ATM OCN (Meteorology) 100: WEATHER & CLIMATE

REVIEW QUESTIONS/STUDY GUIDE 
for 2nd EXAM (22 July 2004)

Summer 2004

TOPICS COVERED FOR SECOND HOUR EXAM

Are you able to answer the following?

• What does the equation of state say? What are the variables of state in the atmosphere? How are these variables of state of an atmospheric gas related? That is, if the pressure of an air parcel were kept constant, how would the density vary if the temperature changed? If the density were kept constant, how would the pressure vary if the temperature changed?
• What is Dalton's Law of partial pressures? Why is this relationship important to meteorology?
• Using your words, what does the First Law of Thermodynamics say? How does it apply to the atmosphere? What are the sources of heat? What produces work on the air parcel? What is meant by an adiabatic process? How does the air parcel respond to lifting and sinking in the atmosphere? What is the approximate value of the dry adiabatic lapse rate?
• Can you describe the hydrological cycle? What is the largest reservoir of the water substance on Planet Earth? the smallest? How does the total amount of precipitation compare with that of evaporation in the annual global water budget?
• What is atmospheric humidity, and how is this weather element measured?  Can you name three instruments used to measure atmospheric humidity?  What are typical ways in which atmospheric humidity is described? Give representative values for each.
• Why is a volume of humid air less dense than an equal volume of dry air at the same temperature and pressure?
• Define vapor pressure and saturation vapor pressure; mixing ratio and saturation mixing ratio; relative humidity; dewpoint and wet-bulb temperature. Why is the dewpoint the best indicator of the actual vapor content of the actual atmosphere?
• Why does the relative humidity undergo a diurnal variation, usually being higher at night than in mid-day, even though the dewpoint may exhibit little change?
• Why does the afternoon dewpoint often serve as an expedient predictor of the overnight low temperature?
• What is apparent temperature (heat index) and why is it significant? What factors are needed to determine the apparent temperature? Given these factors, determine the apparent temperature from the provided table. What do your answers indicate about human comfort?
• Given an air parcel, what are the two ways needed to achieve saturation? What is meant by saturation? What is supersaturation?
• What is a saturation adiabatic process? What are the dry adiabatic and saturation adiabatic lapse rates and how are these process lapse rates used? Why does a difference exist between these two process lapse rates? Clearly understand the difference between the process lapse rates and the actual or environmental lapse rate. This distinction is fundamental!
• What does atmospheric stability and instablity mean?  Why would an air parcel sink if lifted? Why would an air parcel continue to rise if lifted? Under what conditions would a layer be considered absolutely stable, conditionally unstable or absolutely unstable?
• What is the LCL? What happens when air moves over mountain ranges? What is a Chinook (or a foehn) and a Santa Ana?
• What are the basic ingredients needed for cloud formation? Understand the mechanisms needed for the formation of clouds.
• What is fog? How does fog compare with clouds? What are the various fog types? How are these fogs formed? How are dew and frost typically formed?
• In what ways do the cumuliform and stratiform cloud formation mechanisms differ?
• What are the various cloud types? Can you name the 10 major cloud genera? What are some identifying characteristics of each, to include optical features (corona, halo)? Which clouds are considered warm clouds, with liquid water droplets? Which are cold clouds with ice crystals? Which cloud types typically produce the most precipitation?
• Given a cloud, what additional "ingredients" are usually necessary for precipitation formation, particularly in middle and higher latitudes? What factors hinder precipitation formation?
• Can you identify the three precipitation formation theories? What is the basic premise of each? Why is the simple diffusion-condensation process inefficient? What process or processes are important for explaining precipitation in tropical and in extratropical latitudes?
• What does the term freezing nuclei mean? What is the difference between condensation and freezing nuclei?
• How is precipitation measured? What are the precautions used in measurement of precipitation?
• Can you distinguish between the types of precipitation? What are the atmospheric conditions associated with each precipitation type?
• What is done in attempts to stimulate artificially precipitation (two ways)? What atmospheric conditions are needed to stimulate significant precipitation?
• Do you know the differences between scattering, reflection, refraction, dispersion and diffraction?
• Why is the unpolluted sky blue, the clouds white and sunsets red?
• What produces a rainbow? Where in the sky and under what conditions would you most likely see a rainbow? How are rainbows formed? What are the color sequences of the primary and secondary rainbows? What meteorological significance is associated with rainbows?
• Distinguish between a halo and a corona. What cloud type(s) would produce each of these phenomena? When and in what direction would you look for coronae and haloes? What meteorological significance is associated with these individual optical phenomena?
• What is a glory? What produces a glory? In what direction would you expect to find a glory?
• What is a mirage? How is it formed?
• How are the winds named?  Specifically, what is meant by a north wind? What is the Beaufort Scale?
• Do you know the difference between a vector and scalar quantity? Can you describe speed, velocity, acceleration, and force? Can you provide vector representations? Relate these vector quantities to Newton's Laws.
• What do Newton's Laws of Motion say (the first and second laws)?
• What is the equation of atmospheric motion? Thoroughly understand what the atmospheric equation of motion states.
• What are the forces that can cause an air parcel to accelerate? In which direction does each force act? Which force(s) causes the parcel to move and which forces affect only its directional motion?