Exam Study Guide

Online notes links for Exam I:

The Earth and it's Atmosphere
Energy: Warming the Earth and the Atmosphere
Seasonal and Daily Temperatures
Weather Forecasting

Class Submitted Questions for exam I

What atmospheric parameter always decreases with height?

What is the third most common permanent gas in the atmosphere by volume?

How do permanent gases remain constant?

What is it called when H₂O changes from a gas to a liquid?

Does temperature increase or decrease with elevation?

Does pressure increase or decrease with elevation?

Name all the layers of the atmosphere.

Does rising air warm or cool (adiabatics)?

What happens to temperature as we climb through each layer of the atmosphere?

What 3 weather instruments lead to the development of physical laws?

What is the most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere by volume?

What percentage of the atmosphere is oxygen?

What percentage of the atmosphere is nitrogen?

What percentage of the atmosphere is water vapor at any given time?

What is the formula to convert degrees F to degrees C?

What is the formula to convert degrees C to degrees F?

What are the 3 process to transfer heat?

Draw a symbol for the following: cold front, warm front, occluded front, stationary front

Define radiation.

What is the order of radiation from shortest to longest wave length?

What gas is considered to be "the greenhouse gas"?

Water vapor absorbs short or long wave radiation?

What is the wave length window of visible light?

Does the number of air molecules increase or decrease with elevation?

Does snow or forest have the highest albedo?

The Earth emits most of its energy as short waves.  T/F

Any surface that absorbs all the radiation that strikes it is called a____________.

What are the main sources of CO2 in the atmosphere?

How does the atmosphere warm up throughout the day?

What is the fate of shortwave radiation as it moves through the atmosphere?

Why is the sky blue?

What is the average pressure in millibars at sea level?

Define temperature.

Define pressure.

Name the variable gases?

Name the permanent gases?

What is the plane of the ecliptic?

What are the two types of satellites?

What time of the day will we find the highest relative humidity?

What is the cause of Indian Summer?

Name the following changes in state:
gas to liquid, gas to solid, liquid to solid, solid to gas, solid to liquid, liquid to gas

The Sun is closest to the Earth during which month?

What season(s) have a sun angle of 90 degrees at the equator?

Name 3 factors for seasonality.

Why are seasonal temperature variations less in the southern hemisphere than the northern hemisphere?

What direction does a High pressure system spin in the northern hemisphere?

What direction does a Low pressure system spin in the northern hemisphere?

Does air move into or out of a high pressure system?

What is the albedo of snow?

What is the albedo of clouds?

What is the albedo of forest?

What is the only substance near the Earth's surface that can exist naturally as a solid, liquid, or a gas at normal atmospheric temperatures?

Is water vapor considered to be a greenhouse gas?

At what temperature at each of the 3 temperature scales is no thermal motion observed?

At what temperature at each of the 3 temperature scales is freezing of water observed?

At what temperature at each of the 3 temperature scales is boiling of water observed?

What causes an occluded front?

What % of ozone is found in the stratosphere?  The troposphere?

Which is more dense, moist or dry air?

In a system with an occluded front, a cold front and a warm or stationary front, where is the weather potential the most severe?

Does compression lead to warming or cooling?

What happens to the severity of a storm when a front becomes occluded?

What are CFC's and what do they do in the atmosphere?

What is heat transfer through the mass movement of a fluid?

What temperature does water freeze at in the three temperature scales?

What processes release CO2 into the atmosphere?

What is Brownian Motion?

Which type of front moves the quickest and why?

What does the word Tropein mean?

Does High or Low pressure offer stability?

T/F UV radiation is shortwave.

Which direction does a hurricane spin?

What layer of the atmosphere do we live in?

What problems do we face with data from a Radiosonde?

Where are the World Meteorological Centers located?

How often are radiosondes launched?

What are the primary reasons for a weather forecast?

What is the mission of the National Weather Service?

What are the problems with forecast models?

What is the Analogue method of forecasting?

What does WMO stand for?

What does infrared satellite imagery show?

Which forecast method infers that tomorrows weather will be the same as today?

How does a forecast show skill?

What is NCEP?

What is the persistence method of forecasting?

What are "Progs"?

What method of forecasting is good for long term forecasting?

What role do clouds play in forecasting high and low temperature temperatures?

What role does snow cover play in predicting temperature?

What is the trend method?

What is the Climatology technique?

What radiation law states that the amount or radiant energy emitted from a blackbody is proportionate to the 4th power of the objects absolute temperature?

At what angle is the Earth tilted on its axis?

