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42 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Weather |
temperature, wind, percipitation recorded for hrs/days |
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Climate |
trends in data that have been gathered for extended periods of time |
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Trophosphere |
lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere -contains virtually all air, clouds, and precipitation |
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Insolation |
the incoming solar radiation |
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Lapse Rate |
rate of temp. change with altitude in the troposphere |
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Temperature Inversion |
Air at lower altitudes is cooler than air aloft |
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Air pressure |
air is heavier and air pressure is higher closer to earth's surface |
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Pressure gradient force |
causes air to blow from an area of high pressure to low pressure |
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Convection |
circulatory motion of descending cool air and ascending warm |
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Land breeze |
air flow from the land toward the sea -nighttime |
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Sea breeze |
airflow from sea toward land -daytime
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Mountain breezes |
cause freezing conditions in valleys |
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valley breezes |
warn air moving up slopes in mountainous regions |
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Coriolis effect |
-wind veers toward the right in the N. Hemi -wind veers toward the left in the S. Hemi -if not for this effect, winds would move exact direction by the pressure gradient |
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Frictional Effect |
causes wind to follow an intermediate path |
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Jet Streams |
strongest flow of upper air winds 9 to 12 km |
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Monsoon |
a wind that changes direction seasonally |
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North Atlantic Drift |
massive movement of warm water to northerly lands |
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Precipitation |
any form of water particles that falls from the atmosphere to the surface |
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Relative Humidity |
a percentage measure of the moisture content of the air |
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Dew Point |
critical temperature for condensation |
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Steppes |
moderately dry lands |
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Convectional Precipitation |
rising, heated moisture-laden air |
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Orographic precipitation |
occurs when warm air is forced to rise because hills or mountains block moisture-laden winds |
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Cyclonic/Frontal Precipitation |
cool and warm air masses meet |
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Air masses |
large bodies of air with similar temp. and humidity characteristics throughout |
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Source region |
large areas of uniform surface and relatively consistent temp. |
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Front |
leading edge of a tongue of air that is created by continental polar air mass and begins to move towards lighter, warmer air to the south |
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Hurricane |
intense tropical cyclone begins in a low pressure zone over warm waters |
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Blizzard |
occurrence of snow and high winds |
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Tornado |
most violent storm; when adjacent air masses differ the most |
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Tropical Rainforest |
areas that straddle the equator generally located within equatorial low pressure zones |
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Savanna |
areas to the North and South of the rainforest |
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Marine West Coast Climate |
areas close to the poles but still within westerly wind belt |
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Tundra |
northern boundary zone beyond the treed subartic regions |
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Greenhouse effect |
certain gases concentrate in the atmosphere and function as an insulating barrier |
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Global Warming |
enhanced greenhouse effect increase in earth's average surface temperature |
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Cyclone |
large system of air circulation centered on a region of low atmospheric pressure |
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El Nino |
normally cool waters are considerably warmer every 3 to 4yrs |
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Reflection |
potentially receivable radiation that is sent back to space |
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Reradiation |
Earth's surface acts as a communicator of energy |
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Typhoon |
A hurrincane occurring in the western Pacific Ocean region |