GEOG 203 1nd Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 10 Lecture 1 September 1 Did Columbus discover the Earth was round No it was discovered far before him Latitude is the angular distance of a place north of south of earth s equator Longitude is the geographic coordinate that specifies the east west position of a point on the globe What latitude is the tropic of cancer It is located at 23 5 degrees N What is the difference between a thematic map and a reference map Reference maps are general purpose maps while thematic maps have some sort of theme or purpose What is the tilt of Earth s axis The tilt is 23 5 degrees relative to the plane of ecliptic What is axial parallelism This means that the earth stays parallel to itself throughout its rotational cycle When is the time of night equal for the entire Earth During the autumnal and vernal equinoxes the amount of daylight is the same everywhere on Earth Which wavelengths in the visible light spectrum are the longest Red wavelengths are the longest in the visible light spectrum The shorter wavelengths are darker colors while the longer wavelengths are lighter colors What is Earth s atmosphere made of It is made of 78 Nitrogen 21 Oxygen and 1 Argon What are the major sources of additional carbon dioxide The main source is fossil fuel combustion and the second source is deforestation What are the layers of the atmosphere The atmosphere is made up of the thermosphere mesosphere stratosphere and troposphere Lecture 2 September 15 Why is the sky blue The sky is blue because blue light scatters through the Earth s atmosphere with sunlight The other colors are scattered further and can t be seen What is the overall albedo of the Earth It is 31 What is the albedo of the moon The albedo of the moon is 6 making the moon s temperature very cold at night and very hot during the day What incoming energy is coming into Earth s atmosphere The incoming energy is shortwave energy from the sun Only 69 of this energy is actually absorbed 31 of the shortwave energy is reflected back What are the main things that effect seasonality The Earth s tilt latitude Greenhouse effect mountains and oceans maritime effect all have great effects on seasonality Lecture 3 September 19 What energy is lost from the Earth and how Outgoing energy is longwave energy lost from the Earth The waves are lost by convection in the ozone or other pathways What effect does evaporation have on Earth s surface Evaporation cools the temperature of the Earth s surface What does the greenhouse effect entail The greenhouse effect occurs because more energy is going out into the atmosphere than what is going into the surface Since the greenhouse effect is much higher down low the upper levels of the atmosphere can much more easily radiate energy back out than the surface can What is the difference between marine climate and continental climate Marine climates are typically near an ocean or large body of water and consist of more humid weather Continental climates are typically far inland on a continent and consist of drier weather Lecture 4 September 22 What is the relationship between wind and pressure The two are directly related What are isobars They are identical to isotherms but mapping atmospheric pressure What are the characteristics of a high pressure area High pressure areas are cool have convergence at the surface of water subsiding air and then convergence What are the characteristics of a lowpressure area Low pressure areas are in hot have convergence at the surface of water rising air and then divergence aloft What are the four forces that cause atmospheric motion and how do they work Pressure gradient force is what causes wind to blow from high to low pressure Coriolis force deflects wind to its right in the northern hemisphere and to its left in the southern hemisphere Friction slows down wind and is most present closer to the surface Gravitational force is Lecture 5 September 24 Which directions do cyclones and anticyclones spin In the northern hemisphere anticyclones spin clockwise and cyclones spin counterclockwise In the southern hemisphere it is the exact opposite anticyclones spin counterclockwise and cyclones spin clockwise Anticyclones are associated with high pressure and are also called gyres while cyclones are associated with low pressure The Coriolis effect is responsible for causing cyclones and anticyclones to spin in the directions they do Can a hurricane cross the equator No they cannot because the Coriolis effect is nonexistent at the equator Lecture 6 September 26 See three cell model of global atmospheric circulation in notes powerpoints What is surfaceatmospheric feedback It is the influence of cold ocean currents on the position of subtropical high pressure High pressure is mostly focused on the east side of an ocean basin Lecture 7 September 29 The two basic ingredients for precipitation are Moisture and Atmospheric lifting The Hydrologic cycle is the movement of water from oceans to land back to oceans This cycle includes evaporation transpiration evapotranspiration cloud formation precipitation and runoff ground water What is relative humidity Relative to the max amount of saturation that can be in the atmosphere and is presented in a percentage Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air Relative humidity can be calculated by dividing vapor pressure by saturation vapor pressure and then multiplying by 100 When does condensation occur Condensation occurs when temperature falls to dew point What happens if the air is dry that is vapor pressure is low which means dew point is below freezing This would cause frost to form instead of dew What happens if an entire layer of air is cooled to dew point This causes fog or clouds to form in the cool air What prefix and suffix are associated with rain clouds Nimbo and nimbous named clouds mean they are rain clouds Lecture 8 October 1 Interpreting dew point In College Station if there was a 65 70 degree dew point for the day the air will be very humid given the high dew point What are the types of lifting mechanisms One lifting mechanism is convergence which occurs in areas of low pressure causing air to rise This is associated with hurricanes and wet climates Another type is convectional local heating which is when the surface heats and cause air to rise This type is associated with cumulus clouds can result in thunderstorm formation and happens mostly in places that are warm and humid Lecture 9 October 3