Air Circulation
Wind and Weather
Miscellaneous
Clouds
Weather Systems
The Atmosphere
Moisture, Etc.
100
This occurs when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun on June 21st or 22nd; it marks the longest day of the year
What is the summer solstice?
100
A body of air in motion
What is wind?
100
The amount of water vapor in the air at any given time
What is humidity?
100
White, billowy, puffy clouds that indicate good weather
What are cumulus clouds?
100
A front caused when air masses collide, but the difference between them is not enough to induce motion
What is a stationary front?
100
This region of the atmosphere extends from 10-30 miles in altitude; in it, the Sun's radiation reacts with oxygen molecules to create ozone
What is the ozonosphere?
100
The continuous movement of water between the Earth and its atmosphere
What is the water cycle?
200
An apparent deflection of moving objects caused by the Earth's rotation
What is the Coriolis Effect?
200
A wind blowing from behind the aircraft; it increases the aircraft's speed and saves fuel, enabling earlier arrival at a destination
What is a tailwind?
200
This gas composes 78% of the mixture of gases in earth's atmosphere
What is nitrogen?
200
These thin, wispy clouds are formed of ice crystals because of their high altitude
What are cirrus clouds?
200
A front which occurs when warm air moves into an area of colder air, overriding the cold air and causing it to sink because cold air is heavier
What is a warm front?
200
A layer of the atmosphere extending from the tropopause for about 30 miles; the U-2 Dragon Lady routinely flies through it
What is the stratosphere?
200
A cloud that is very near to or touching the ground; it is composed of tiny droplets of liquid water that are at or near the surface of the geographical area
What is fog?
300
An area of calm surrounding the equator, where the trade winds from the north and the south converge
What is the doldrums?
300
Defined as a sudden, powerful, localized air current, especially a downdraft or downburst, this phenomenon has caused several jet accidents
What is a microburst?
300
The conversion of water vapor to a liquid
What is condensation?
300
These clouds, characterized by their anvil-shaped tops, often contain bad weather and should never be flown into
What are cumulonimbus clouds?
300
A huge body of air, usuallly 1,000 miles or more across, with the same temperature and moisture characteristics
What is an air mass?
300
This first layer of the atmosphere extends from sea level up to 20,000 feet over the poles and to 55,000-60,000 feet over the equatorial regions; it ends at the tropopause
What is the troposphere?
300
The general term for various types of condensed water that fall to the earth's surface
What is precipitation?
400
Warm, steady breezes that blow almost continuously toward the equator but appear to curve toward the west
What are trade winds?
400
The effective lowering of the air temperature caused by the wind blowing warm air away from an object or human body
What is wind chill?
400
This temperature scale's freezing point is 273°, and its boiling point is 373°
What is the Kelvin scale?
400
These gray clouds have a uniform, sheet-like appearance and very little vertical development
What are stratus clouds?
400
A front which occurs when cold air moving into an area pushes already present warm air up and out of the way
What is a cold front?
400
The last two layers of the atmosphere; in the image, they appear blue
What are the mesosphere and the thermosphere?
400
A situation where the air holds as much water vapor as it can at the air temperature at that time
What is saturation?
500
This wind pattern crosses the US at 30,000 to 35,000 feet, generally moving in a west to east direction; it is caused by strong temperature differences in the upper troposphere; in the winter, it gains strength and dips farther south
What is the jet stream?
500
This tool for estimating wind speed originated in 1805 and is still widely used today;among other things, it describes each wind speed's effects on land and at sea
What is the Beaufort Scale?
500
This device gives a permanent record of pressure readings and can be found in most weather stations
What is an aneroid barograph?
500
Stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right angles to the wind direction; they foreshadow bad weather and are often mistaken for UFOs
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What are lenticular clouds?
500
A front that involves at least three different air masses
What is an occluded front?
500
This region begins at an altitude of about 25 miles and extends outward to about 250 miles; and is characterized by the continous loss or gain of electrons in the atoms and molecules there
What is the ionosphere?
500
The temperature at which the air becomes saturated
What is a dew point?