Intro to Physical Geography-Additional information for Exam 1

Three cloud types classified by form or shape

-Stratiform(flat and layered clouds with horizontal development are classed as straitform) -Cumuliform (puffy and globular clouds with vertical development are cumuliform) -Cirroform (wispy clouds usually high in altitude and made of ice crystals, are cirroform)

Cold front Warm front

-cold, dense air -warm air

1. __________ is the reason for unevenly distributed isolation. 2. _______ is the location where insolation is perpendicular to the surface

1. Earth's curved surface

1. Pros and cons for Mercator Map Projection 2. Characteristics for small and large scale maps 3. Three ways of showing maps

1. Pros: it is true shape Cons: it is the wrong size Distortions increase from the equator to poles.... it gets larger as you move away from the poles 2. small scale maps show less detail while a large scale map shows more detail 3. a. Representative fraction (RF).... no units of measurement are mentioned because you can use any as long as they are the same..... example 1 inch in map equals 25,000 inches in reality b.written scale: RF converted into your favorite units ex: 1 in=0.4 miles c. graphic scale: a bar graph with units to allow measurement of distance on the map.... as the map is enlarged or reduced the graphic scale enlarges or reduces along with the map

1. Radiant energy: the distance between corresponding points on two successive waves is called_____. 2. The number of waves passing a fixed point per unit time is the______. 3. The hotter the object, the _____ the wavelengths emitted.

1. Wavelength 2. Frequency 3. Shorter

The location of the International Date (IDL) Line is (??here??); the west side of IDL is always 1 day ahead of the _____ side..... It marks the place where each day officially begins (at 12:01 AM).

180 degree on the opposite side of the prime meridian (0 degrees). Therefor it is on the 180th meridian of 180 degrees east

The longer an air mass remains stationary over a region, the more likely it is to acquire the physical attributes of that region. **A typical example is the lake-effect snow belt of the Great Lakes

Air Mass Modification

______: earth's furthest position from the Sun...... occurring on July 4 during the Northern Hemisphere summer

Aphelion

What process of heat transfer causes "Dust Devils"?

Convection....... heat transfer from gases and liquids in a vertical motion

Four principle lifting mechanisms: •______________-air flows toward an area of low pressure.Low pressure center: air converging and ascending, therefore cooling and condensation occurring. •When an air mass passes from a maritime source region to a warmer continental region, it heats by convection over the warmer land surface to produce ____________. •Orographic lifting •Frontal lifting (cold and warm fronts)

Convergent lifting (fprm along the equator) Convectional lifting Orographic lifting occurs when air is forcibly lifted upslope as it is pushed against a mountain Front lifting occurs as air is displaced upward along the leading edge of the contrasting air masses

The apparent deflection of wind from a straight path in proportion to the speed of the Earth's rotation at different latitudes is known as_______. a)Adiabatic lapse b)Coriolis effect c)Rossby declination d)a Derecho e)Zeusian vertigo

Coriolis effect

Difference between midlatitude cyclones and tropical cyclones

Cyclone system forming in the tropics are quite different from midlatitude cyclones because the air of the tropics is essentially homogeneous, with no fronts or converging air masses of different temperatures.

Mountain/Valley Breezes

During the day, valley slopes are heated earlier during the day than are valley floors. As the slopes heat up and warm the air above, this warm, less-dense air rises and creates an area of low pressure. By the afternoon, winds blow upslope direction along the pressure gradient, forming an upslope valley breeze. At night, heat is lost from the slopes, and the cooler, denser air then subsides downslope in a mountain breeze.

___________: is driven by trade winds ______________: in the subtropics, the Coriolis force causes water pile up in the western boundary of subtropical gyres. The result is that narrow, deep, fast currents form at the western boundaries of these gyres, a phenomenon known as western intensification _______________: is the upward movement of cold, nutrient - rich water from great depths. Where surface water is swept away from a coast, costal upwelling happens Differences in water density, driven by differences in temperatures and salinity, drive the flow of deep currents on Earth known as ____________.

