Hw and quiz's of test 2 (4-7)

Winds within the base of a trough tend to be:

sub-geostrophic

Calculate the 1000-500 mb thickness if the height of the 1000mb surface is 185m and the height of the 500 mb surface is 5525m.

534 dam (5525-185= 5340m x 1dam/10m= 534dam)

Why isn't an air parcel affected by all the diabatic heating processes that impact the ELR?

Air parcels are affected by diabatic heating so the impact is much shorter

Which of the following best describes the cooling of an air parcel due to adiabatic expansion?

An air parcel forced to rise as it moves over a mountain.

The 1000-500mb thickness at location A is 540 dam, while the thickness at location B is 552 dam, while the thickness at location C is 534 dam, which location has the greatest average temperature in the layer between 1000 and 500 mb?

B- greater thickness, greater temperature

Winds tend to change greatest with height over locations where the thickness:

Changes quickly over a relatively short distance

which city has the greatest amount of water vapor in the air?

City A, biggest dew point temperature

which city has the highest relative humidity?

City B, temperature= dew point temperature

In general, the most effective way to destabilize the atmosphere is to _________________ the mid levels and _______________ the low levels.

Cool; heat

In general what would be the most effective means for making the atmosphere more unstable?

Cooling the mid-levels (e.g., 500mb level) and warming the surface.

Turbulent mixing near the surface generally causes the ELR to become more similar to the ___________________.

DALR

Which of the three lapse rates is always constant, cooling at approximately 10oC/km, regardless of the starting temperature and pressure?

DALR

Absolutely Stable

DALR>MALR>ELR

Conditionally Unstable

DAR>ELR>MAR

How does daytime heating most typically affect atmospheric stability?

Daytime heating destabilizes the atmosphere

Large-scale ascent (lifting) of the air tends to ____________ the atmosphere.

Destabilize

In absence of strong large-scale flows, winds generally flow __________ the mountains at nighttime.

Down (longwave radiation cooling)

Tornadoes in the U.S. are most prevalent during the spring months. Given your new found understanding of stability, which of the reasons below is most correct.

During spring, the mid- and upper-levels are still cold from winter, but the ground is now starting to warm. This destabilizes the atmosphere.

Which of the three lapse rates fluctuates daily and must be measured with a radiosonde?

ELR

Absolutely Unstable

ELR > DALR

Which of the three lapse rates measures the temperature of the air through which a parcel travels, rather than the temperature of the parcel itself?

ELR- environmental

During peak heating in the afternoon (in the absence of strong, large-scale winds), the coastal winds near large bodies would _____________.

Flow from the water towards the land

What effect would increasing both the surface temperature and surface dew point affect the KI? Again assume the environmental sounding does not change aloft (i.e., the environmental sounding is the same at 850mb and all levels above). Recall that KI = t850 - t500 + td850 - ( t700 - td700)

The KI would not change; however, the atmosphere would be more unstable.

Why should pilots be concerned with the lifted condensation level (LCL)?

The LCL is typically representative of cloud bases

Both a saturated and an unsaturated parcel, each with a temperature of 15oC, are forced to rise from the surface to a height of 2 km. Which parcel will be warmest upon reaching 2km?

The saturated parcel

With respect to a warm front, most precipitation and poor weather is found on the:

cold side of the front (ahead of the front)

Friction at the surface of a low pressure system causes winds to slow and:

converge into the low creating upward vertical motion.

When more air mass is leaving a location than entering, we refer to this as:

divergence

Which force is significant only near the surface and disrupts geostrophic balance causing the wind to blow across the isobars towards lower pressure?

friction (drag)

If at 500mb more air mass was leaving a location than entering, what would you expect to happen to the surface pressure directly below that same location?

Pressure would decrease (a low would develop)

Which of the two adiabatic lapse rates cools more slowly with height due to the release of latent heat of condensation?

MALR