MET1010 Part 2

A mirage is caused by

The bending of light by air of different densities

When the air temperature increases, the saturation vapor pressure will

increase

The difference between the "moist" and "dry" adiabatic rates is due to

The fact that latent heat is released by a rising parcel of saturated air

Stars are not visible during the day because:

The scattered light coming from the sky is too bright to be able to see the weaker light from the stars

During an equinox

The sun is directly above the equator , 0 degrees latitude

The main reason(s) for warm summers in middle latitudes is that

The sun is higher in the sky and we receive more direct solar radiation, the days are longer

The lag in daily temperature refers to the time lag between the

Time of maximum solar radiation and the time of the max temperature

Which of the following would be TRUE if the earth did not have an atmosphere?

To see a rainbow at sunrise, you should look toward the west

Which of the following is TRUE about rainbows?

To see a rainbow you should look toward the west

The sun is directly overhead at Mexico City (latitude 19°N):

Twice a year

Secondary rainbows occur when:

Two internal reflections of light occur in raindrops

The annual variation of earth-sun distance is ____ seasonal weather changes

irrelevant

Lines connecting points of equal temperature are called:

isothems

Which of the following can only be seen when the sun is to your back and it is raining in front of you?

rainbow

When the environmental lapse rate decreases more rapidly with height than the dry adiabatic rate, the atmosphere is

Absoluley unstable

Where are the days and nights of equal length all year long

At the equator

Although the polar regions radiate away more heat energy than they receive by insolation in the course of a year, they are prevented from becoming progressively colder each year by the

Circulation of heat by the atmosphere and oceans

You would most likely see a halo or sundog with which of the following cloud types?

Cirrostratus clouds

Ideal conditions for a strong radiation inversion are

Clear , calm, dry , winter night

During the afternoon, the greatest temperature difference between the surface air and the air several meters above occurs on a

Clear, calm afternoon

In a conditionally unstable atmosphere, the environmental lapse rate will be ____ than the moist adiabatic rate and ____ than the dry adiabatic rate.

Greater, less

Suppose the dew point of cold outside air is the same as the dew point of the air indoors. If the door is opened and cold air replaces some of the warm air, then the new relative humidity indoors would be

Higher than before

The earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5° with respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun. If the amount of tilt were increased to 40°, we would expect in middle latitudes

Hotter summer, colder winter

In most areas, the warmest time of the day about 5 feet above the ground occurs

In the afternoon between 2 and 5 pm

If the setting sun appears red, you may conclude that:

Only the longest waves of visible light are striking your eyes

Which of the following determine the kind (wavelength) and amount of radiation that an object emits

temperature

Which of the following provides a measure of the average speed of air molecules

temperature

Which cloud type below would most likely form in an unstable atmosphere?

cumilonimbus

As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor to the air, the relative humidity will:

decrease

As the difference between the air temperature and the dew point increases, the relative humidity

decreases

The temperature to which air must be cooled in order to become saturated is the

dew point

At sunset in the middle latitudes, look for a rainbow toward the:

east

When water changes from a liquid to a vapor, we call this process

evaporation

As the air temperature increases, the air's capacity for water vapor:

increases

Subsidence ____ stability.

increases

If you were to take a trip during the summer from Ohio to Nevada, you would most likely observe that afternoon cumulus clouds ____ as you travel west.

increasing

Considering each hemisphere as a whole, seasonal temperature variation in the Southern Hemisphere is ____ that in the Northern Hemisphere

opposite

On a clear, calm night, the ground and air above cool mainly by which process

radiation

When a plate of hot food is left on the table for awhile, it cools by

radiation

A sounding can be measured by

radiosonde

What color would the sky be if air molecules selectively scattered only the longest wavelengths of visible light?

red

The bending of light that occurs when it enters and passes through a substance of different density is called:

refraction

Conditional instability depends on the condition of

saturation

On a foggy night, it is often difficult to see the road when the high beam lights are on because of ____ of light by the fog.

