WC CH 4

is a measure of specific humidity

10 g/kg

given the following relative humidities of different air masses which has to cool the least in order to reach its dew point

85% (this was the highest option)

all cumulus clouds are puffy in appearance and indicate unstable air conditions: _____ are found at mid-level in the troposphere, ____ are higher and are both puffy and wispy, and ____ are lower and occur in discrete layers

Alto - cirro - strato - CUMULUS

Match the cloud forms to their appropriate descriptions

Cumuliform: tall and wide; lumpy. Stratiform: One or more layers. Cirriform: Feathery; wispy

How does the urbanization affect local atmospheric stability? Choose all that apply

Dark-colored materials decreased albedo AND light colored materials increase albedo

Radiation

Fog forms as a quick drop in surface temperatures causes near-surface air temperatures to drop to the dew point and become saturated

Describes vapor pressure

Is symbolized by e Increases with increasing number of water molecules. Is represented in millibars

Stratocumulus

Low clouds in discrete layers composed of tiny liquid water drops

Altocumulus

Mid-level clouds that contain both liquid water and ice particles

stable air

Rising air is cooler than the surrounding environment and has a tendency to sink.

Conditionally unstable air

Rising air will either continue to rise if it is saturated or cease rising if it is unsaturated

Unstable air

Rising air, whether saturated or unsaturated, is warmer than the surrounding air continues to rise

Which of the following describe the effects of deforestation on local atmospheric stability?

Shading is reduced, and more insulation is used to heat the ground. Less transpiration occurs, which results in less water (and heat) added to the atmosphere

Which area of the world shows a drastic change in seasonal humidity due to a significant change in wind direction that brings warm, moist air from the ocean resulting in summer monsoon conditions?

Southeastern Asia

The ____ hemisphere has high humidity in January and low humidity in July, whereas the ____ hemisphere has low humidity in January and high humidity in July

Southern and Northern

T/F Fog is just a low-level cloud

TRUE

Cumulonimbus

Tall clouds composed of liquid neat their base and ice near their top

describes relative humidity

The ratio of the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere compared to the water vapor-capacity

How does a warm ocean surface current influence the overlying atmosphere?

These conditions create a steep environmental lapse rate. AND Warm air created by the water will rise adiabatically if warmer than the surrounding air and cause an unstable atmosphere, forming clouds and rain.

match region to seasonal pattern of specific humidity

Tropics: Highest humidity year-round. Poles: Lowest humidity year-round. Southern Hemisphere: High humidity in January, low humidity in July. Northern Hemisphere: Low humidity in January, high humidity in July

T/F Urbanization can either increase or decrease the albedo of an area

True

What happens to a parcel of saturated air as it rises in the atmosphere?

Water vapor condenses, freezes, or is deposited. It releases heat It cools

urbanization

What is the name of the process through which natural land cover is replaced by asphalt, concrete, and building's?

What is the oropgraphic effect?

When surface area encounters a mountain and flows upward

Why does dew typically form in the evening?

air cools in the evening

Forced Convection

air rising due to external factors

what is the primary difference between adiabatic and diabatic parcel of air?

an adiabatic parcel does not exchange energy with its surroundings, whereas a diabatic parcel does

The hydrogen atoms in a water molecule are arranged

asymmetrically

wind

brings moist or dry air into an area

water-vapor _____ is the maximum amount of water air can hold

capacity

Dew forms when air becomes ____ and can no longer hold the same amount of water vapor as it did previously

colder

proximity to big water

contributes abundant moisture to the air

topography

controls temperatures and influences air movement

saturated air ____ as it rises in the atmosphere. Some of the water vapor changes state, condenses or freezes and releases ____ to the surrounding environment

cools and heat

the arrival the arrival of a front is often accompanied by precipitation because the difference in, ________, caused by differences in temperature, between the two air masses causes the warmer one to rise, which then cools adiabatically and quickly reaches the dew point.

density

gas to solid

deposition

Water vapor begins to condense at a temperature called the ____ point when a given volume of air becomes saturated

dew

A rising parcel of air that exchanges energy with its surroundings is ________, whereas a parcel of air that does not exchange energy with its surroundings is ________.

diabatic; adiabatic

Why does southeastern Asia experience such a dramatic change in seasonal humidity?

during the summer, the winds switch direction and bring warm, moist air from the ocean

Fog that forms when cold air encounters a warm lake does so due to _______

evaporatoin

Liquid water molecules have more energy, in general, than molecules of water vapor.

false

T/F dew-point temperatures are highest in the winter in the US

false

upslope

fog forms as air is forced uphill due to wind forming a cloud along the surface

Advection

fog forms from the lateral movement of warm air over a cold surface; the warm air cools to the dew point

Free convection results from air rising due to unstable conditions, whereas ____ convection is air rising due to external factors

forced

Clouds are classified based on ____ and ____ and whether or not they are associated with precipitation

form and altitude

unstable air rises due to the ____ convection whereas air forced to move because of external factors does so due to forced convection

free

liquid to solid

freezing

moving air masses may encounter surface irregularities, causing the front of the mass to slow down due to _______; the back of the mass starts to pile up, resulting in the air rising

friction

Absolute humidity is a measure of how much water vapor is in a given volume of air and is measured in _____ per cubic meter

grams

Air mass 2 - relative humidity 60%

has to cool a moderate amount in order to reach its dew point

Air mass 3 - relative humidity 90%

has to cool the least in order to reach its dew point.

