Data

Copy and paste the text below. It is read-only. Select All

Melting Substance solid transforms to liquid. A cooling process Cooling process Is melting a heating or cooling process? Freezing liquid transforms to solid. A heating process. Heating process Is freezing a heating or cooling process? Evaporation liquid transforms to vapour. A cooling process Condensation Vapour transforms to liquid. A heating process. Sublimation A solid transforms to a gas, skipping the liquid phase. A cooling process. Deposition A gas transforms to a solid. A heating process. Humidity the amount of water vapor in air. Higher When temperature is higher, the amount of water vapor air can hold is _______ Lower When temperature is lower, the amount of water vapor air can hold is _______. Unsaturated When a given parcel of air is holding less water than it can actually hold it is___________. Saturated When a given parcel of air is holding all the water vapor it can hold, it is _________. Mixing ratio specific humidity Specific humidity Ratio of the amount of water vapour in air by weight, compared to the mass of air it is in. Not affected by temperature. Absolute humidity Ratio of the amount of water vapour in air by volume, compared to the volume of air it is in. Not affected by temperature. Relative humidity Ratio of the amount of water vapour in air compared to the amount needed to saturate the air at the same temperature. Given as a percentage. Is strongly affected by temperature. Relative humidity how much water the air is holding relative to the amount is can potentially hold, its capacity. Is strongly affected by temperature. Increases What happens to relative humidity when temperature increases? Decreases What happens to the capacity of air to hold water vapour when temperature decreases? Increases What happens to relative humidity when the water vapour content of the air stays the same, but the temperature drops? Dew point The temperature that a parcel of unsaturated air would have to fall to, in order to become saturated. Given as a temperature. Hygrometer A device to measure humidity Sling psychrometer a type of hygrometer. Adiabatic temperature change When a gas changes temperature because of a pressure change (either expansion or compression). Orographic lifting When air is forced up and over mountains Frontal wedging weather process where a body of cold air meets hot air, and the hot air is forced up and over the cold air, it expands, cools, condensation occurs and clouds form. Convective lifting weather process where the sun heats the land surface, which heats the adjacent air, and then the heated air rises. Thermal another name for convective lifting. Convergence weather process where wind (with air of similar temperatures) from two directions meet and the only way for the air to go is up. Cirrus Cloud that is high level and wispy or light and patchy in form, made of ice crystals and is always up high. Cumulus Form of cloud that is puff balls, often with a flat base (but can lose flat base due to air circulation). Stratus Form of cloud in sheets or layers, that may cover the whole sky, and doesn't have separate clouds. Cirrocumulus Form of cloud that is high in level and puff ball in form. Cirrocumulus High level puffy ball clouds. Cirrostratus high level, very light layers of cloud. Alto general term for clouds that are at mid level Altocumulus mid-level puffball clouds. Altocumulus clouds that are mid-level, and bigger and denser than cirrocumulus. Altostratus clouds at mid-level that form a light sheet that lets the sun or moon show as a bright spot. stratus general term for clouds that are low level stratus low level layers of cloud that often cover much of the sky stratocumulus clouds that are low-level layers of cumulus clouds, that begin to touch each other and fuse. Nimbostratus clouds that are low-level, uniform layer, usually very dark, that bring strong precipitation. Nimbus general term for clouds that means rainy in Latin. Cumulonimbus Clouds that are the product of growth of cumulus which can form huge thunderheads. Fog a cloud that forms at or near the ground. Mist precipitation that reaches the surface in liquid drops of the smallest size. 0.005-0.05mm diameter. Drizzle precipitation that reaches the surface in liquid form, drops 0.05-0.5mm diameter. Rain precipitation that reaches the surface in liquid form, drops 0.5-5mm diameter. Snow precipitation that reaches the surface in form of ice crystals or aggregates of crystals Sleet precipitation that reaches the surface in form of small ice particles. Often falls as rain but then passes through a cold layer that freezes the drops. Hail precipitation that reaches the surface in form of larger pieces of ice. Formed in cumulonimbus clouds in updrafts of up to 100mph. Glaze forms when rain freezes as it hits a freezing surface, forming a thin coating of ice. Eg black ice. Rime deposit of ice crystals that forms directly on cold surfaces from fog. Graupel Soft hail, which forms when rime coats snowflakes on their way down. Bergeron Process formation of precipitation, where water condenses, and freezes, then falls frozen or melted as rain. Collision-coalescence process formation of precipitation, where tiny droplets accumulate, fall, and collide with other small droplets until rain drops form and fall.