Atmospheric Layers
The lowest layer where all weather occurs.
What is the troposphere?
Liquid water turns to vapor (driven by the sun).
What is evaporation?
Measures temperature (Galileo invented an early version).
What is a thermometer?
Winds blow from areas of _____ pressure to areas of _____ pressure.
What is high pressure to low pressure?
Violent rotating column of air (funnel cloud).
What is a tornado?
This layer contains the ozone layer.
What is the stratosphere?
Vapor cools and forms droplets.
What is condensation?
Measures air pressure.
What is a barometer?
Calm area near the equator with almost no wind.
What is the doldrums?
Tropical storm with winds over 74 mph.
What is a hurricane?
Meteors burn up here.
What is the mesosphere?
Plants release water vapor from leaves.
What is transpiration?
Measures wind speed.
What is an anemometer?
East-to-west winds north/south of equator (help ships & steer hurricanes).
What are trade winds?
Upward air movement in thunderstorms.
What is an updraft?
Hottest layer; site of auroras
What is the thermosphere?
A cloud on the ground.
What is fog?
Measures relative humidity.
What is a hygrometer?
Fast, narrow west-to-east air currents in the upper troposphere.
What are jet streams?
Sound caused by rapid expansion of superheated air.
What is thunder?
Outermost layer; satellites orbit here; no upper boundary
What is the exosphere?
These 3 things are necessary for major cloud formation: moist air, cooling, and ___.
What is dust or particles (condensation nuclei)?
Tracks storms and precipitation remotely.
What is radar?
Earth's rotation that causes storms to spin in opposite directions above and below the equator.
What is the Coriolis effect?
The one thing that drives all weather.
What is the sun?