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Meterorology (15-17)
unit 4 vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
atmosphere | the gasous envelope surronding a planet |
troposphere | the lowest layer of atmoshpere, steady drop in temperature, where cloud formations occur |
ionosphere | region of Earth's atmosphere, between stratosphere and exosphere |
ozone layer | layer of the upper atmosphere where most atmosphereic ozone is concenterated |
chlorofluorocarbon | formaly aerosol propellants until scientists became concerned about depletion of the atmosphereic ozone layer |
radiation | the process in which energy isemitted as particles or waves |
conduction | transfer of heat between two parts of a atationary system, caused by a temperature difference between the two parts |
convection | the vertical transport of atmospheric properties |
hydrosphere | the water on or surronding the surface of the globe, including the water of the oceans and the water in the atmosphere |
condensation | the process by which atmospheric water vapor liquefies to form fog, clouds, or solidifies to form snow or hail. |
coriolis effect | apparent deflection of a body in motion as seen by an observer on the earth, caused by the rotation of the earth and appearing as a deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and a deflection to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. |
jet stream | strong winds concentrated in a reflectively narrow and shallow stream in the upper troposphere of the Earth |
sea breeze | a thermally produced wind blowing from a cool ocean surface into adjoining warm land |
land breeze | a coastal breeze blowing at night from land to sea, caused by the difference in the rate of cooling of their respective surfaces |
humidity | humid condition; moistness; dampness |
dew point | the temperature to which air must be cooled, at a given pressure and water-vapor content, for it to reach saturation; the temperature at which dew begins to form. |
precipitation | falling products of condensation in the atmosphere, as rain, snow, or hail. |
weather front | a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological phenomena. |
weather station model | a symbolic illustration showing the weather occurring at a given reporting station. Meteorologists created the station model to find a number of weather elements in a small space on weather maps. |
climate | the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years. |
el nino | a warming of the eastern tropical Pacific occurring every few years, which alters the weather pattern of the tropics |
global warming | gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth's climate. |