When is the vernal equinox?

What radiation law defines the type of radiation a surface radiates?

Define the Stephan-Boltzmann radiation law.

What radiation law defines the amount of radiation a surface radiates?

Describe a surface with a high albedo.

Define Sub Solar Point.

T/F The atmosphere warms from the surface up.  Why or why not?

What % of radiation is converted directly to heat in the atmosphere?

What latitude on Earth receives the maximum solar incident at the surface?

What latitude on Earth receives the maximum solar incident at the top of the atmosphere?

What % of incoming radiation is absorbed by the Earths surface?

What is Kirchoff's law?

What are the 3 factors of seasonality?

What is a dryline and how do they form?

What % of incoming radiation is reflected at the top of the atmosphere?

When is winter solstice?

When is the Vernal Equinox?

What is the plane of the ecliptic?

What causes Indian Summer?

What are the dates of the solstices and equinoxes?

What causes cold spells?

Why can the SSP never be at a higher latitude that 23.5 degrees?

What is "time of insolation"?

The transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance or between substances in contact with one another is what type of heat transfer?

What is a temperature inversion?

What is sensible heat?

Smoke, dust and salt are examples of what?

What role do particulates play in rainfall?

Which layer of the atmosphere contains most of the Earth's ozone?

Name 3 greenhouse gasses?

N2 and O2 hold fairly constant up to about how many miles?

Where is the hole in the ozone layer and when does it become the largest?

Why is the thermosphere so warm?

Define temperature?

How do we measure temperature?

What is the name of the book written by Aristotle about weather?

Name each state change of water and tell if it is a warming (heat releasing) or cooling (heat absorbing) process.

What are selective absorbers?

What role do selective absorber play in warming the atmosphere?

Why are urban landscapes generally warmer than rural landscapes?

What is the maximum wavelength of emitted radiation from the Sun?

What is a perfect absorber of radiation?

What would happen to the process of warming in the atmosphere if the suns energy was emitted in the infrared spectrum instead of light visible and UV? Think about how the atmosphere warms now.

Define the term "blackbody".

The amount of radiation returning from an object as compared to that initially striking it defines what?

Give some examples of selective absorbers in the atmosphere.

Online notes links for Exam II:

Atmospheric Moisture
Condensation, Dew, Fog and Clouds
Stability and Cloud Development
Precipitation

Class Submitted Questions for exam II

CLOUDS Power Point Show

What type of clouds form in an environment of convergence?

What type of clouds form through convection?

What type of fog forms in San Francisco?

What 4 conditions aid in the collision coalescence raindrop formation process?

Rain that evaporates before reaching the ground is called _________________?

What condition must be met for a snow storm to be a blizzard?

List 3 trigger mechanisms for cloud development.

Are sleet and hail produced by similar processes?

Define Equilibrium Vapor Pressure (EVP).

How does hail form?

What role does terminal velocity play in collision coalescence?

How many times larger than a cloud droplet is a rain drop?

What part of the US has the highest Dew Points and why?

Why does weather in the US travel from west to east?

Sinking air will (warm/cool) as it (compresses/expands).

Temperature most often (rises/falls) with elevation.

What conditions create an ideal environment for dew and fog formation?

What are the 2 ways to form fog?

What is the MALR?

What is the DALR?

Cold air advection at the surface will (increase/decrease) stability.

Compression always causes air temperature to (increase/decrease).

What is the stability of the atmosphere when ELR>DALR

What is the stability of the atmosphere when ELR<MALR

What is the stability of the atmosphere when DALR>ELR>MALR

How do we determine the ELR?

What cloud is known as a skull cap cloud and appears as a fog above a cumulonimbus?

Is the ELR greater than or less than the MALR in a conditionally unstable environment?

What type of fog is our breath on a cold winter day?

What type of fog would we find near Denver Colorado?

What type of fog would form over a soy bean field in Ohio?

What type of fog lasts for days to weeks?

What is the difference between frost and frozen dew?

What is a black frost?

What weather element forms as air cools to its dewpoint at night?

When air is forced up an elevated plain and cools to its dewpoint, what type of fog forms?

What is the difference between the ideal conditions for fog and those needed for a temperature inversion?

What type of particles make good "Giant" condensation nuclei?

What does hygroscopic mean?

What are two ways to increase evaporation?

How do we change saturation vapor pressure?

Define absolute humidity.

What is the formula for absolute humidity?

Define humidity.

What is the RH when AVP=SVP?

What is a general term that describes the airs water vapor content?

