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8 Sci Ch 8 Test 8
Term | Definition |
---|---|
agricultural drought | type of drought that occurs when precipitation cannot supply enough moisture to the ground to support an area's crops |
air mass | large body of air with relatively uniform properties |
air-mass weather | phenomenon when an air mass remains stationary over a region for a long time |
Arctic | air mass that brings very cold and dry weather |
cirrostratus | Wispy, thin sheets of clouds that are made of ice crystals and found spreading at high elevations. |
climate | year-round atmospheric conditions typical of a certain place |
clouds | consist of tiny ice crystals or droplets of water formed when a body of rising air reaches the dew point, usually the result of adiabatic cooling of moist air |
condensation nucleus | airborne water vapor cannot turn into liquid without a small particle |
cumulus | mid-level clouds that look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton |
decrease | when air temperature rises, this happens to relative humidity |
dendrites | snowflakes with white, feathery branches forming a leaf-or star-shaped pattern |
dew | water vapor in the air that touches the cooler ground and turns to a liquid |
dew point | temperature at which cooling air becomes sasturated |
drought | A long period of low precipitation |
evaporation | process of a liquid becoming a gas |
frontal cyclone | a low that forms along a front |
frost | Ice formed when water vapor touches the ground and changes directly into ice crystals |
hailstones | layered balls of ice that fall like rain |
heat energy, uneven distribution of heat energy, and water vapor | three major factors that determine the earth's weather |
humidity | amount of water vapor in the air |
lenticular cloud | almond-shaped cloud |
maritime polar | type of air mass that brings cool, wet weather |
maritime tropical | type of air mass that brings warm, moist weather |
melting | going from a solid to a liquid |
meteorology | The science dealing with the weather and atmospheric conditions |
occluded front | type of front that forms a Y shape |
photochemical smog | thick, brownish haze that results from complex molecules released into the air by vehicles and some factories and plants |
rain | drops of liquid water that have a diameter of 0.5 mm or greater and fall from the clouds of Earth |
relative humidity | the ratio comparing at the actual humidity to the humidity of saturated air under the same conditions |
saturated | air that is completely full of water vapor and can hold no more |
sleet | Clear ice particles formed when raindrops freeze before they reach the ground |
smog | mixture of smoke and fog |
snow | precipitation made of ice crystals that fall to the ground |
snowflakes | large clumps of falling ice crystals that melt only slightly and stick and refreeze together |
socioeconomic drought | type of drought based on a water shortage's effect on people |
stationary | type of front forms when two air masses push against each other but neither advances |
stratocumulus | most frequent type of cloud |
stratus | cloud that forms a flat, gray layer of heavy clouds not far above the ground |
temperature, humidity and pressure | three factors that affect the density of air mass |
upslope fog | type of fog found along the slopes of mountains |
warm front | type of front that forms when a warm air mass moves into a region occupied by a cold air mass |
water cycle | movement of water from the earth's surface, into the air, and back to the surface |