GEOG 2300 1st Edition Lecture 18Outline of Last Lecture I. Mitigation of Climate ChangeII. Adaptation of Climate ChangeIII. Ozone DepletionIV. WindOutline of Current Lecture I. Atmospheric PressureII. Isobaric MapsIII. Land and Sea BreezesIV. Katabatic WindV. Coriolis EffectCurrent LectureI. Atmospheric PressureA. Low Pressure: warm air rises from surface, rising air causes lower air pressureat surface, regions of low pressure are also called convergent because air converges from surrounding high pressure regionsB. High pressure: cool dry air descends from troposphere, descending dense air causes high pressure at the surface, regions of high pressure are also called divergent because air diverges from high to surrounding low pressure regionsC. Air moves from high to low pressureD. Convective loop: movement at surface and in the atmosphere; stable atmosphere, an area is heated and expands up, upper level air moves from high to low pressure, surface air moves from high to low pressureE. Air pressure decreases exponentially with increasing elevation/altitudeII. Isobaric MapsA. Isobars: lines connecting points with the same pressure at surfaceB. H = center of high pressureC. L = center of low pressureD. Pressure Gradient: the change in pressure from one location to anotherE. Pressure changes, and therefore the pressure gradient is greatest perpendicular to the isobarF. The pressure gradient determines the force which compels air to move from high to low pressure: pressure gradient forceThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.III. Land and Sea BreezesA. Daytime: air over land heats up and the sea is relatively cool (sea breeze) B. Land = low pressure and sea = high pressureIV. Katabatic WindA. Cold, dense air over ice fields, hemmed in by mountains, causes high pressureB. Warm air over ocean, causes low pressureC. Strong pressure gradient from high pressure zone over the ice cap to the low pressure zone over the oceanD. Gravity: strong gravitational pull of dense air at higher elevation over the ice cap down to sea levelE. Causes high winds from cold, dense air to warmer airF. On an isobaric map, closely spaced isobars indicate strong pressure gradientG. Cape Wind: low pressure maritime weather systems traveling up east coast generate large pressure gradients, uses the wind for energy: better for the environment, reduces dependence on foreign energy, lower costs; people (the Kennedy’s) complained about the view of the wind turbinesH. Water surfaces have lower friction than land higher wind speeds I. Wind moves dust: need fine grained soils, lack of vegetation, and high windsJ. Saharan dust storm: dust blows east to west, but the pressure gradient is from northeast to southwest because of coriolis effectV. Coriolis EffectA. Northern hemisphere: air deflects to the rightB. Southern hemisphere: air defects to the lefC. Geostrophic wind: wind flows parallel to the isobarsD. Happens because of earth’s spinningE. Objects moving over the rotating earth are deflected counter-clockwise relative to the geographic
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