KEY TERMS
TEST9: Chapters 16, 17, 18,
19/Extra Credit: Chapter 20: Origin of Modern Astronomy
Homework assignment: Please, research these Key
Terms in your textbook, study guide, and other documents you may have. You will
be tested on the objective and key terms outlined below to ensure that you have
mastered the basic knowledge in this atmospheric section. You will have 4 or
more extra credit questions on chapters 20 (Astronomy) that count for 20% or
more.
.
CHAPTER 16: Moisture,
Clouds, and Precipitation
I - Changes of State of Water
Latent heat
(definition and role in atmospheric processes)
Calorie (kilocalorie), calorie
(definition and relation)
II - Humidity
Definition and role in atmospheric processes
Relative humidity/Saturation (definition, how does it relate to
condensation, temperature, and water- vapor content?)
Dew point (definition, how does it relate to the actual moisture content,
temperature, and water-vapor content?)
Adiabatic temperature changes: How does it produce condensation?
Condensation and cloud formation: Name the major clouds producing rain
and storm
Types of fog; what causes fog?
III - Adiabatic heating/cooling
What happens when air is
compressed/expanded?
W hat happens when moist/dry air
ascents?
Wet/Dry Adiabatic cooling rate
(explain)
Processes that lift air: Orographic lifting/rain shadow desert (i.e. west
coast
How and why the
CHAPTER 17: AIR PRESSURE AND WIND
I - Air Pressure
How do temperature and pressure vary with altitude in the troposphere?
How is air pressure measured?
II - Wind
What causes wind, and how does
wind flow?
Pressure Gradient/isobars
spacing (how does it relate to wind speed?)
Coriolis effect (Cause/ how does
it affect wind direction in the two hemispheres?)
III - High/Low Pressure
Low Pressure center: Cyclone (definition, type of weather is associated
with it and why, convergence, and divergence)
High Pressure Center: Anticyclone (definition, type of weather associated
with it and why, convergence, and divergence)
IV - General Circulation of the Atmosphere:
Equatorial low/Subtropical high
(origin, flow pattern, and relation to subtropical deserts)
V - Local Winds:
Land breeze/leeward coast (see
also page 426: Geographic position)
Sea breeze/windward leeward
coast (see also page 426: Geographic position)
Valley breeze?
VI - El Nino/La Nina
Explain how El Nino and El Nina form along the eastern tropical pacific,
and how they are related to pressure variations between the East coast (S.
America) and the West Coast (
What are the effects of El Nino and la Nina on the climate in US,
especially in 1997-1999?
Why is it called the Southern Oscillation?
How does the El Nino phenomena affect the number of hurricanes in the
Atlantic?
How can La Nina phenomena affect the hurricane season in the
CHAPTER
18: WEATHER PATTERNS AND SEVERE
STORMS
I - Air Masses:
Definition and types
of air masses (number, name and origin) that influence the climate in US.
II - Front:
Definition and types
of front and weather pattern associated with them
Warm front: Type of
precipitation; Cold front: Type of precipitation
III - Middle-Latitude Cyclone:
Origin, and how does
it affect the weather pattern in continental US?
IV - Thunderstorm:
Thunderstorm Development; why are thunderstorms in Fl are most common in
the afternoon and early evening?
V - Hurricanes/Tropical storm/Tropical depression:
Definition/classification
Conditions for
hurricane formation (temperature, latitude, heat, Coriolis effect, season…)
Region in
CHAPTER
19: CLIMATE
I - Climate classification
Bases for (Koppen's)
climate classification
World climates
Major climate types
in continental US
II - Human impact on Global Climate
How do CO2 levels
relate to global climate change?
Origin of rising CO2
levels in the atmosphere
Greenhouse Effect:
Do you believe in Greenhouse effect? Why? Explain.
Role of deforestation in global warming and desertification
What is the IPCC? W hat is its role?
Trace gases and their role in global climate change
Consequences of Global warming