Global Atmospheric Circulation 1. How do Earth’s mechanics explain the global distribution of heat on the planet? a. Due to Earth’s rotation, revolution and tilt, we receive a varying distribution of heat and energy throughout the planet. As a result of solar angle and beam spreading, latitudinal distribution of heat leads to a planetary energy balance. 2. How does the tilt of the Earth explain the seasons? a. Earth’s tilt is the principle cause of the seasons. It affects the amount of solar energy throughout the year by influencing (1) the period of daylight → equinoxes/soulstice and (2) solar angle and beam spreading → Latitudinal distribution and planetary energy balance. 3. What is the difference between perihelion and aphelion? a. Perihelion: When the sun is closest to the Earth b. Aphelion: When the sun is furthest from the Earth. 4. What is pressure, and what causes changes of air pressure on our planet? a. Pressure is how much air is on top of a particular mass. Changes in air pressure is caused by variations in heating. 5. What are the winds, and which way would they flow on a non-rotating planet? a. Winds are moving air and move from areas of high to low pressure. On a non-rotating planet, winds would flow from N → S in the Northern Hemisphere and S → N in the 6. 7. 8. 9. Southern Hemisphere. Predict how the coriolis effect may impact the movement of a parcel of air. a. The coriolis effect causes winds to curve slightly to the east in the Northern Hemisphere and slightly to the West in the Southern Hemisphere. Generate a 6-cell model of Earth’s atmosphere, including pressure gradients (where are the highs and lows?) and wind direction (which way to the winds blow in each cell?). What would happen if the six-cell model didn’t apply? If the Earth spun backwards? If there were more cells? a. If the Earth were to spin backwards, Coriolis would still apply and winds would still be curved rather than straight. If there were more cells, then the Earth would have a stronger coriolis effect. Relate global atmospheric circulation patterns to observations of climate a. Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt is the principle cause of seasons and influences periods of daylight. Earth’s tilt is also responsible for the distribution of solar beams → variations of heating throughout the planet. Due to the absence of the coriolis effect along the equator, we can find a band of rain. 10. What are the ways in which we can measure atmospheric moisture? a. We can measure atmospheric moisture by determining vapor pressure, dew point temperature and relative humidity. 11. Be able to draw and utilize the saturation vapor pressure graph to determine the dew point temperature and relative humidity of a parcel of air. 12. Calculate relative humidity a. Relative Humidity = (actual vapor pressure / saturation vapor pressure) x 100% 13. Explain adiabatic cooling and heating. a. Adiabatic cooling and heating occurs when there are changes in air pressure. This process does not involve energy into or out of a system. Compressing air heats up, expanding air cools down. This study source was downloaded by 100000776115122 from CourseHero.com on 06-06-2022 19:21:32 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/45300581/ESS-Finals-Study-Guide/ 14. Explain how clouds form a. Clouds are formed in Low Pressure Cells where surface winds converge as air rises and cools to form clouds. Weather/Thunderstorms 1. What are the similarities and differences between weather and climate? a. Weather is simply the conditions of the atmosphere at a particular place and time while Climate is the overarching long-term average of weather. 2. Compare and contrast warm and cold weather fronts a. Cold weather fronts occur when cold air overtakes a warmer air mass, causing the warm air to uplift. Warm weather fronts occur when warm air masses overtakes a cold air mass while rising over it. 3. Predict how cold and warm fronts impact severe weather events a. Cold weather fronts, with the updraft of warm air can lead to severe thunderstorms. These warm updrafts causes the rapid formation of a cumulonimbus thundercloud. Warm fronts, with the warm updraft of air can result in lightning strikes because when updraft particles run into downdraft particles from the lightning cloud, it becomes charged. 4. Describe the formation of a thunderstorm a. A thunderstorm starts off with a rapid and unstable updraft of warm moist air. This rapid updraft causes a rapid formation of a thundercloud while individual rain particles stick together to fall as rain. 5. Describe the formation of a lightning bolt a. There are 4 stages involved in the formation of a lightning bolt. The first stage is the charge separation stage where falling downdrafts such as hail collides with rising updrafts like ice particles. The next stage is the “stepped leaders” stage where an invisible charged stream reaches out to the “positive streamers” in the next stage. When these streamers meet in the lightning stroke stage, a connection is made and lighting is produced. 6. What is thunder and how quickly does it travel compared to lightning? a. Thunder is a booming sound wave caused by heating and expansion of the air. Thunder travels 5x faster than lightning. Tornadoes 1. Describe the formation of a supercell thunderstorm and the steps required to form a mesocyclone a. A supercell thunderstorm is characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone. In order to form a mesocyclone, a mix of warm moist air is mixed with colder, dry air. Combined with a wind shear, a mesocyclone is formed and is caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm, creating a supercell thunderstorm. 