scattering

Red sunsets, blue moons, and milky-white skies are mainly the result of:

scattering

Air which resists vertical displacements is considered to be

stable

If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it falls back to its original position, the atmosphere is said to be

stable

Most thunderstorms do not extend very far into the stratosphere because the air in the stratosphere is

stable

The main reason why vegetables take longer to cook in boiling water at high altitudes is because

the temperature of boiling water decreases with increasing altitude

If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it continues to move upward on its own accord, the atmosphere is said to be

unstable

Which of the following environmental lapse rates would represent the most unstable atmosphere in a layer of unsaturated air

11 degress c per 1000m

On the summer solstice, the altitude of the noonday sun is highest

231/2o north latitude (tropic of cancer)

The latitude at which there is a yearly balance between incoming and outgoing radiation is about ____.

37 degrees

Which latitude below would experience the fewest hours of daylight on Dec. 22?

60 degrees north (high latitudes)

Which of the following latitudes is closer to the earth's axis

90 degrees

Incoming solar radiation in middle latitudes is less in winter than in summer because

A and b only

A high water vapor pressure indicates

A high number of water vapor molecules in the air

White light is ____ of electromagnetic radiation.

A mixture of all visible wavelengths

If the environmental lapse rate is less than the moist adiabatic rate, the atmosphere is

Absolutely stable

Air molecules selectively scatter visible light because:

Air molecules are smaller than the wavelength of visible light

During the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

All of these

Which of the following are capable of producing a red sunrise or sunset?

All of these

A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is an example of:

An adiabatic process

When the air is saturated, which of the following statements is NOT correct

An increase in temperature will cause condensation to occur

Which of the following conditions would be described as the most stable

An inversion

During the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the "land of the midnight sun" would be found

At high latitudes

Radiational cooling typically occurs

At night

Nighttime temperatures rarely drop below the dew point temperature because

At saturation, latent heat of condensation is released into the air

The time of day when the relative humidity reaches a maximum value is usually

At sunrise

More solar radiation is received at the:

At the surface

Two objects, A and B, have the same mass but the specific heat of A is larger than B. If both objects absorb equal amounts of energy,

B will be warmer than a. a needs more heat to raise its temperature

An example of orographic clouds would be

Clouds forming on the windward slope of a mountain

In clear weather, the air next to the ground is usually ____ than the air above during the night and ____ than the air above during the day

Colder, warmer

What two sets of conditions, working together, will make the atmosphere the most unstable

Cool the surface and warm the air aloft

Which set of conditions, working together, will make the atmosphere the most stable?

Cool the surface and warm the air aloft

The dry adiabatic rate is the rate at which

Dry air changes its temperature as a result of expansion or compression

The rate at which the actual air temperature changes with increasing height above the surface is referred to as the

Environmental lapse rate

Which of the following are caused by the bending of light through ice crystals?

Halos or sundogs

The Gulf Coast states are more humid in summer than the coastal areas of Southern California mainly because of the:

Higher water temperatures in the gulf of mexico

The deepest radiation inversion would be observed:

In polar regions in winter

In meteorology, the word insolation refers to

Incoming solar radiation

If the air temperature remains constant, evaporating water into the air will ____ the dew point and ____ the relative humidity

Increase, increase

The primary cause of a radiation inversion is

Infrared radiation emitted by earth's surface

A knowledge of air stability is important because:

It determines the vertical movement of the air

When it is January and winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is ____ and ____ in the Southern Hemisphere

January, summer

A radiation inversion is most commonly observed

Just above the ground

Which of the following cloud types would commonly be found downwind of a mountain?

Lenticular clouds

Without the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the average surface temperature would be

Lower than at present

At the North Pole the sun will rise above the horizon on ____ and set below the horizon on ____.

March 21, September 23

The ratio of the mass of water vapor in a given volume (parcel) of air to the mass of the remaining dry air describes the

Mixing ratio

The rate at which the temperature changes inside a rising (or descending) parcel of saturated air is called the

Moist adiabatic rate

Longer days are generally associated with

More rain fall

Water heats up ____ and cools off ____ than land

More slowly, more slowly

In July, at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the day is ____ long and is ____ with each passing day

More than 12 hors, getting shorter

Suppose saturated polar air has an air temperature and dew point of -10°C, and unsaturated desert air has an air temperature of 35°C and a dew point of 10°C. The desert air contains ____ water vapor and has a ____ relative humidity than the polar air

More,lower

At what time during a 24-hour day would a radiation temperature inversion best be developed

Near sunrise

The lowest temperature is usually observed

Near sunrise

Which of the following is NOT a reason why water warms and cools much more slowly than land?

