Unit 2- Meteorology

Nimbus

A dark gray cloud bearing rain.

Air Mass

A large volume of air that has properties similar to the part of Earth's surface over which it develops.

Front

A narrow region between two masses of different temperatures and/or densities.

Global Warming

A rising global temperatures (on average).

Condensation Nucleus

A solid particle in the atmosphere that provides the surface on which water droplets condense.

Koppen Climate Classification

A system, developed by Wladimir Köppen, that sorts climates based on plant life and weather values. There are 5 major types of climate in this system.

Tetsuya Fujita & Allen Pearson

American team who greatly increased our understanding of tornadoes, including developing the "F-Scale" for measuring tornado intensity

Tropical Cyclone

An enormous, rotating storm of low-pressure air, formed in the tropics during summer and fall. Also called Hurricanes and Typhoons.

Normal

An established set of values for climate that predict ordinary weather conditions. Established from a minimum of 30 years of observation.

Drought

An extended period of below-average precipitation

Precipitation

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface.

Adiabatic

Change in temperature based on change in pressure rather than heat.

Greenhouse Effect

Climate change as the result of warmth reflected back to the Earth's surface by gases in the atmosphere.

Stratus

Clouds that form less than 2 kilometers above the ground and form in flat layers and often cover much of the sky.

Cumulus

Clouds that form less than 2 kilometers above the ground and look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton.

Cirrus

Clouds that form more than 6 kilometers above the ground that are thin, wispy tufts of ice crystals.

Weather

Condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place

Flood

Conditions caused by excessive precipitation. Occurs when water builds up faster than the ground can absorb it.

Exosphere

Layer of the atmosphere that transitions into space.

Climate

Overall weather in an area over a long period of time. (changes slowly, measured over very long periods of time)

Maunder Minimum

Period of very low sunspot activity that occurred between 1645 and 1716 and closely corresponded with a cold climatic episode known as the "Little Ice Age."

Source Region

Place where the air mass originates.

Downbursts

Powerful downdrafts that are concentrated to one small area. Smaller microbursts are the most powerful.

Coalescence

Process that occurs when cloud droplets collide and form larger droplets.

4 Precipitation Forms

Rain, Sleet, Snow, and Hail

Stratosphere

Second atmosphere layer, heat increases, contains the ozone layer.

Microclimate

Small areas with climate greatly different from the surrounding area.

Cumulonimbus

Tall, towering stormclouds that are large enough to cross between different levels.

Causes of Climate Change

The Sun, Earth's orbit, Earth's tilt, Earth's Wobble, Volcanoes, and Organisms (e.g. Humans)

Thermosphere

The fourth layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of the atmosphere: Weather occurs here.

Meteorology

The scientific study of atmospheric phenomena. (The study of things that are up in the atmosphere)

Climatology

The study of Earth's climate and the factors that affect past, present, and future climatic changes

Mesosphere

Third layer of the atmosphere, air gets cooler.

Koppen Major Climate Zones

Tropical, Dry, Mild, Continental, & Polar

Wladimir Koppen

German climatologist and meteorologist who introduced a system of climatic classification based on temperature and precipitation

Atmosphere Layers

(In order from bottom to top) Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.

Guy Stewart Callendar

English inventor who proposed that increasing CO2 could lead to warming through the Greenhouse Effect.

Luke Howard

English scientist who developed the system used to classify clouds

Cold Wave

Extended period of below-average temperatures caused by large, high-pressure systems of continental polar or arctic origin

Heat Wave

Extended period of time with abnormal hot weather caused by large, high-pressure systems with high temperatures