Air mass 1 - relative humidity 15%

has to cool the most in order to reach its dew point

Ice cover and cold temperatures in _____ latitudes result in low specific humidities at the poles

high

Water molecules in the air tend to have ____ energy levels compared to liquid water molecules.

higher

Water has a relatively high specific heat capacity, which means that it ____

holds heat well

the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is called ____

humidity

The two ____ atoms in a water molecule are arranged asymmetrically

hydrogen

a parcel of air that does not gain or lose energy to its surroundings will _____ in volume and ____ in temp as it rises in the atmosphere

increase or expand AND decrease or drop

Climate

is a reflection of latitude and influences temperature

describes lapse rate

is measured in degrees C/km AND is the temp change experienced by a moving parcel of air for a given change in elevation

what happens to a rising parcel of air

its temperature decreases AND its volume increases

measured in units of degrees per vertical distance, the ____ rate is the measure of how much a rising parcel of air cools for a given rise in elevation

lapse

Global patterns of specific humidity vary primarily due to ___

latitude

Deforestation exposes more soil to incoming solar radiation, which results in more heating of the ground, less transpiration, and ___ energy stored as latent heat in the local atmosphere

less

low temperatures in the northern US during the winter result in low humidity and very ____ dew-point temperatures

low

the general trend of dew-point temperatures in the US during the winter is ___ dew points in the north that get ___ to the south

low and higher

Cirrocumulus

lumpy, wispy clouds high in the atmosphere composed almost entirely of ice

solid to liquid

melting

Low-level winds may encounter a mountain, causing them to slow down, _________, and rise.

pile up

affect measurements of specific humidity

precipitation AND evaporation

____ humidity is usually represented by a percentage and is the ratio of how much water vapor is in the air relative to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can hold

relative

free convections

results from air rising due to unstable conditions

Wind may ______ due to friction with land surface, causing air behind it to pile up and rise.

slow down

water exists in which forms

solid liquid gas

The mass of water vapor in a body of air compared to the total mass of that air is ____ humidity

specific

the mass of water vapor in a body of air compared to the total mass of that air is _____ humidity

specific

solid to gas

sublimation

Which describe the movement of water molecules between a solid and a vapor

sublimation and Deposition

In which season are dew-points the highest in the US

summer

Humidity is the term used to describe

the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere

environmental lapse rate

the temp change with height undergone by air surrounding an adiabatically moving air parcel

What is dew point

the temperature at which a volume of air becomes saturated with water vapor

humidity

the typical moisture condition of an area

saturated air conditions

the weather is likely cloudy and foggy AND the air contains as much water vapor as it is able to hold

The thermal qualities of water and land are often compared. Water has a high specific heat capacity and more ____ inertia than land does, which means that it can hold more heat and it's temperature is not readily changed by outside influences such as the Sun

thermal

Absolute humidity changes as air expands or contracts in the atmosphere

true

primary factor controlling global patterns of specific humidity is latitude

true

_____ air continues to rise due to its warmth, unconditionally unstable air may either rise or sink, depending on saturation level, and ____ rising air is likely to sink

unstable and stable

The amount of atmospheric pressure contributed by the weight of water vapor in the atmosphere is known as ______ pressure

vapor

a warm ocean current that travels to higher latitudes will likely ____ the overlying air; causing it to ____ create clouds and precipitation

warm - rise

explain the high specific humidity of the atmosphere in the tropics

warm air AND high amount of evaporation

Air on different sides of a mountain may _____ during the day, causing it to rise and converge at the summit.

warm up

when two masses of different temperatures meet, the ____ mass is forced upward.

warmer and less dense

specific humidity will only change if ______ ______ is added or subtracted through the processes of evaporation or condensation.

water vapor

the maximum amount of water vapor that air can hold is called

water-vapor capacity

describes unsaturated air conditions

weather if likely fair AND the air contains less water vapor than it is able to hold

what factors are used to classify clouds?

what altitude they exist at - whether they are related to precipitation - what their form is

Advection Fog

where cold ocean currents extend into warm coastal areas

When two air masses collide, air is forced upward ___

whether it is stable or unstable