Not- heat energy is mixed in a deeper layer of water

Over the earth as a whole, one would expect to observe the smallest variation in temperature from day to day and from month to month

On a small island near the equator

During summer near the North Pole, the sun is above the horizon ____ in the mid-latitudes

On march 20

Which of the following can be used as a method of protecting an orchard from damaging low temperatures during a radiation inversion

Orchard heaters, wind machines, irrigation

The largest annual ranges of temperatures are found

Polar latitudes over land

The temperature an air parcel would have if it were moved to a pressure of 1,000 mb at the dry adiabatic rate is called the:

Potential temperature

Which of the following instruments use wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperature to obtain relative humidity

Psychrometer

The name commonly used to describe the drier region observed on the downwind (leeward) side of a mountain range is

Rain shower

As light passes through ice crystals, ____ is bent the least and is, therefore, observed on the ____ of halos or sundogs

Red, inside.

Halos are caused by:

Refraction of light passing through ice crystals

The wind-chill factor

Relates body heat loss to an equivalent temperature with no wind.

The percentage of water vapor present in the air compared to that required for saturation is the:

Relative humidity

Which of the following will increase in a rising parcel of air?

Relative humidity

As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor to the air, the dew point will

Remain the same

The most latent heat would be released in a ____ parcel of ____ saturated air

Rising; warm

Another name for diffuse light is:

Scattered light

The blue color of distant mountains is due primarily to:

Scattering of light

In summer, humid regions typically have ____ daily temperature ranges and ____ maximum temperatures than drier regions

Smaller, lower

A conditionally unstable atmosphere is ____ with respect to unsaturated air and ____ with respect to saturated air

Stable , unstable

Which of the following is the poorest conductor of heat

Still air

In the northern hemisphere, the number of hours of daylight begins to shorten after the

Summer solstice

Which of the following will increase the relative humidity in a home during the winter

Taking a shower and letting air circulate throughout the home

Suppose yesterday morning you noticed ice crystals (frost) on the grass, yet the minimum temperature reported in the newspaper was only 35°F. The most likely reason for this apparent discrepancy is that:

Temperature readings are taken in instrument shelters more than 5 feet above the ground

Refraction of light by the atmosphere is responsible for:

The earlier rising and later setting of the sun, the elliptical shape of the sun at sunset, the visual perspective of stars and plants in the sky etc...

An important reason for the large daily temperature range over deserts is that

There is little water vapor in the air to absorb the re-radiate infrared radiation

In a blinding snowstorm in Vermont, the air temperature and dew-point temperature are both 30°F. Meanwhile, under clear skies in Arizona, the air temperature is 85°F and the dew point temperature is 38°F. From this information, you could conclude

There is more water vapor in the air in arizona

To see a sundog, you should look about 22 degrees:

To the left or right of the sun

Which of the following has a wavelength shorter than that of violet light

Ultraviolet radiation

____ are found beneath fair-weather cumulus (cumulus humilis) clouds, whereas ____ are found between the clouds

Updrafts, downdrafts

The lowest temperature that can be attained by evaporating water into the air is known as the

Wet-bulb temperature

At what time of day is the relative humidity normally at a minimum

When the air temperature is highest

In the Northern Hemisphere, which of the following days has the fewest hours of daylight

Winter solstice

The maximum in daytime surface temperature typically occurs ____ the earth receives its most intense solar radiation

after

The temperature at which water boils depends mainly on

air pressure

Which of the following sets of conditions would produce a cumulus cloud with the lowest base

air temperature 90 degree F and dew point temperature 60 degrees F

The dry adiabatic lapse rate is ____ greater than the moist adiabatic lapse rate

always