What causes the wet bulb temperature to be lower than the dry bulb temperature in a psychrometer?

What is wet bulb depression?

What percentage of the 1.5 billion billion gallons of water that evaporates from the Earth's surface each year is from evaporation and transpiration over land?  From oceans?

What is the mass of water vapor in a given volume of air?

What is represented by ^mass/_volume?

What cloud often forms on the undersides of anvil tops?

Which cloud would produce continuous precipitation?

What is the Latin word that means "middle"? Curl of hair? Violent rain?  Layer?  Heap?

What is a type of orographic cloud?

What is the elevation in feet of the lower cloud etage?

What is the elevation in feet of the middle cloud etage?

What is the elevation in feet of the high cloud etage?

What type of cloud is a thunderstorm?

What cloud is known as mackerel skies?

What type of clouds leave a ring around the sun?

What cloud looks like ocean waves?

What clouds look like horse tails and are comprised of ice crystals?

Frost formation is a (cooling/warming) process.

What air temperature must be obtained for condensation to begin?

This term describes how close the air is to saturation rather than the actual amount of water vapor in the air.

What instrument measures how much water vapor is in the air?

How much does the length of a human hair change between RH of 0 to 100%?

What is transpiration?

The ^{mass of water vapor} / _{total mass of air} is____________.

The ^{mass of water vapor} / _{mass of dry air} is____________.

What instrument measures the water vapor content of the air?

AVP/SVP represents what?

AMR/SMR represents what?

What are 2 ways to change SVP?

What is the formula for convective cloud base?

Online notes links for Exam III:

The Atmosphere in Motion: Air Pressure, Forces, and Winds
Wind: Small-Scale and Local Systems
Wind: Global Systems
Air Masses and Fronts
Mid Latidude Cyclones

Class Submitted Questions for exam III

What are isobaric maps?

What force causes the wind to blow in the first place?

Does wind blow from or toward high pressure centers?

Define atmospheric pressure.

What are isobars?

What is the difference between surface and upper level charts?

What features are found on surface charts?

What is an aneroid cell?

Name two types of barometers?

What is Buys' Ballots Law?

Define Hydrostatic Equilibrium?

What two forces in balance cause Hydrostatic Equilibrium?

What is the wind direction most frequently observed during a given period?

What is Newton's first law of motion?

What is Newton's second law of motion?

What direction do winds bend in the southern hemisphere due to Coriolis?

Name four forces that determine wind speed and direction?

A weather phenomenon that covers 2000km is at what scale of motion?

What scale is weather map scale?

What direction would be zonal flow?

What direction is meridional flow?

What force reduces PGF allowing Coriolis to make winds cross isobars at 30 degrees?

What weather instrument measures wind speed only?

Name a weather instrument that measures both wind speed and direction.

Name an instrument that measures wind direction only.

What scale of motion is a sea breeze?

What is the source region for a cT air mass in the US?

Name an air mass that is cold and moist.

Name an air mass that is warm and moist.

Name two air masses that are cold and dry.

What air mass is warm and dry?

What is the source region for mT air in Ohio?

Name the 3 circulation cells in the global circulation model.

What is the ITCZ and where is it located?

What are the Doldrums?

What is Eckman Transport?

What are the physical requirements for an air mass region?

What do you call the transition zone between two distinct air masses?

How do meteorologists locate fronts on a surface chart?

Define baroclinic.

Define barotropic.

What is a gradient wind?

Why do pressure systems not rotate at the equator?

The strength of the Coriolis force is determined by what 3 factors?

What causes clear air turbulence?

If you are walking down a mountain in the afternoon, will the wind most likely be at your back or in your face?

An onshore wind is blowing to or from the water?

What is a Haboob?

Where are the Santa Anna winds located?

What wind is termed a "snow eater"?

Is the winter monsoon in India dry or wet?

What causes a thermal circulation?

What is an example of a daily thermal circulation?

What causes eddy formation?

A change in wind direction with elevation is called?

A change in wind speed with elevation causes what kind of shear?

What will cause a wall cloud over a mountain range?

Does El Nino cause dry or moist conditions in the southwest US?

What is the Pineapple express?

What is a North Easter caused by?

What is a seasonal thermal circulation?

If you visit Tibet in December, would you expect wet or dry conditions?

What is sea level pressure?

What is the altitude correction for elevation per 100 meters?

Height/contour spacing indicates what?

What is the speeding up, slowing down or changing direction of an object?

What is centripetal force?

What is the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL)?

What is a wind rose?

What is a Katabatic wind?

What is a Chinook?