Unit 2 - Meteorology and Weather
Methane
A colorless, odorless natural gas that can have a negative impact on the environment
Storm Surge
A dome of water that sweeps across the coast where a hurricane lands
Warm Front
A front where warm air moves over cold air and brings drizzly rain and then are followed by warm and clear weather. Red line with Ovals
Maritime Air Mass
A humid air mass that forms over oceans.
Isobar
A line on a weather map that joins places that have the same air pressure
Low Pressure
A mass of rising warm air that usually bring wet, stormy weather.
High Pressure
A mass of sinking cool air that usually bring fair weather.
Hurricane
A severe storm that develops over tropical oceans and whose strong winds of more than 120 km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center
Tropical Air Mass
A warm air mass that forms in the tropics and has low air pressure
Pollution
Addition of more waste than a resource can accommodate.
What do isobars indicate on a weather map?
Air pressure
Humidity
Amount of water vapor in the air
Global Warming
An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)
Eye
Area in the center of a hurricane that is devoid of clouds and calm
Climate
Average weather of a particular area over a long period of time - Includes annual variations in temperatures and precipitation, which are influenced by latitude, closeness of lakes and oceans, topography, wind patterns and air masses.
Troposphere
Bottom layer in the atmosphere - where we live, breathe . It is also where all the weather occurs
Front
Boundary between two air masses of differing densities; can be cold, warm, stationary, or occluded and can stretch over large areas of Earth's surface.
Meteorology
Branch of Earth science that studies the air that surrounds our planet - includes the study of atmospheric phenomena such as fog, clouds, snow, rain and lightning.
Tropical Depression
Brings about hurricanes due to change in weather, climate, altitude, latitude, or direction.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds associated with a high-pressure system blow in which direction?
Clockwise, downwards, and away from the center
Orographic Lifting
Cloud formation that occurs when warm moist air is forced to rise up the side of a mountain.
Stratus
Clouds that form in flat layers and often cover much of the sky.
Cumulus
Clouds that look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton
Cirrus
Clouds that look thin, wispy, or feathery.
Cold Front
Cold air advances toward warm air and pushes it up and out of the way. Blue line with triangles
Alto
High clouds.
Air Mass
Large body of air that takes on the characteristics of the area over which it forms; can be described by its stability, temperature, and humidity.
Hurricane
Large, low pressure, rotating storm that gets its energy from the evaporation of warm ocean water and the release of heat.
Ozone Layer
Layer of the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone; absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation
Millibar
Metric unit of atmospheric pressure
Greenhouse Effect
Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
Tropical Storm
Orginates over tropical waters wind speeds greater then 34-63 knots, may lead to a hurricane
Photosynthesis
Plants use the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars
Convection
Process by which, in a fluid (like air) being heated, the warmer part of the mass will rise and the cooler portions will sink.
Condensation
State change of matter from Gas to Liquid
Specific Humidity
The amount of water vapor in the air at a given time and place; expressed as the number of grams of water vapor per kilogram of air.
Relative Humidity
The comparison of the actual amount of water vapor to the amount of water vapor that would be in the air if it saturated.
Air Quality
The condition of air in terms of the amount of pollutants it contains.
Air Pressure
The measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface
Exosphere
The outer layer of the thermosphere, extending outward into space.
Thermosphere
The uppermost layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases, 4th layer
Tornado
Violent, whirling column of air in contact with the ground that forms when wind direction and speed suddenly change with height, is often associated with a supercell, and can be extremely damaging.
Sulfur Dioxide
a colorless toxic gas (SO2) that occurs in the gases from volcanoes or burning coal
Nimbus
a dark gray cloud bearing rain
Occluded
a front where a warm air mass is caught between two colder air masses
Continental Air Mass
dry air mass form over land
Station Model
indicates weather conditions at a specific location, using a combination of symbols on a map
Dewpoint
the temperature at which the water vapour in the air becomes saturated and condensation begins
Stratosphere
12 to 50 km, Ozone held here, absorbs UV radiation
Mesosphere
50 to 80 km, most meteorites burn up here, 3rd layer
Stationary Front
A boundary between air masses that don't move possibly causing rain for several days
Polar Air Mass
A cold air mass that forms north of 50 degrees north latitude or south of 50 degrees south latitude and high air pressure
chlorofluorocarbon
(CFC) cause ozone depletion
Carbon Dioxide
(CO2) Sources include the combustion of fossil fuels. Effects: greenhouse gas-contributes to global warming.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winds associated with a low-pressure system blow in which direction?
Counterclockwise, upwards, and towards the center
Coriolis Effect
Deflects moving particles, such as air, to the right above the equator and to the left below the equator; caused by the Earth's rotation and combines with the heat imbalance found on Earth to create the trade winds, polar easterlies, and prevailing westerlies.
Radiation
Energy transfer through space by visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and other forms of electromagnetic waves.