Equatorial Currents Subtropical currents Upwelling: is the upward movement of cold, nutrient - rich water from great depths. Where surface water is swept away from a coast, costal upwelling happens thermohaline circulation

__________________- (warm and rainy):the converging low-pressure air in this area is extremely moist and full of latent heat energy. As it rises, the air expands and cools, producing heavy rainfall throughout this zone _____________- (hot and dry):between 20 and 35 latitude in both hemisphere, broad high-pressure zones of hot, dry air. The air is dry because moisture is removed as heavy precipitation as air rise along the equatorial low-pressure zone _____- (frigid and dry): polar atmosphere receive little energy from the Sun, cold, dry, and dense air descends and moves toward middle latitudes. Affected by the Coriolis effect, air descending from Polar area clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, producing Polar easterly winds __________- (cool and moist): where warm, moist air from the westerlies meets cold, dry air from the polar, producing persistent cold, moist conditions in this region

Equatorial Low Subtropical highs Polar highs Subpolar lows

____________: Air rises from a low-pressure belt surrounding earth at equator, and then descends to form high-pressure belts at sub-tropical latitudes, and then flows both northward and southward back toward the equator Trade Winds- Move from high to low pressure Westerlies (how they are generated and the direction of them... Where Air moving from subtropical high-pressure zone to the higher latitudes subpolar zone, is deflected towards the east, to produce westerly winds at both Northern and Southern Hemisphere

Hadley Cell Circulation

Ice pellets larger than 0.5 m that form within a cumulonimbus cloud are known as Hail. During hail formation, small snow pellets circulate in the cloud, moving repeatedly above and blow the freezing level, adding layers of ice. Eventually forms hail and falls when the circulations in the could can no longer support the weight

Hailstones..... (no blank I know)

Insolation

Insolation is simply solar radiation

Coastal areas adjacent to cold ocean currents experience a)More precipitation than areas adjacent to warm ocean currents b)Less precipitation than areas adjacent to warm ocean currents c)The same amount of precipitation as areas adjacent to warm currents d)All of the above can be true depending on longitude. e)Larger influxes of pretty stupid surfers.

Less precipitation than areas adjacent to warm ocean currents

** 1. June 20 or 21 Solstice-subsolar point is at 23.5*N (tropic of Cancer) a. North Polar region gets 24 hours daylight/get more insolation 2. September 22 or 23 Equinox- subsolar point is at 0* (Equator) 3. December 21 and 22 Solstice- subsolar point at 23.5*S (Tropic of Capricorn) a. South Polar region gets 24 hours daylight/get more insolation 4. March 20 or 21 Equinox- subsolar point at 0*(Equator)

N/A

______- absorbs UV energy and converts it to heat energy

Ozone

_____: The point in Earth's orbit where it is closest to the Sun...... Occurs on January 3rd during the Northern Hemisphere winter

Perihelion

______, __________, and _________ decide surface winds

Pressure Gradient force + Coriolis Force + Friction

Transfering of heat _______-energy traveling in electromagnetic waves. (from Sun to Earth; from burning fire) Waves of radiation do not need to travel through a medium in order to transfer heat. _________-molecule-to-molecule transfer of heat energy as it diffuse through a substance. (energy conducted through the handle of a pan on a kitchen stove) Different martials conduct sensible heat from higher temperature to lower temperature. Earth's land surface is a better conductor than air; moist air is a better conductor than dry air. ____________-gases and liquids transfer energy by convection, the transfer heat by mixing and circulation, usually is a vertical movement. (warmer masses rise, cooler masses sink) __________-horizontally dominant movement (gas and liquid).

Radiation Conduction Convection Advection

______-Radiative cooling of the ground cools warm, moist air next to the ground ________-Warm, moist air is blown over a cool surface, cooling the warm air. water evaporates

Radiation Fog Advection Fog Evaporation Fog

_______-Solar energy bounces directly back into space from atmosphere or Earth's surface. The reflective quality of Earth's surface called________. (0% is total absorption; 100% is total reflectance)

Reflection albedo

________-when insolation pass through atmospheric gases or from air to water, the change of medium bend different wavelengths into different angles. When the Sun is low in the sky, light must penetrate more air than when the Sun is overhead, therefore lights has more opportunity to be refracted by air layers

Refraction

_______: compares the actual water vapor content to the maximum possible amount of water vapor content in a body of air Relativehumidity=ActualwatervaporintheairMaximumwatervaporpossibleintheairatthattemperature×100%... this means that with the same amount of actual water vapor, warm air has a smaller relative humidity because it can hold more water in the air.

