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Meterology

unit 4 vocabulary

Term	Definition
Ozone	toxic, colorless gas formed from oxygen, found in the ozone layer
Troposphere	lowest region of atmosphere, weather occurs in this layer
Stratosphere	above the troposphere, planes fly here, ozone layer found here
Mesosphere	above the stratosphere, meteors burn up here
Thermosphere	thin air, hot tempertures, above the mesosphere, outermost layer
Conduction	heat transfer through direct contact
Convection	warm air rises while cold air sinks because warm air is less dense
Radiation	heat energy transferred in waves
Reflection	throwing back energy without absorbing it
Scattering	when electromagnetic radiation is diffused
Greenhouse Effect	trapping the sun's warmth
Albedo	the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon
Isotherms	a curve on a diagram that joins subjects of the same conditions of temperature
Precipitation	rain, snow, sleet, hail
Latent Heat	the heat required to change a solid to a ligquid or vapor, or a liquid into a vapor, without changing its temperature
Evaporation	when a liquid turns into a gas
Condensation	when a gas turns into a liquid
Sublimation	when a solid turns into a gas WITHOUT the liquid state
Humidity	the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere
Saturated	holding as much water or moisture as possible
Dew point	atmosphereic temperature
Hygrometer/Psychrometer	used to measure the density of water
Weather front	a boundary separating air masses of different density
Condensation nuclei	where water vapor condenses
Cirrus	wispy, tufted clouds
Cumlus	rounded masses heaped on each other, low altitude
Stratus	continuous gray sheet, comes with rain and snow
Supersatured	increased concentration
Air pressure	pressure excerted by air
Barometer	an instrument used to measure air pressure
Pressure gradient	physical quantity that describes which direction and at what rate the pressure changes the most rapidly around a particular location
Coriolis effect	an effect where a mass in a rotating system experiences force perpendicular to the motion direction and axis of rotation. On earth, the effect deflects moving objects to the right in the NH and to the left in the SH. Cylonic weather fomation.
Jet stream	a narrow, variable band of very strong, predominantly westerly air currents encircling the globe several miles above the earth. There are typically two or three jet streams in each of the northern and southern hemispheres.
Cyclone	a system of winds rotating inward to an area of low atmospheric pressure, with a counterclockwise (northern hemisphere) or clockwise (southern hemisphere) circulation; a depression.
Anti-cyclone	a weather system with high atmospheric pressure at its center, around which air slowly circulates in a clockwise (northern hemisphere) or counterclockwise (southern hemisphere) direction. Anticyclones are associated with calm, fine weather
Trade winds	wind blowing gradually flowing through the equator from NE in the NH or SE in the SH, mostly at sea. 2 belts of trade wind encircle the earth blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator.
Westerlies	winds blowing from the west
Polar eastlines	dry, cold windsm blowinf from high pressure areas in the north and south poles
Anemometer	equipment that measures speed of wind
El Nino	irregularly occuring and complex series of climatic changes that affects the equator pacific region
Air mass	body of air with horizontally uniform temperature, humidity, and pressure.
Stationary front	a pair of air masses where neither is strong enough to replace the other
Occluded front	a composite front produced by occlusion
Storm surge	the rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric changes and winds associated with storms

Created by: 3082697

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