Meteorology Chapter 1
The latitude of the equator is ____.
0°
The "ozone hole" is observed above ____.
Antarctica
Tiny solid or liquid suspended atmospheric particles of various composition are called ____.
aerosols
The vertical profile of ____ is variable in each layer of the earth's atmosphere.
air temperature
Areas of high atmospheric pressure are also known as ____.
anticyclones
In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds tend to blow ____ and ____ around an area of surface low pressure.
counterclockwise; inward
Lines of latitude on a map represent the ____.
distance north or south from the equator
The greenhouse effect is directly enhanced by ____.
energy absorption by atmospheric water vapor particles
Middle-latitude cyclonic storm systems are also known as____.
extratropical cyclones
Air molecules are held near the earth's surface by ____.
gravity
What pattern is most likely associated with clear skies and fair weather?
high pressure regions
The earth's first atmosphere (approximately 4.6 billion years ago) was most likely composed of ____.
hydrogen and helium
Average atmospheric CO2 concentrations have ____ over the past 100 years.
increased
In a temperature inversion, air temperature ____.
increases with increasing height
What is a region in the atmosphere where air temperature remains constant with height?
isothermal zone
A radiosonde ____.
measures the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity
The most abundant gases in the earth's present day atmosphere (by volume) are ____.
nitrogen and oxygen
Near the earth's surface, ____ occupies about 78% and ____ about 21% of the total volume of dry air.
nitrogen; oxygen
You are facing north and the wind is blowing in your face. This wind would be called a(n) ____.
north wind
The primary source of water vapor and carbon dioxide to the earth's early atmosphere was most likely ____.
outgassing
Extratropical cyclones are found ____.
outside the tropics
Which gas is responsible for the temperature inversion in the stratosphere?
ozone
Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere through the process of ____.
photosynthesis
Clouds often form in the ____.
rising air in the center of a low pressure area
The word "weather" is defined as____.
the condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place
The exosphere is ____.
the upper limit of our atmosphere
A towering cloud, or cluster of clouds, accompanied by thunder, lightning, strong gusty winds, and heavy rain is called a(n)____.
thunderstorm
Jet streams are found within the ____.
tropopause
All of the weather we are familiar with on the earth occurs in the ____.
troposphere
The only substance found naturally in the lower atmosphere that can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas is ____.
water
What is the weather element that involves the horizontal movement of air?
wind