56 Cards in this Set
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What is Geography?
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Distribution oh Phenomena, characteristics of places, change through time
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What are the most common gases in the atmosphere, and which of them are variable in their occurrence?
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Variable: water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane
Permanent: Nitrogen, oxygen, Ar
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What is atmospheric pressure, how does it vary vertically, and how is it measured?
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Definition: The pressure exerted by the weight of the atmosphere.
Varies vertically by pressure decreasing with height.
Measured with a barometer
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Why is it difficult to breathe at high elevations?
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less density, less O2 per area
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How does temperature vary with height in the earth's atmosphere?
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Temperature decreases in the troposphere, increases in the stratosphere, decreases in the mesosphere, and increases again in the thermosphere
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Troposphere
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The layer of gas closest to Earth's surface
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Tropopause
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boundary between Stratosphere and Troposphere
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Statosphere
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above the troposphere
less dense and less mixing of gases
have protective layer of ozone which prevents most UV radiation from hitting the earth
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been used as propellants in the past so much that they formed a hole in the ozone layer.
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Stratopause
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Boundary between stratosphere and mesosphere, where stratosphere reaches the highest temperature.
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What is the ozone layer?
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The layer of the atmosphere that contains high concentrations of ozone, which protect the Earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
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Where is the ozone layer?
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The ozone layer is in the stratosphere.
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Why does is matter that the ozone layer is being depleted?
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It prevents harmful UV light from passing through Earth's atmosphere.
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Latitude and longitude is measured in what
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Degrees, minuets, seconds
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Longitude
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Imaginary lines that run North-South around the Earth. Also called meridians. Lines of longitude are all the same length.
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Latitude
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Runs East to West
N. Pole (90N)
Arctic Circle (66.5N)
Tropic of Cancer (23.5N)
Equator (0)
Tropic of Capricorn (23.5S)
Antarctic Circle (66.5S)
South Pole (90S)
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What are parallels and meridians?
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Parallels are latitude lines used to determine borders or specify areas of Earth
Meridians are longitude lines used to determine borders or specify areas of Earth
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Map Scale
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Shows distance on a map ration between distance on map and actual distances on earths surface
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What is a contour interval?
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The difference in elevation between two side by side contour lines (usually represent hill/mountain)
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What is slope aspect?
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The direction toward which a slope is facing.
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What is local relief?
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Elevation difference between two different topographic features (subtract height of bottom from height of top)
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How do you calculate slope from a topographic map?
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Change in elevation/distance
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What (and when) are the Solstices?
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times when the Earth's axis points most toward (summer, June 21) or away (winter, Dec 21) from the sun
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What (and when) are the solstices and equinoxes, and how do sun angle and daylength vary on those days between different latitudes?
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Summer: sun directly overhead at 23.5 degrees North (24-hour day at North Pole, 12&12 at equator, 24-hour dark at South Pole)
Winter: sun directly overhead at 23.5 degrees South (opposite)
solstices: June 21, December 21
Equinoxes: March 20, September 22
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Radiation
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Transfer of energy without benefit of a medium
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What are the important parts of the spectrum of radiation wavelengths?
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Infrared, visible lights, ultraviolet, x rays, gamma rays
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What are the laws relating radiation to the temperature of the emitting body?
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Hotter objects emit more radiation
Hotter objects emit shorter wavelengths
*Any object that has temp. above absolute zero is emitting radiation
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What are the differences of type and amount between solar and terrestrial radiation?
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Solar: Shortwave radiation
Terrestrial: Longwave radiation
100 units solar vs. 113 terrestrial
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What can happen to solar radiation?
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Absorption: heats the absorber
Scattering forward- hits object, deflected
Reflection: radiation bounced backward
Reach surface as direct radiation
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What is counter-radiation?
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Long-wave radiation emitted from the Earth into the atmosphere after absorbing short-wave radiation.
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What are conduction, convection, and latent heat transfer?
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Conduction: The direct transfer of energy via molecular collisions
Convection: The transfer of heat by the physical motion of the heated material (only liquids and gases)
Latent: the energy released or absorbed by a body or a thermodynamic system during a constant-temperature proces…
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What is albedo, and what determines the albedo of different surfaces?
