Energy in the Atmosphere
Heat Transfer
Winds
Water in the Atmosphere
Precipitation
100
List 3 forms of radiation from the sun.
visible light infrared radiation ultraviolet radiation
100
What is air temperature measured with?
thermometer
100
What are all winds caused by?
differences in air pressure
100
___________ is the measure of the amount of water vapor in the air.
humidity
100
What are the 5 types of precipitation?
rain sleet hail snow freezing rain
200
What happens to the energy from the sun that is absorbed by Earth's surface?
It is changed to heat.
200
What is heat?
The energy transferred from a hotter object to a cooler one.
200
Wind speed is measured with ______________
an anemometer
200
Relative humidity is measured with a ___________.
psychrometer
200
How do you measure rain fall?
rain gauge
300
What is scattering?
It is the reflection of light in all directions.
300
3 ways that heat is transferred
radiation conduction convection
300
What is the difference between a land breeze and a sea breeze?
land breeze: at night, air over the land becomes cooler than the air over the water, flow of air from land to water sea breeze; daytime, cool air from water blows inland to land
300
How do clouds form?
when water vapor in the air becomes liquid water or ice crystals
300
What is a drought?
a long period of unusually low precipitation
400
What is the greenhouse effect?
It is the process by which gases hold heat in the air.
400
A fireplace heats a room by _______________.
radiation
400
What is the Corriolis Effect?
The way Earth's rotation makes winds curve
400
Name the 3 types of clouds and describe each.
cumulus: fair weather, closest to the ground, white and puffy stratus: flat layers and spread out, cover all or most of the sky, may produce rain, drizzle or snow cirrus: wispy, feathery clouds, high levels, ice crystals
400
what is cloud seeding?
tiny crystals of dry ice and silver iodide are sprinkled into clouds from airplanes
500
Why is the sky blue?
It is blue because short wavelength blue light is scattered more by gas molecules in the atmosphere.
500
How can you dry your boots over a hot-air vent, even though the furnace is in another room?
Convection....air from the furnace carries the heat to your boots
500
Name and describe the 3 major wind belts.
trade winds- blow from horse latitudes toward the equator prevailing westerlies- blow away from the horse latitudes polar easterlies-blow away from the poles
500
Why are the tops of some mountains almost always covered by clouds?
When warm, moist air moves upward over a mountain, it cools. This causes water vapor to condense out of the air and form clouds.
500
Clouds form because water vapor in the air ____________.
condenses
M
e
n
u