Abeka grade 8 science test 9 exam

Why does a weather balloon expand as it rises?

Air pressure decreases with altitude.

Which of the following is an advantage of Doppler weather radar over older radar systems?

ability to measure wind speed

What process occurs when air expands with no heat gained or lost?

adiabatic cooling

The ratio of the solar radiation reflected by an object to the solar radiation that strikes it is ?

albedo.

What is an instrument that measures wind speed?

anemometer

What instrument uses a flexible, airtight metal box to measure changes atmospheric pressure?

aneroid barometer

What colorful displays occur when solar wind particles react with molecules in the atmosphere?

auroras

What instrument do meteorologists use to measure the distance from the ground to the base of clouds?

ceilometer

What is a single updraft system in a thunderstorm?

cell

What type of high-level clouds form wispy streamers that look like feathers or hair?

cirrus

What is the boundary formed when a cold air mass moves into the territory of a warm air mass?

cold front

In what process does rain form through large cloud droplets hitting each other and merging to form larger drops?

collision-coalescence process

Which type of air mass brings hot, dry weather?

continental tropical

Heat from a fireplace causes air to circulate throughout a room as hot air rises and cold air sinks. What is this type of air circulation called?

convection current

What extremely powerful radiation heats the molecules of the ionosphere?

cosmic rays

Which type of cloud usually produces heavy rains, strong winds, and sometimes hail or tornadoes?

cumulonimbus

What is the downward stream of electrons that causes a single lightning bolt to make a second strike?

dart leader

What forms when water vapor in the air touches cool ground and turns into a liquid?

dew

What is liquid precipitation that is between 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm in diameter?

drizzle

What is a rotating column of air that starts on the ground and is not associated with a cloud?

dust devil

The process of liquid water turning into water vapor is called ?

evaporation

The outermost temperature layer of the atmosphere is ?

exosphere

What are warm, dry winds that travel down mountain slopes?

foehns

A prediction of the weather in the near future is a weather ?

forecast

What indicates that a frontal cyclone has reached its full strength?

formation of an occluded front

What is the feathery deposit of ice crystals that forms when water vapor crystallizes on the ground?

frost

What process traps heat in Earth's atmosphere?

greenhouse effect

What is the reflected light from high-altitude lightning strikes in distant thunderstorms called?

heat lightning

What is the movement of water from the earth's surface, into the air, and back to the surface?

hydrologic cycle

Which type of drought is defined by its effects on an area's groundwater, streams, lakes, and reservoirs?

hydrological drought

"Lines of equal heat" on a weather map are called ?

isotherms

Which type of cloud is characteristically almond shaped?

lenticular

What is the point where the solar wind pushes on Earth's magnetic field?

magnetopause

What thunderstorm stage is marked by the arrival of precipitation?

mature stage

What is a large, rotating updraft in a supercell thunderstorm?

mesocyclone

What is the coldest point in the atmosphere?

mesopause

The most intense type of downburst is a(n) ?.

microburst

What is a wind that reverses its direction from season to season?

monsoon

What is the most abundant gas in the homosphere?

nitrogen

Which type of lightning comes from the top of a large thunderstorm?

positive cloud-to-ground lightning

What is heat transfer by electromagnetic waves?

radiation

A weather instrument that simultaneously transmits meteorological data from weather balloons to measures and weather stations is a ?

radiosonde

What device is used to measure the amount of rainfall that a location receives?

rain gauge

The center of a hurricane is the ?

rain. freezing.

What forms the brilliant flash of a lightning bolt?

return stroke

What portion of a lightning bolt produces thunder?

return stroke

When the relative humidity is 100%, the air is said to be ?.

saturated

What type of precipitation is made of raindrops that freeze into tiny balls of ice before they hit the ground?

sleet

What term describes atmospheric conditions that limit the height to which rising air can travel?

stable

What term refers to numbers and symbols that indicate observations at a particular weather station? on a weather map

station model

The elevated water level caused by a hurricane's winds is the ?.

storm surge

What extremely powerful computers do meteorologists use to generate weather forecasts?

supercomputers

What are the surface winds that blow toward the equator in the tropics?

trade winds

What is a tropical low-pressure system that does not have rotating winds

tropical disturbance

A tropical cyclone with wind 74 mi/h is a(n) ? . speeds between 39 mi/h and

tropical storm

In meteorology, the farthest distance at which objects can be distinguished is called the ?

visibility

Which of the following is one of the three major factors that causes weather? Plate tectonics, volcanic ash, human activity or water vapor

water vapor

A tornado that forms over water is called a ?

waterspout.

Which of the following instruments is used to measure high-altitude weather conditions?

weather balloon

What instrument indicates the direction of wind?

weather vane

When does a rotating column of air become a tornado?

when it reaches the ground

What is the most destructive force of a hurricane?

wind

What is the change in the direction of winds caused by Earth's rotation?

Coriolis effect

Why does the Southern Hemisphere receive more insolation during the southern summer than the Northern Hemisphere receives during the northern summer?

Earth is closer to the sun.

What scale is used to classify tornadoes?

Enhanced Fujita scale

What is the convection cell that exists between the equator and latitude 30°?

Hadley cell

What scale is used to rank hurricane strength?

Saffir-Simpson scale

What is radiation fog that extends no more than 2 m (6 ft) above the ground called?

Shallow fog

What is a map that summarizes the weather conditions throughout the entire country at a single point in time?

Surface weather map