Atmosphere Vocabulary
Part 2
1.) Air Pressure – The force exerted by the
weight of a column of air above a given point
2.) Pressure Gradient – the spacing of isobars
that indicated the amount of pressure changes
that occur over a given distance.
3.) Coriolis Effect – describes how the Earth’s
rotation affects moving objects.
4.) Jet Stream – fast-moving rivers of air
5.) Cyclone – a low pressure center
characterized by a counterclockwise flow of air
in the Northern Hemisphere
6.) Anticyclone – a high pressure center
characterized by a clockwise flow of air in the
Northern Hemisphere
7.) Trade Winds – two belts of wind that blow
almost constantly from easterly directions.
8.) Westerlies – travels towards the poles, and
generate these prevailing winds.
9.) Monsoon – Seasonal changes in wind
direction
10.) Prevailing Wind – when the wind constantly
blows more often from one direction than from
any other
11.) El Nino – The name given to the periodic
warming of the ocean that occurs in the central
and eastern Pacific, can cause extreme weather
in many parts of the world.
Part 3
1.) Air Mass – an immense body of air that is
characterized by similar temperatures and
amounts of moisture at any given altitude.
2.) Front – When two air masses meet, a
boundary that separates two air masses
3.) Warm Front – forms when warm air moves
into an area formerly covered by cooler air
4.) Cold Front – forms when cold, dense air
moves into a region occupied by warmer air
5.) Stationary Front – the surface position of the
front does not moves
6.) Occluded Front – when an active cold front
overtakes a warm front.
7.) Thunderstorm – a storm that generates
lightning and thunder.
8.) Tornado – violent windstorms that take the
form of a rotating column of air called a vortex.
9.) Hurricane – Whirling tropical cyclones that
produce winds.
10.) Storm Surge – a dome of water that sweeps
across the coast where a hurricane’s eye moves
onto land.
11.) Global Warming – A result of increases in
carbon dioxide levels.