Abeka grade 8 science test 9 exam
Why does a weather balloon expand as it rises?
Air pressure decreases with altitude.
Which of the following is an advantage of Doppler weather radar over older radar systems?
ability to measure wind speed
What process occurs when air expands with no heat gained or lost?
adiabatic cooling
The ratio of the solar radiation reflected by an object to the solar radiation that strikes it is ?
albedo.
What is an instrument that measures wind speed?
anemometer
What instrument uses a flexible, airtight metal box to measure changes atmospheric pressure?
aneroid barometer
What colorful displays occur when solar wind particles react with molecules in the atmosphere?
auroras
What instrument do meteorologists use to measure the distance from the ground to the base of clouds?
ceilometer
What is a single updraft system in a thunderstorm?
cell
What type of high-level clouds form wispy streamers that look like feathers or hair?
cirrus
What is the boundary formed when a cold air mass moves into the territory of a warm air mass?
cold front
In what process does rain form through large cloud droplets hitting each other and merging to form larger drops?
collision-coalescence process
Which type of air mass brings hot, dry weather?
continental tropical
Heat from a fireplace causes air to circulate throughout a room as hot air rises and cold air sinks. What is this type of air circulation called?
convection current
What extremely powerful radiation heats the molecules of the ionosphere?
cosmic rays
Which type of cloud usually produces heavy rains, strong winds, and sometimes hail or tornadoes?
cumulonimbus
What is the downward stream of electrons that causes a single lightning bolt to make a second strike?
dart leader
What forms when water vapor in the air touches cool ground and turns into a liquid?
dew
What is liquid precipitation that is between 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm in diameter?
drizzle
What is a rotating column of air that starts on the ground and is not associated with a cloud?
dust devil
The process of liquid water turning into water vapor is called ?
evaporation
The outermost temperature layer of the atmosphere is ?
exosphere
What are warm, dry winds that travel down mountain slopes?
foehns
A prediction of the weather in the near future is a weather ?
forecast
What indicates that a frontal cyclone has reached its full strength?
formation of an occluded front
What is the feathery deposit of ice crystals that forms when water vapor crystallizes on the ground?
frost
What process traps heat in Earth's atmosphere?
greenhouse effect
What is the reflected light from high-altitude lightning strikes in distant thunderstorms called?
heat lightning
What is the movement of water from the earth's surface, into the air, and back to the surface?
hydrologic cycle
Which type of drought is defined by its effects on an area's groundwater, streams, lakes, and reservoirs?
hydrological drought
"Lines of equal heat" on a weather map are called ?
isotherms
Which type of cloud is characteristically almond shaped?
lenticular
What is the point where the solar wind pushes on Earth's magnetic field?
magnetopause
What thunderstorm stage is marked by the arrival of precipitation?
mature stage
What is a large, rotating updraft in a supercell thunderstorm?
mesocyclone
What is the coldest point in the atmosphere?
mesopause
The most intense type of downburst is a(n) ?.
microburst
What is a wind that reverses its direction from season to season?
monsoon
What is the most abundant gas in the homosphere?
nitrogen
Which type of lightning comes from the top of a large thunderstorm?
positive cloud-to-ground lightning
What is heat transfer by electromagnetic waves?
radiation
A weather instrument that simultaneously transmits meteorological data from weather balloons to measures and weather stations is a ?
radiosonde
What device is used to measure the amount of rainfall that a location receives?
rain gauge
The center of a hurricane is the ?
rain. freezing.
What forms the brilliant flash of a lightning bolt?
return stroke
What portion of a lightning bolt produces thunder?
return stroke
When the relative humidity is 100%, the air is said to be ?.
saturated
What type of precipitation is made of raindrops that freeze into tiny balls of ice before they hit the ground?
sleet
What term describes atmospheric conditions that limit the height to which rising air can travel?
stable
What term refers to numbers and symbols that indicate observations at a particular weather station? on a weather map
station model
The elevated water level caused by a hurricane's winds is the ?.
storm surge
What extremely powerful computers do meteorologists use to generate weather forecasts?
supercomputers
What are the surface winds that blow toward the equator in the tropics?
trade winds
What is a tropical low-pressure system that does not have rotating winds
tropical disturbance
A tropical cyclone with wind 74 mi/h is a(n) ? . speeds between 39 mi/h and
tropical storm
In meteorology, the farthest distance at which objects can be distinguished is called the ?
visibility
Which of the following is one of the three major factors that causes weather? Plate tectonics, volcanic ash, human activity or water vapor
water vapor
A tornado that forms over water is called a ?
waterspout.
Which of the following instruments is used to measure high-altitude weather conditions?
weather balloon
What instrument indicates the direction of wind?
weather vane
When does a rotating column of air become a tornado?
when it reaches the ground
What is the most destructive force of a hurricane?
wind
What is the change in the direction of winds caused by Earth's rotation?
Coriolis effect
Why does the Southern Hemisphere receive more insolation during the southern summer than the Northern Hemisphere receives during the northern summer?
Earth is closer to the sun.
What scale is used to classify tornadoes?
Enhanced Fujita scale
What is the convection cell that exists between the equator and latitude 30°?
Hadley cell
What scale is used to rank hurricane strength?
Saffir-Simpson scale
What is radiation fog that extends no more than 2 m (6 ft) above the ground called?
Shallow fog
What is a map that summarizes the weather conditions throughout the entire country at a single point in time?
Surface weather map