Ch 7-10: Moisture-Weather-Climate Flashcards

Understanding the relationship between moisture, weather, and climate systems.

1
Q

What pressure systems are characterized by converging, ascending air and spirals in a counterclockwise direction in the nothern hemisphere?

A

lower pressure cells

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2
Q

What are the types of precipitation?

A

rain, snow, sleet, hail

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3
Q

What type of vegetation is associated with a Mediterranean climate?

A

chaparral

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4
Q

What side of a mountain range normally receives the least amount of precipitation?

A

leeward

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5
Q

What is the outward movement of water from plant leaves?

A

transpiration

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6
Q

Name the 6 basic climate categories.

A

Tropical, Mesothermal, Microthermal, Polar, Highland, Desert (Dry)

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7
Q

Does temperature variation increase or decrease as one moves further from the equator?

A

increase

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8
Q

What is the short-term condition of the atmosphere called?

A

weather

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9
Q

Is the annual temperature range of places in the interior of a continent greater than or less than places along the coast?

A

greater than

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10
Q

What kind of fog develops when warm, moist air flows over a cold current?

A

advection

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11
Q

Water in the hydrological cycle can be found below the surface, on the surface, and in the ______________.

A

atmosphere

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12
Q

What term refers to the tendency of an air parcel to either remain in place or change its initial position?

A

stability

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13
Q

What type of cloud is puffy and/or globular in shape?

A

cumuliform (cumulus)

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14
Q

What type of cloud is flat or layered?

A

stratiform (stratus)

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15
Q

How much of the Earth’s total amount of water is found in the oceans?

A

97%

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16
Q

What type of atmospheric lifting mechanism produces most of the precipitation in a tropical rain forest climate?

A

convectional

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17
Q

What develops overhead in a Mediterranean dry-summer climate that produces the dry conditions in the summer?

A

subtropical high

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18
Q

What calculation is used to determine Actual Evapotranspiration (ACTET)?

A

POTET - DEFICIT

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19
Q

What climate designation applies to Moscow, Russia?

A

Humid continental, mild summer

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20
Q

How much in relative humidity do the bottom of clouds indicate in pecentage terms?

A

100%

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21
Q

What term is used to refer to the temperature at which 100% humidity occurs?

A

dew point

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22
Q

What term regarding temperature is used to refer to the elevation at which clouds form?

A

dew point

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23
Q

Thunderstorms normally develop along frontal boundaries, areas of surface convergence, and areas of ____________ uplift.

A

orographic

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24
Q

“Hot and wet” temperature and precipitation patterns are characteristic of ________________ in the equatorial tropics.

A

rain forests

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25
Q

Hurricanes die over land because ________ and the subsequent condensation aren’t sufficient to sustain them.

A

evaporation

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26
Q

What term is used to refers to wetter, intercepting slope of a mountain?

A

windward

27
Q

What term refers to the amount of water that would evaporate and transpire if it were available?

A

Potential evapotranspiration

28
Q

When water evaporates, it ___________ heat energy.

A

absorbs

29
Q

When water evaporates, does it heat or cool the surrounding air?

A

cool

30
Q

Which hemisphere is dominated by water?

A

southern

31
Q

Which hemisphere contains most of the land?

A

northern

32
Q

What is the heat energy involved in the change of state, or phase, of water?

A

latent heat

33
Q

What gas is thought to be responsible for much of the anthropogenic warming of the atmosphere?

A

carbon dioxide

34
Q

The dry season of the tropical monsoon climate occurs when the _____________ is not overhead?

A

ITCZ

35
Q

Marine west-coast climates are characterized by unstable air masses, unpredictable weater, and are dominated by __________ air masses.

A

mP

36
Q

The Intertropical Convergence Zone is characterized by ________ and _______ rising air.

A

warm, wet

37
Q

In what direction do storm tracks shift in the winter for the United State and Canada?

A

south

38
Q

In what direction do storm tracks shift in the summer for the United State and Canada?

A

north

39
Q

Does a mT air mass form over an ocean or a continent?

A

ocean

40
Q

Which air mass is more humid: cT or mP?

A

mP

41
Q

Tornadoes result from the interaction of a moist mT air mass and a dry ________ air mass.

A

cP

42
Q

What term in the soil-water-budget concept refers to a condition when precipitation and soil moisture are inadequate to meet potential evapotranspiration demands?

A

deficit

43
Q

Where do low-latitiude hot desert climates occur?

A

tropics and subtropics

44
Q

What type of cloud have vertical development and produce thunderstorms?

A

cumulonimbus

45
Q

Is the interaction of air masses a factor in a genetic or empirical classification system?

A

genetic

46
Q

What term is used to refer to a water-bearing rock stratum?

A

aquifer

47
Q

What climate classficiation applies to Bluefield, West Virginia?

A

marine west coast

48
Q

When air rises over the windward side of a mountain, it will move into a region of ________ air pressure and therefore will be cooled by _______________.

A

lower, expansion

49
Q

What climate type experiences a wet summer and dry winter, and is dominated by the ITCZ for 6 months or less during the year?

A

tropical savanna

50
Q

What is water vapor in the atmosphere called?

A

humidity

51
Q

Overland flow is an example what term in the water-soil-budget concept?

A

surplus

52
Q

What climate type is characterized by potential evapotranspiration exceeding precipitation in all parts: Mediterranean, tropical savanna, or semiarid steppe?

A

semiarid steppe

53
Q

A mass of air becomes becomes saturated when it reaches the __________ temperature.

A

dew point

54
Q

An air mass reflects its source region, may dominate half the depth of the tropposphere, and are ______________ in terms of temperature and humidity.

A

homogenous

55
Q

In what Polar climate type do spruce, larch, and fir trees survive?

A

tundra

56
Q

What type of fog is formed when a cooling surface chills the air directly above?

A

radiation

57
Q

What term refers to the forced uplift of an air parcel over a physical barrier?

A

orographic

58
Q

What term refers to the water vapor in the air at a given temperature expressed as a percentage of the water vapor capacity of the air?

A

relative humidity

59
Q

A climactic region is defined by characteristic, long-term ______________ patterns.

A

weather

60
Q

What term refers to the soil moisture that is unvailable for use by plants?

A

hygroscopic

61
Q

Hurricanes derive their energy from the latent heat of ______________.

A

condensation

62
Q

What term refers to the dry, leeward side of mountain ranges?

A

rain shadow

63
Q

The wetter, intercepting slope of a mountain is termed the ___________ slope, whereas the drier and downward slope is termed the ___________ slope.

A

windward, leeward