Water Cycle
The movement of water among the great global resevoirs
What is the Hydrologic Cycle
The measure of the wtr vapour in the air
What is humidity?
Change in pressure that results in a change in temperature within a gas
What is an adiabatic process?
Condensation and cloud formation requires microscopic particles known as...
What is cloud condensation nuclei?
Tendency of air parcel to either remain in place or to change vertical position
What is stability?
A change of state through the absorption of latent heat
What is evaporation/melting/sublimation?
(Actual water vapour x 100)/max water vapour possible at that air temperature=?
What is relative humidity?
The rate at which a rising parcel of moist air cools by expansion
Wet adiabatic lapse rate
The lowest altitude recognized by cloud classification
Srato-/-Stratus at 2km and below
Resists vertical movement, returns to starting point if distrubed
What is "stable"?
Name the states of water (HINT: there are 6)
Sublimation (x2), evaporation, condensation, freezing, melting
The temperature at which an air parcel is saturated
What is dewpoint temperature?
height at which parcel's temperature reaches dew point
Lifting condensation level
Cloud type associated with good vertical development
Cumuliform (e.g. cumulus or cumulonimbus)
Air parcel is warmer than surrounding environment, and therefor keeps rising.
What is "Absolute instability"?
The process that turns ice into water vapour
Sublimation
If no water is added or removed to a mass of air, nd the temperature is increasing, what happens to the relative humidity?
Decrease in relative humidity
Rate at which a rising parcel of "dry" air cools by expansion
Dry adiabatic lapse rate
Fog that forms when a surface cools the air directly above, often at night
Radiation fog
Air parcel is cooler than surrounding environment; associated with calm weather
The three states of water
Water vapour (gaseous state), ice (solid state), and water (liquid state)
When is relative humidity lowest?
during the day
Atmospheric pressure decreases with
Altitude
Cloud layer close to the surface, formed when air and dew point temperatures are nearly identical
Fog
Precipitation created by air blowing into a mountain range
What is "Orographic" precipitation?