PRACTICE METEOROLOGY EXAM
PSCI 131
The Atmosphere
1. Explain the difference between weather and climate. ______________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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2. What two gases make up most of the atmosphere? (circle two)
a. Nitrogen
b. Argon
c. Carbon dioxide
d. Water vapor
e. Oxygen
3. List two reasons why water vapor is an important part of the atmosphere, even though it only makes up a
small fraction of the air’s total volume.
a. __________________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________________
4. Arrange the following atmospheric layers in their correct order.
MESOSPHERE
4.___________________________
TROPOSPHERE
3.___________________________
THERMOSPHERE
2.___________________________
STRATOSPHERE
1.___________________________
Ground
5. Which of the following materials has the highest albedo?
a. Fresh snow
b. White beach sand
c. Green grass
d. Asphalt
6. A higher latitude means a (higher / lower) Sun angle and therefore (more / less) atmosphere that solar
rays must pass through to reach the ground.
7. What causes seasons? _______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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8. Give a brief description of the greenhouse effect. Be sure to include shortwave and longwave radiation
and greenhouse gases in your explanation.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
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9. New York City and San Francisco are at the same latitude, both are located on the coast, and both are at
sea level, yet New York has much greater temperature extremes than San Francisco. Why?
a. Because New York is at a higher altitude
b. Because San Francisco is at a higher altitude
c. Because New York is on the leeward side of North America
d. Because San Francisco is located on the leeward side of North America
10. Give one reason why land and ocean heat and cool differently. ________________________________
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Atmospheric Moisture
11. Next to each of the following state changes of water, write EX if the change is exothermic and EN if it is
endothermic.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Melting
Deposition
Condensation
Evaporation
________
________
________
________
12. What does it mean when air is said to be “saturated”? _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
13. Lowering the temperature of air will cause its relative humidity to _____________, assuming there is no
change in the water vapor content of the air.
14. An air mass with a relative humidity of 90% will cool at the _____ adiabatic rate as it rises. This rate is
___ °C/km
15. If an air mass contains 25g of water vapor, and is capable of holding 100g of vapor, its relative humidity
is ___________ %.
16. What is the dew point temperature of an air mass that contains 14g of water vapor? _____°C
17. What is the actual vapor content of an air mass with a temperature of -10°C and a relative humidity of
75%? ________ g
18. If air’s relative humidity exceeds 100%, what happens to the excess water vapor? _______________
19. On a warm summer day when the relative humidity is high, it may seem even warmer than the
thermometer indicates. Why does the air feel uncomfortable on these days?
_________________________________________________________________________________
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20. List and describe two mechanisms that can force air to rise. _________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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21. Match the following atmospheric stability conditions to the correct names. ELR: environmental lapse
rate. DAR: dry adiabatic rate. WAR: wet adiabatic rate.
a. ELR<WAR<DAR
absolute instability ______
b. WAR<DAR<ELR
absolute stability ______
c. WAR<ELR<DAR
conditional instability _______
22. Explain why air under conditions of absolute instability can produce severe weather.
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Air Pressure and Wind
23. The atmospheric pressure on a 50 x 100cm table at sea level is approximately 11,000 pounds. Why
doesn’t the table collapse?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
24. On the map below, which location (A, B, or C) has the weakest prevailing winds?
25. Give a brief definition of the Coriolis Effect. ___________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
26. The figure on the next page shows global atmospheric circulation. Label each of the features indicated;
write labels in the white boxes. Use terms from the following list (all terms will be used once):
SUBPOLAR LOW, SUBTROPICAL HIGH, POLAR HIGH, EQUATORIAL LOW, TRADEWINDS,
WESTERLIES, HADLEY CELL
27. What causes the tradewinds? ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
28. In the table below, circle the correct word in each box to describe the conditions during El Niño and La
Niña events.
Air pressure over western
equatorial Pacific
Air pressure over eastern
equatorial Pacific
Sea surface temperature in
western equatorial Pacific
Sea surface temperature in
eastern equatorial Pacific
El Niño
La Niña
High / Low
High / Low
High / Low
High / Low
Cold / Warm
Cold / Warm
Cold / Warm
Cold / Warm