Chapter 12 meteorology study guide

True

Isotherms are used to identify temperature gradients and consequently frontal systems

True

Long-term variation weather for a particular area make up the CLIMATE of the area

True

METEOROLOGY is the study of atmospheric phenomena.

directly

The tropics are hotter than the poles because the sun strikes this area of Earth more INDIRECTLY.

atmosphere

Weather is the current state of the LITHOSPHERE.

digital forcast

a ___ relies on numerical data.

radiosonde

a balloon-borne package of sensors that gathers upper-level weather data

air mass

a large parcel of air that takes on the characteristics of the area over which it forms an....

station model

a record of weather data for a particular site at a particular time

warm front

advancing warm air that displaces cold air

temperature and humidity

an air mass takes on its source region's

ceilometer

an instrument that measures the height of cloud layers and estimates cloud cover

True

an isopleth is a line that connects points of equal or constant values.

analog forcast

another forcast, the ___ involves comparing current weather patterns to patterns that took place in the past

occluded front

cold air mass that moves rapidly and overtakes a warm front

cold front

cold, dense air that displaces warm air, forcing the warm air up

True

isobars that are far apart indicate a small difference in pressure and light winds.

middle-latitude cyclones

large centers of low pressure that generally travel from west to east and cause stormy weather

True

lines of equal pressure are called isobars

wave cyclone

low-pressure system that heavily influences weather in the middle latitudes

oceans

maritime air masses originate over...

front

narrow region separating two air masses of different densities

Doppler effect

the change in wave frequency that occurs in energy, such as sound or light

stationary front

two air masses that meet and do not advance

air mass modification

when an air mass travels over land or water that has different characteristics than those of its source region, it undergoes...