Atmospheric vertical thermal structure

True or false? Westerly Winds blow in the latitudinal bands from 0 degrees N/S to 30 degrees N/S

False. Westerly Winds blow in the 30N/S to 60N/S latitudinal bands respectively North and South of the equator.

Which of the following gases is the most abundant component of the atmosphere? a) Ozone (O3) b )Argon (Ar) c) Carbon dioxide (CO2) d) Molecular Nitrogen (N2) e) Molecular Oxygen (O2) f) Water vapor (H2O)

Molecular Nitrogen (N2) makes up 78.08% of the volume of the atmosphere.

True or false? In the Southern Hemisphere Trade Winds blow from South-East

True

True or false? The mean diameter of Earth is approximately 8,000 miles (12,875 km)?

True

True or false? Westerly Winds blow from the West to the East

True

What is the third most abundant atmospheric component? a) Ozone (O3) b) Argon (Ar) c) Carbon dioxide (CO2) d) Methane (CH4) e) Water vapor (H2O) f) Helium (He)

b) Argon (Ar), a noble gas, makes up 0.93% of the volume of the atmosphere.

Based on the general circulation of the atmosphere at which latitudinal bands do you expect arid regions a) Tropical areas b) Subtropical areas (aroung 30 degrees N/S) c) Mid-latitudes d) Polar regions

b) Subtropical areas (aroung 30 degrees N/S) Around 30 degrees N/S air from the Hadley cell descends from aloft creating standing high pressure (fair weather/little rain) areas.

General Circulation in the Atmosphere: a) There are no differences in surface atmospheric pressure b) The Coriolis effect deviates winds as they move c) Uneven distribution of solar radiation causes low pressure at the tropics and high pressure at the poles d) Atmospheric pressure only changes vertically

c) Uneven distribution of solar radiation causes low pressure at the tropics, high pressure at the poles

The Coriolis effect _____________ winds as they move. The uneven distribution of _______________ radiation causes __________ pressure at surface at the tropics and ____________ pressure at the surface of ________________ regions.

deflects, solar, low, high, polar

What is the second most abundant atmospheric component? a) Ozone (O3) b) Argon (Ar) c) Carbon dioxide (CO2) d) Methane (CH4) e) Molecular Oxygen (O2) f) Water vaport (H2O)

e) Molecular oxygen (O2) makes up 20.95% of the volume of the atmosphere.

In the troposphere, a) temperature decreases with height b) the source of heat is the Earth's surface warmed by the sun c) weather happens d) contains 3/4 of the mass of the atmosphere e) all of the above

e) all of the above

Stratospheric ozone (O3) formation cycle: a) Source: Molecurlar oxygen (o2) is spilt by mostly UV-C Incoming solar radiation into two oxygen atoms b) Source: Atomic Oxygen (O*) reacts with molecular oxygen to form ozone (o3) and releases heat c) sink: Ozone (O3) is spilt by mostly UV-B incoming solar radiation into molecular oxygen (O2) and atomic oxygen (o*) d) the peak concentration occurs around 20-30 km e) all of the above

e) all of the above

The Coriolis effect a) In the northern hemisphere deviates winds to the right of their original direction b) Is greater at higher latitudes c) Depends on the wind speed (greater for faster winds) d) Is null at the equator e) In the southern hemisphere deviates winds to the left of their original direction

is greater at higher latitudes

The bottom layer of the atmosphere is called

the troposphere, which extends from 0 to 10-12km

True or false? The Ozone layer that protects us from increasing UV Solar radiation is in the stratosphere

true, the process of formation of stratospheric ozone (called the Chapman cycle) absorbs virtually all the incoming solar radiation in the UV-C range and most of the UV-B.

_____________ air rises at the _____________ (where more concentrated sunlight reaches earth) and ____________ at the poles (where less solar radiation is available to warm up the Earth); winds are deviated to their ___________/____________ as they move north/south-ward in the ________________________ hemisphere.

warm, equator, sinks, right/left, northern/southern