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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the general effect of clouds on the radiation balance?
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Reflects some visible radiation and absorbs IR.
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What are clouds made up of?
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Water droplets and ice crystals
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Do clouds absorb and radiate in the IR?
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No, they reflect
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Do clouds absorb or reflect visible radiation?
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Both
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Why are dark clouds often associated with rainfall?
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They scatter more light
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Does condensation of water vapor in a parcel of air release heat to the atmosphere?
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Release
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Does evaporation of liquid water in a parcel of release heat to the atmosphere?
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no
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Is evaporation a warming process or a cooling process for the atmosphere?
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warming
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Is condensation a warming process or a cooling process for the atmosphere?
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cooling
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State Dalton’s Law of partial pressures
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total pressure is the sum of partial pressures of oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor
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Define Vapor pressure
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The partial pressure of the water vapor in a parcel of air
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Define Saturation vapor pressure
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The vapor pressure at equilibrium
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What are the units of vapor pressure and saturation vapor pressure?
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mb
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Saturation vapor pressure is a function of only one variable. What is that variable?
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Temperature
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Using Dalton’s law, and the fact that air is made up of approximately 79% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1% water vapor, calculate the typical water vapor pressure at the surface
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10 mb
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define mixing ratio
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mass of water vapor/mass of dry air in parcel
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define saturation mixing ratio
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the total mixing ratio possible
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what are the units of mixing ratio and saturation mixing ratio?
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gm/kg
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define relative humidity
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the ratio of the amount of water vapor actually in the air to the maximum temp (and pressure). RH=water vapor content/water vapor capacity
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what are the units of relative humidity?
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(e/es) x 100 (%)
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what is a psychrometer?
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instrument used to obtain dew point and relative humidity
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define dew point temperature
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When air is cooled to the point that it becomes saturated
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define wet bulb temperature
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the temperature at which a parcel of air becomes saturated if allowed to cool by evaporating water from an external source.
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define wet bulb depression
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dry bulb minus wet bulb
(T-Tw) |
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Is humid air heavier of lighter than dry air?
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lighter
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If a glass of water were surrounded by saturated air what would happen to the water level?
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stays the same
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As the difference between air temperature and dew point increases, does the relative humidity increase or decrease?
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decreases
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What is another name for equilibrium vapor pressure?
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saturation vapor pressure
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Does average surface mixing ratio decrease or increase going pole ward from the equator?
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decreases
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At what latitudes N and S of the equator are there minima in surface RH?
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30 degrees N & S
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At what time of day is the RH generally a maximum?
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8 am
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Name the two most abundant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
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carbon dioxiode (CO2) and water vapor (H2O)
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According to your text, what wavelengths of radiation are absorbed by H20?
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> 7
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According to your text, what wavelengths of radiation are absorbed by CO2?
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> 1
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The ratio of the mass of water vapor in a given volume of air to the mass of the remaining dry air defines what moisture variable?
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mixing ratio
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When the air temperature increases, what happens to the saturation vapor pressure?
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it increases
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The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to that required for saturation defines what moisture variable?
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relative humidity
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The lowest temperature obtained by evaporating water into the air is known as what?
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wet bulb temperature
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What is another name for saturation vapor pressure?
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equilibrium vapor pressure
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Compare the saturation vapor pressure over ice with that over water. Which is higher? Why?
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over water b/c the temperature is higher
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Why are regions inland from the California coast less humid than regions inland from the Gulf coast?
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Gulf coast water is warmer
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