GEOS 1110 Exam 2 Study Guide PDF

Chapter 4 Energy Budgets and Temperature ======================================== - Be able to describe what can happen to incoming solar radiation (insolation) when it reaches earth - Transmission - Reflection - Absorption - Be able to describe albedo and its relation...

Chapter 4 Energy Budgets and Temperature ======================================== - Be able to describe what can happen to incoming solar radiation (insolation) when it reaches earth - Transmission - Reflection - Absorption - Be able to describe albedo and its relationship to colors (i.e. lighter surfaces having higher albedo and darker surfaces having a lower albedo) - Be able to describe the relationship between insolation and air temperatures over a typical day - Know the melting and boiling point of water on the Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales - Be able to describe seasonal shifts in global temperature patterns: how higher temperatures and the thermal equator are found in the hemisphere experiencing summer, with the thermal equator moving closer to the poles over land compared to water - Be able to describe/apply the 4 major temperature controls for locations on earth - Latitude - Elevation - Cloud Cover - Continentality/Marine Influence - Be able to describe the major factors that lead to urban heat islands and list some examples of what can be done to mitigate urban heat islands Chapter 5 Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations ============================================== - Know that air/wind will always move from areas of high pressure to areas of lower pressure - Know average sea level pressure in millibars so that you can compare high and low pressures to the average (e.g. a barometric pressure of 980 mb is a strong low pressure, and 1040 mb is a strong high pressure) - Know that winds are always named for the direction from which they come (e.g. a westerly wind is from the west, a sea breeze blows from the sea towards land) - Be able to read a wind barb to know the wind direction (north, south, east, or west) and wind speed in knots - Be able to describe the major components of the global circulation model - Hadley Cell -- Low pressure at the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), high pressure at the subtropical high, easterly trade winds - Polar Cell -- High pressure formed by cold, dense air at the pole, Subpolar Low formed when warmer, more moist midlatitude air rises over the cold dense polar air, polar easterly winds - Farrell Cell -- midlatitude westerly winds between the subtropical high and subpolar low - Use the right-hand rule to describe the motion of air around centers of high and low pressure in the northern hemisphere - Using your right hand point your thumb up for rising air in a surface low pressure and the fingers curl counterclockwise (cyclonic flow), point your thumb down for sinking air in a surface high pressure and the fingers curl clockwise (anticyclonic flow) - Be able to describe the regional/local wind circulations we covered in class - Land/Sea Breeze - Mountain/Valley Breeze - Catabatic Winds - Monsoons - Be able to describe differences in upwelling and sea surface temperatures during El Niño and La Niña events Chapter 6 Water and Atmospheric Moisture ======================================== - Be able to list the unique properties of water discussed in class (water is the universal solvent, ice is less dense than liquid water, water absorbs and releases a lot of energy when changing form/phase). - Know the names of the phase changes of water and whether they absorb or release energy to the surrounding environment - Be able to describe the measures of humidity - Vapor Pressure - Specific Humidity - Dew-Point Temperature - Relative Humidity - Be able to calculate relative humidity if given vapor pressure and saturation vapor pressure - Know the daily cycle of how relative humidity changes with temperature - Be able to describe Stable, Unstable, and Conditionally Unstable atmospheric conditions in relation to the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate, Moist Adiabatic Lapse Rate and Environmental Lapse Rate - Be able to calculate the temperature of an air parcel if it cools at the DAR (10°C/km) or MAR (6°C/km) - Be able to define the Lifting Condensation Level - Be able to describe the major cloud shapes - Stratiform - Cumuliform - Cirriform - Be able to describe the different types of fog - Radiation Fog - Advection Fog - Evaporation/Steam Fog - Be able to describe how raindrops form in warm clouds and how snowflakes form in mixed phase clouds - Collision Coalescence - Bergeron Process - Be able to describe the different types of precipitation - Rain - Snow - Freezing Rain - Sleet - Hail