Relative humidity:

_____- when the direction of light's movement is changed, without altering its wavelengths. It accounts for the percentage of insolation that does not reach Earth's surface, but is instead reflected back to space. Scattering is often done when light passes through Atmospheric gases. According to Rayleigh's principle, shorter wavelength are scattered more than longer wavelengths. When the Sun is overhead, we see the shorter wavelengths are scattered the most, which are violet and blue During a cloudy day, the atmospheric particles such as cloud droplets scatter all wavelengths of visible light, making the sky almost white.Figure 2.7 When the Sun is low on the horizon at dawn or twilight, the low, oblique-angle rays have to pass through more atmosphere and travel more to reach us (Figure 2.8), therefore shorter wavelengths are scattered out, leaving only the residual orange and reds to reach our eyes.

Scattering

_______-can be sensed by humans as temperature ________-("hidden heat") energy absorbed/gain or released/lost when a substance changes from one state to anotherwithout changing its temperature. (water to water vapor, water to ice) the latent energy absorbed in the process of evaporation cools surrounding area.

Sensible Heat Latent Heat

____________-connects all points with highest mean temperature.

Thermal Equator

Stratus Clouds are ______. and as a result reflect most shortwave isolation creating a_____ effect. Cirrus Clouds are _____. and as a result most shortwave/longwave isolation makes it to the surface and is reflected creating a _____ effect.

Thick; Cooling Thin, warming effect

1. _____-this region covers from the surface to 18km 2. the troposphere contains 90% of all mass of the atmosphere

Troposphere

** For Northern Hemisphere When is the..... 1. Winter Solstice 2. Summer Solstice 3. Spring equinox 4. Fall equinox?

Winter solstice—December 21 or 22-Subsolar point at Southern Tropic (23.5S) •Spring equinox—March 20 or 21-Subsolar point at Equator •Summer solstice—June 20 or 21-Subsolar point at Northern Tropic (23.5N) •Fall equinox—September 22 or 23-Subsolar point at Equator

An ascending air parcel tends to cool by expansion, responding to the reduced pressure at higher altitudes; a descending air parcel tends to heat by compression. These mechanisms of temperature change are _________,means occurring without a loss or gain of heat.

adiabatic

The steep wall of fast-approaching clouds seen in this photo is indicative of a)an incoming cold front. b)an incoming warm front c)Cumulus cloud formation d)Advection Fog formation e)Armageddon

an incoming cold front.

The magnetosphere surrounding earth deflects the solar wind toward both of Earth's poles and only a small portion of it enters the atmosphere, producing__________.

auroras

______- the driving force that moves winds in opposition to the pressure gradient

friction force

The rate of temperature decrease with increasing altitude is called the ________ rate.

lapse

On Earth's surface, warm and humid air is associated with _______ pressure; cold, dry air is associated with_____ pressure

low high

Cyclones: Pressure in the center is____ Precipitation and winds are intense in stage 3, ______. Rotation direction of a midlatitude cyclone is _____

low occluded stage Counter-clockwise

The term ____________, or ____________, describes the moderate influence of the ocean on climate, occurring along coastlines or island. ______________ refers to inland areas with a greater temperature range on both a daily and yearly basis.

marine effect, or maritime Continental effect

Latitude lines are called_______; longitude lines are called_______; the location of Prime Meridian is_________

parallels meridians Greenwich, England

In reality, because of earth's rotation, upper atmosphere wind are affected by ___________and____________, called geotropic wind

pressure gradient force and Coriolis force

The point at which evaporation and condensation are in balance is saturation equilibrium, or _______. The ________ is the temperature at which a given mass of air becomes saturated and net condensation begins to form water droplets.

saturation dew-point temperature

Earth's surface is a misshapen _________, or, __________

spheroid or geoid

An air parcel is _______ if it resists displacement upward, or when disturbed, tends to return to its starting place. An air parcel is ________ if it continues to rise until it reaches an altitude where the surrounding air has a density and temperature similar to its own

stable unstable

The temperature of the lower atmosphere is likely to be ________ on a cloudy night than that of a clear night because______. a) warmer; clouds trap, absorb and reradiate energy in the lower atmosphere b) warmer; clouds absorb energy and store it c) colder; clouds absorb energy and store it d) no different; clouds do not effect energy transfer e) colder; clouds are very cold

warmer; clouds trap, absorb and reradiate energy in the lower atmosphere