Air Masses and Fronts
What is an Air mass?
An air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content.
What is a weather map?
A map of an area that shows the type of weather that will be appearing around that area
Where are surface currents located?
At or around the surface of water
What is a deep current?
when cold, dense water at the poles sinks
What are the 3 types of Air masses?
Arctic, Tropical, Polar, and Equatorial
What are 7 things that weather maps can show?
temperature, dew point, wind, cloud cover, air pressure, pressure tendency, and precipitation.
What are surface currents effected by?
Wind direction, coriolis, and continental drift
What current can be found below 200 meters into the water?
Deep currents
Where do Air masses form?
In high pressure areas
What are the lines on a weather map for?
They are Air fronts
What do surface currents effect?
regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface.
What do deep currents impact?
surface currents
What is it called when 2 air masses meet?
A Weather front
What do the colors on a weather map mean?
The amount of rain in that area
How do you tell the temperature of an ocean current
Find out where it originated
Are deep currents and surface currents related?
yes
When does the mass in an air mass change?
During the decrease and increase of altitude
What does the color black mean on a weather map?
A severe natural disaster.
What are the 5 main surface currents?
North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres.
What is the definition of salinity?
The measure of salt