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Percent of shortwave radiation that is reflected by a surface
Angle of sun, texture
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What are the greenhouse gases and what do they do?
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Water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, methane
They absorb longwave radiation and warm the atmosphere
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How did our example of an earth-atmosphere energy budget work?
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Earth and atmosphere: Absorb 70 units (solar and surface), emit 70
Atmosphere: Absorbs 126 units (solar and surface), emits 156
-30 = radiation deficit
Surface: Absorbs 143 units (solar and atmosphere), emits 113
+30 = radiation surplus
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What are isobars, and how are they used to show pressure gradients and cells of high and low pressure?
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Isobars: lines of equal pressure
Closely spaced, high pressure & high winds
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What is a pressure gradient force?
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Force created between areas of high and low pressure (wind)
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What is Coriolis Effect, how is its direction determined, and how is it affected by latitude and wind velocity?
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The apparent deflection of moving objects due to earth's rotation
Direction: to right in Northern Hemisphere, to left in South
Deflection increases with latitude
Deflection increases with velocity
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What is a gradient or geostrophic wind?
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Theoretical wind that would result from an exact balance between the Coriolis effect and pressure gradient force
Parallel to isobars
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How do we name winds?
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From the direction they blow from
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What did you learn in discussion section about the types and sources of natural and anthropogenic air pollution?
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Natural: pollutants that come from natural processes (volcanoes, forest fires, plants, animals, decay (swamps))
Anthropogenic: Pollutants associated with human activity (Industry, transportation, agriculture, decay (dumps))
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What are Hadley Cells? Where are they located?
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Large quantities of moisture picked up by trade winds and circulated in Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
-Located near Equator
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ITCZ
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(intertropical convergence zone)
What - the boundary where the NE trade winds in the northern hemisphere converge with the SE trading winds in the southern hemisphere
Latitude - 0 degree, equator
Winds- SE and NE trade winds
Precipitation - Yes
Temp - Warm
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subtropical highs
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air masses from high pressure areas near latitudes 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south
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Trade winds (easterly winds)
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Winds that move from the east to the west. They flow between the dry tropics and the equator
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westerlies
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prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres
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Polar Easterlies
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A shallow body of easterly winds located at high latitudes polward of the subpolar low.
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What are doldrums? Horse latitudes? Where are each located?
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Doldrums - area with little wind at the equator
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Circumpolar vortex
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A belt of strong winds that encircles the outer margin of the Antarctic continent (also one around the Arctic) that cuts the Antarctic off from planetary-scale atmospheric circulation, which keeps warmer air out of the poles. It is strongest in the Winter and begins to weaken during late…
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How are currents and oceanic gyres caused?
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Currents: move from tropical to polar regions
Oceanic gyres: large-scale circulation patterns in both hemispheres (La nina)
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What's El nino (ENSO) all about?
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•Normally, there is cold water off the coast of Peru, and warm water off the east coast of Australia
–This temperature pattern helps form a pressure gradient that aids the Easterly Trade Winds
•In December, some of that warm water spills back toward Peru, causing El Nino
–If this lasts…
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What is the hydrologic cycle?
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the continuous movement of water from the earth's surface to the atmosphere and back to the surface, then back to the atmosphere...
(evaporation, condensation, transportation, precipitation)
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What are phase changes, and how do they affect latent heat?
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Use of energy (latent heat) to change from one phase to another (latent heat is either released or "locked up")
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what is saturation
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when the relative humidity is 100%, or the air is holding as much water vapor as it can
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Diabatic cooling
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A temperature change brought about by the direct transfer of heat energy. Examples of diabatic processes include solar or terrestrial radiation and the release of latent heat.
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adiabatic cooling
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decrease in temp with increasing elevation caused by expansion of air under decreasing atmospheric pressure
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Different types of fog. How do they form?
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Air temp and dew-point temp are nearly identical at ground level, saturation.
advection fog: air in one place migrates to another place where saturated conditions exist.
upslope fog: moist air is forced to higher elevations, cooling by expansion as the air rises
valley fog: cool air th…
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What are the four major mechanisms for lifting air?
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Dynamic uplift, Oragraphic, convective, frontal
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GEO 155: Exam 2