Study Sheet – Weather and Climate Part 1
Vocabulary:
Air pressure
Barometer
Isobar
Specific Heat
Anemometer
Coriolis effect
Land Breeze
Wind
Sea Breeze
Water vapor
Relative Humidity
Psychrometer
Dewpoint
Evapotranspiration
Condensation Nuclei
Things to study:
1. Most energy to warm the air comes from Earth’s surface.
2. Condensation and sublimation release heat into the air.
3. Air cools when it expands, air warms up when it is compressed.
4. Be able to use the temperature conversion charts on p. 13 ref. tables.
5. A barometer is used to measure air pressure.
6. Be able to convert inches of mercury to millibars using p. 13 in the ref. tables.
7. As temperature goes up, air pressure goes down. (Warm air is less dense).
8. Moist air is lighter than dry air – as moisture goes up, air pressure goes down.
9. As altitude goes up, air pressure goes down.
10. Wind is horizontal movement of air – caused by pressure differences.
11. Wind blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.
12. Wind is named according to where it comes from.
13. Anemometer is used to measure wind speed.
14. The bigger the difference in air pressure, the faster the wind speed.
15. Isobars close together indicate big pressure differences – high wind speed.
16. High specific heat – heats and cools slowly, low specific heat – heats and cools
quickly.
17. Be able to use the specific heat chart on the front of the reference tables.
18. Land heats and cools faster than water because land is darker, rougher, and has a
lower specific heat.
19. Sea breeze forms during the day because land is warmer and has a lower pressure
than the cooler water.
20. Land breeze forms at night because land is cooler and has a higher pressure than the
warmer water.
21. Winds are Earth are deflected by the Coriolis Effect (caused by Earth’s rotation).
Winds appear to curve to the right in the northern hemisphere, to the left in the
southern hemisphere.
22. High pressure is away and clockwise, low is toward and counterclockwise.
23. 0o and 60o N & S have rising air currents and low air pressure so the winds blow
towards them (convergence)
24. 30o N & S and 90o N & S have sinking air currents and high air pressure, so the winds
blow away from them (divergence)
25. Water vapor gets into the air by the processes of evaporation and transpiration
(evapotranspiration)
26. Evaporation is a cooling process (it takes energy from its surroundings)
27. Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air.
28. Relative humidity is how full the air is with water vapor.
29. Water evaporating from the wet bulb of a psychrometer lowers the temperature of
that thermometer. The amount that the temperature drops tells how much water vapor
is in the air.
30. Relative humidity depends on temperature and the amount of water vapor in the air.
31. As temperature goes up relative humidity goes down.
32. As the amount of water vapor goes up, relative humidity goes up.
33. Dewpoint depends only on the amount of water vapor in the air – as water vapor goes
up, dewpoint goes up.
34. Be able to use the relative humidity and dewpoint charts on p. 12 in the ref. tables.
35. Clouds form when the air cools to the dewpoint – usually as air rises.
36. Condensation nuclei must be present for clouds and precipitation to form.
37. Precipitation is a cleaning process for the air.
38. Precipitation includes: rain, drizzle, snow, hail, sleet, freezing rain.