2. What are the steps required to form a tornado? a. In order to form a tornado, a mix of warm moist air must be combined with cold dry air. This usually occurs on cold fronts and with the addition of wind shears, a mesocyclone is created. Once the mesocyclone is caught in a thunderstorm updraft, upper level wind shears reinforces the mesocyclone, creating a tornado. 3. Why is “Tornado Alley” so prone to tornadoes? a. Tornado alley is prone to tornadoes because of the high rate of warm and cold air masses This study source was downloaded by 100000776115122 from CourseHero.com on 06-06-2022 19:21:32 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/45300581/ESS-Finals-Study-Guide/ 4. 5. 6. 7. clashing. Determine how a hook echo contributes to tornado formation and dissipation. a. A hook echo pulls the rotating updraft cell (tornado) down with cold dense air by wrapping itself ¾ of the way around the tornado. Dissipation occurs when the hook echo wraps itself completely around the tornado, cutting off the intense updraft that feeds the storm. What scale do we use for measuring the strength of tornadoes? a. We just the Fujita scale to measure the strength of tornadoes with F0 contributed to the least amount of damage and F6 with the most amount of damage. What are the warning signs of a tornado? a. Still air, large amounts of hail instead of rain, dark sky. What strategies can we use to mitigate tornado damages? Hurricanes 1. In what regions are tropical cyclones most likely to occur and why? a. Tropical cyclones most likely occur in the Indian Ocean and in Australia because of the high wind speeds and warm temperatures. 2. Describe the steps necessary to form a hurricane. a. In order to form a hurricane, standard sea temperature must be 27 degrees or more, strong vertical wind shears must be present, hurricanes are formed in low pressure areas with warm air. 3. What processes contribute to hurricane intensification? What impacts are associated with hurricanes? 4. Determine which part of a hurricane is the strongest, and describe which parts of a coast will be most impacted by a hurricane. a. The eyewall of a hurricane is the strongest because it has the most pressure as well as wind speed. The middle and outer edge of a coast will be most impacted by a hurricane because of its rotational winds. Wildfires 1. Describe how each part of the fire triangle impacts fires specifically in Southern California. a. Oxygen: SoCal has a mediterranean climate with high temperatures and low relative humidity so it is relatively easy to start a fire. SoCal also has a very hot and dry climate which correlates to the Heat part of the triangle. A drier climate also means various fuels needed to start a fire such as twigs, leaves and shrubs would contain less moisture. 2. Describe the formation of a katabatic wind a. Katabatic winds are formed through adiabatic heating processes. Increases in temperature and lower relative humidity results in hot, dry and fast winds. 3. Describe the orographic effect and how it impacts regional climate a. The orographic effect is when winds travel upslope over a mountain, expands with altitude and causes rain. When the wind begins to travel downslope on the other side of the mountain, it is now warm and dry. This impacts regional climate because this effect can cause an onslaught of hot dry winds, leading to the start of wildfires. 4. How might fires be impacted by climate change? a. A change in climate can lead to more wildfires. Radiant heat can dry out fuel sources meaning they would be easily ignited. This study source was downloaded by 100000776115122 from CourseHero.com on 06-06-2022 19:21:32 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/45300581/ESS-Finals-Study-Guide/ Impact Events 1. Describe the similarities and differences between asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. a. Asteroids, comets and meteoroids are all made of dust, rock and debris from the solar system and can all impact Earth in large ways. b. Asteroids come from the Asteroid belt and are relatively small (< 3 km) but dense compared to comets. c. Comets come from the Kuiper Belt or the Oort cloud and are about 15 km wide and also travel extremely fast. A comet’s tail does not tell us the direction of intended travel because Ion tails point away from the Sun while Dust tails curves away. d. Meteoroids exist before entering Earth’s atmosphere. Meteor’s are when it has entered Earth’s atmosphere and a meteorite is when it has landed on Earth. 2. Identify the problems associated with an impact event. a. 3. Identify the signs that an impact event has occurred in the past a. Craters b. Boundary Layers: contain a dark layer of clay which has soot, shocked quartz, spherules and iridium that can be traced back to impact events. c. Mass extinctions that wiped out species. 4. What happened to those poor, poor dinosaurs? a. A large asteroid hit the Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago, and as a result, the Earth heated up, killing many species who could not survive high temperatures. In addition, the asteroid created dust and other aerosols which blanketed the air, throwing it into an Ice Age period. This study source was downloaded by 100000776115122 from CourseHero.com on 06-06-2022 19:21:32 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/45300581/ESS-Finals-Study-Guide/ Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
