3)
in the stratosphere protects life from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
at the surface, ozone is the main ingredient of photochemical smog that can injure life.
Wind
Simply the atmosphere in motion
Scales of motion (micro, meso, macro)
Measurement (speed and direction)
Wind
Wind tends to blow from higher pressure towardlower pressure
Surface winds in the Northern Hemisphere are:
clockwise and outward around areas of high pressure
counterclockwise and inward around areas of low pressure
Moisture
Relative humidity
How relatively full of water is your glass?
Dew point
How large is your glass?
Clouds and precipitation
Full glasses
Overflowing glasses
The Water Glass Example
The size of the glass
is related to air temp:
the higher the temp,
the larger the glass
If we cool the air the glass gets.....
Smaller!
IHas the amount of water changed?
NO
What happens if we cool it more???
Condensation occurs!
The temperature at which condensation
occurs is called the "Dewpoint Temperature
What do you think will happen if
we "warm" the glass back to the
original temperature?
The glass will get bigger but the water will stay the same.
What is the hydrologic cycle?
cycle�the circulation of water within the atmosphere.
Advisories
potential hazardous conditions
Watch
atmospheric conditions favoring hazardous weather over a region in time, actual location and time not known
Warning
imminent or occurring hazardous weather over a region in time
Greenhouse Gasses
Both water vapor and carbon dioxide are important greenhouse gases.
Temperature scales
Kelvin (K)
Celsius (�C)
Fahrenheit (�F)
What are the two laws of thermodynamics?
First Law
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.
Second Law
Energy will flow from a higher concentration to a lesser concentration.
What are the three methods heat is transfered in the atmosphere?
Convection
Conduction
Radiation
What is the difference between potential and kinetic energy?
Potential = compressed spring (has the potential to do something)
Kinetic = rolling ball (is doing something)
What is Heat?
energy in the process of being transferred from one object to another because of a temperature difference.
Convection circulation
warm air expands and rises then cools and sinks
Conduction:
Always flows from warmer to colder regions (which Law of Thermodynamics?)
Air is an extremely poor conductor of heat, water is a much better conductor (hypothermia)
Energy from the sun travels in forms of?
waves (radiation)
Radiation and Temperature are:
related
Stefan-Boltzman Law
Objects that have a high temperature emit radiation at a greater rate or intensity than objects with a lower temperature.
Wien's Law
The higher the object's temperature, the shorter the wavelengths of emitted radiation.
What is the Greenhouse effect?
: the atmosphere acts as a window and transmits shortwave radiation, but selectively absorbs infrared radiation from the Earth's surface
shortwave radiation come from the?
sun
Shortwave VS Longwave
Shortwave radiation (visible light) contains a lot of energy because the waves are close together; longwave radiation (infrared light) contains less energy because the light waves have more space between them. Solar energy enters our atmosphere as shortwa
The earth's atmosphere receives ________ of the sun's total energy output.
a very small fraction
The most abundant gases in the earth's atmosphere are
nitrogen, oxygen, argon and water vapor.
All weather occurs in the troposphere
the atmospheric layer closest to the earth's surface.
Air pressure:
is the amount of force the atmosphere exerts on the earth's surface.
Wind blows due to:
horizontal differences in atmospheric pressure.
Relative humidity tells us:
how close the air is to being saturated.
Flash floods are created by severe thunderstorms.
True
Hurricanes are much larger than middle-latitude cyclonic storms.
False
Air that rises always expands and cools.
True
Which of the following is a form of atmospheric energy?
potential energy
heat
kinetic energy
d. All of these choices.
Latent heat energy is related to:
Phase changes of water
The sun radiates the largest amount of energy in:
visible wavelengths.
The atmospheric gases which best absorb infrared energy are:
water vapor and carbon dioxide
Most of the atmosphere's heat comes from:
absorption of infrared radiation coming from the earth.
Seasons are caused by the earth's rotation around the sun and:
the tilt of the earth's axis.
On the ________ the noonday sun is directly overhead at a latitude of 23.5oN.
summer solstice
Winter and summer occur at exactly the same times in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
False
In all regions of the earth, the amount of energy received from the sun balances the amount of energy lost to space.
False
Air molecules scatter large amounts of the sun's radiation.
True
Conduction heats
only the lowest few centimeters of the atmosphere.
The maximum daily temperature usually occurs:
a few hours after the time of maximum solar heating.
Extreme high temperatures are higher in:
dry climates
At night, the earth's surface cools by:
radiational cooling
Clouds ________ the daily range in temperature.
have a large effect on
Regional variations in temperature are controlled by:
elevation.
land and water distribution.
latitude.
d. All of these choices.
In cold weather, wind makes us feel even colder because:
the wind carries heat away from our bodies
On a typical day, the relative humidity is highest in the afternoon.
False
The highest extremes in dew point temperatures typically occur in desert areas.
True
The annual range in temperature is larger near the equator than in the middle of North America.
False
Fog forms when:
air cools by radiation.
water evaporates into the air.
air cools by moving over a colder surface.
d. All of these choices.
Radiation fog tends to form on:
clear, calm nights
Dense fog is hazardous because it:
reduces the visability
Cirrus clouds are usually composed of:
ice crystals
Thunderstorms are also called:
cumulonimbus clouds
Satellites observe clouds by:
measuring both visible and infrared radiation.
Weather satellites provide information on:
cloud thickness.
cloud temperatures.
atmospheric water vapor.
d. All of these choices
Water vapor condenses and forms clouds when air rises.
true
Lightning, thunder and hail typically accompany cumulus clouds.
False
Dew is likely to form at the end of a clear, calm night.
true
troposphere
(the lowest layer), where almost all weather events occur
stratosphere
where ozone protects us from a portion of the sun's harmful rays