Ch 18 Sci-Moisture,clouds, precipitation
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gingerstar10 on May 15, 2011
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51 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 precipitation 1 | 1. any form of water that falls from a cloud |
| precipitation 2 | 2. example - rain, sleet, and hail |
| water 1 | 1. can change from one state of matter to another at the temperatures and pressures experienced at Earth's surface |
| water 2 | 2. the processing of changing state requires that energy is transferred in the form of heat |
| water vapor 1 | 1. makes up 0 - 40% of atmospheric gases |
| water vapor 2 | 2. most important gas for understanding atmospheric processes |
| water vapor 3 | 3. the source of all condensation and precipitation |
| latent heat | refers to the energy that is stored or released during a change of state of water |
| evaporation | the process of converting a liquid to a gas |
| condensation | the change of state from a gas to a liquid |
| sublimation | the conversion of a solid directly to a gas, without passing through the liquid state |
| deposition | the process by which water vapor changes directly to a solid |
| humidity | term for the amount of water vapor in the air |
| saturated 1 | 1. air that has reached its water-vapor capacity |
| saturated 2 | 2. warm, saturated air contains more water vapor than cold air |
| saturated 3 | 3. warm air is capable of holding more water vapor than cold air |
| relative humidity 1 | 1. the ratio of air's water-vapor content to its capacity to hold water vapor at the same temperature |
| relative humidity 2 | 2. indicates how near the air is saturated |
| relative humidity 3 | 3. when 2 temperatures read nearly the same on a psychrometer, the air will have a high relative humidity |
| relative humidity 4 | 4. if the water-vapor content of air remains constant, lowering air temperature will cause an increase in relative humidity |
| relative humidity 5 | 5. if the water-vapor content of air remains constant, raising air temperature will cause a decrease in relative humidity |
| dew point | the temperature to which air would have to be cooled to reach saturation |
| adiabatic | type of temperature change air experiences when the air expands or contracts |
| dry adiabatic state 1 | 1. the rate of cooling or heating that applies only to unsaturated air |
| dry adiabatic state 2 | 2. rate is 10 degrees Celsius/1000 meters |
| wet adiabatic state | rate of cooling is less than the dry rate because of the release of latent heat |
| compressed air | molecules move faster and air temperature rises |
| processes that lift air | orographic lifting, frontal wedging, convergence, localized convective lifting |
| orographic lifting | occurs when elevated terrains act as barriers to air flow; associated with mountains |
| frontal wedging | process by which cool air acts as a barrier over which warmer, less dense air rises |
| thermals | rising parcels of warm air; clothing put on in the winter to keep warm |
| stable air | tends to resist rising (remains in its original position) |
| unstable air | tends to rise |
| condensation nuclei 1 | 1. abundant in the lower atmosphere |
| condensation nuclei 2 | 2. Example - dust, smoke, salt particles |
| condensation | produces dew, fog, and clouds |
| clouds | classified on the basis of their form and height |
| cumulus | consists of globular cloud masses with a cauliflower structure |
| stratus | described as sheets or layers that cover much or all of the sky |
| nimbus | term that means "rainy cloud" |
| alto | term used to describe clouds of middle heights |
| nimbostratus | a low cloud that blankets the sky and often generates precipitation |
| altostratus | cloud type confined to the middle height range |
| cumulonimbus | clouds often associated with thunder and lightning and hail |
| fog 1 | 1. a cloud with its base at or very near the ground |
| fog 2 | 2. conditions that favor its formation are cool, clear, calm nights |
| fog 3 | 3. are at lower altitudes than clouds |
| precipitation | for it to form, cloud droplets must grow in volume by 1 million times |
| Bergeron process | process in which freezing nuclei play a role in forming precipitation |
| sleet 1 | 1. type of precipitation that consists of small clear-to-translucent ice particles |
| sleet 2 | 2. likely to occur when a layer of air with temperatures above freezing overlies a subfreezing layer near the ground |
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