Introduction to Meteorology Quiz 2

Chapter 6 – Atmospheric Moisture

Change of State – refers to the transition from one form of H2O to another.
 Melting – Ice to Water.
 Evaporation – Water to Water vapor.
 Condensation – Water vapor to Water.
 Freezing – Water to Ice
 Sublimation – Ice directly to Water vapor without water as an intermediate state.
 Deposition – Water vapor directly to Ice without water as an intermediate state.

Latent Heat – The amount of heat energy absorbed or released when H2O changes from
one state to another.
Sensible Heat – Heat that can be felt and measured when the molecules pass to lower
energy states.
Vapor Pressure
 Partial Pressure – In the atmosphere, each gas exerts a partial pressure.
o Nitrogen (N2) – 78.1%
o Oxygen (O2) – 20.9%
o Other gases – 1%
 Vapor Pressure (VP) – The partial pressure exerted by water vapor (H2O in gaseous
form).
 Saturation – When the number of molecules leaving a water surface is equal to the
number of molecules returning.
 Saturation Vapor Pressure (SVP) - The pressure of a vapor when it is in equilibrium
with the liquid phase. This dependents on the temperature, as temperature rises the
saturation vapor pressure rises as well.
o Boiling occurs when saturation Vapor Pressure = Total Pressure.
Relative Humidity – Is mainly to determine how close the atmosphere is to saturation.
 The information can help in expecting the formation of clouds or fog.
 The process of calculating the relative humidity:
o Measuring the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere (Vapor
Pressure).
o Estimate the SVP from a temperature measurement (the table above).
VP
o Relative Humidity ( % )= × 10 0
SVP

Dewpoint – The temperature at which the air can no longer "hold" all of the vapor which
is mixed with it, and some of the water vapor must condense into liquid water.
 Dewpoint temperature is always < air temperature, except:
o When relative humidity = 100%, then dewpoint temperature and air
temperature are equal. In this case, fog or clouds begin to form.
o When the difference between the temperature and dewpoint is small; the
relative humidity is high, and a larger difference means a low relative
humidity.
 Dew – Dew forms when a surface cools through loss of infrared radiation down to a
temperature which is colder than the dewpoint of the air next to that surface. 
 White Dew – Present dew that freezes after the temperature falls below 0.
 Frost – It is water vapor that becomes solid and forms ice crystals on objects like:
cars. (Google a Picture)

Condensation Nuclei – Microscopic particles (like: salt & dust) that provides surfaces on
which water vapor undergoes condensation to form water droplets or deposition to form
ice crystals. (Google a Picture)
 Fog is more prevalent in industrial areas because of richness of condensation nuclei
from combustion.
o Advection Fog often forms in coastal areas.
o Both Advection Fog & Upslope Fog depends on wind.
 o Radiation Fog only forms over a land surface with clear skies, little or no
wind, and a small difference between temperature and dewpoint.

Vertical Visibility (VV) – The visibility distance that can be seen into a low cloud.
Absolute Humidity - Is the amount of water vapor divided by the amount of dry air in a
certain volume of air at a specific temperature.

Formation of Clouds:
Clouds form when moist, warm rising airmasses cools and expands in the atmosphere.
The water vapor in the air condenses to form tiny water droplets which are the basis
of clouds.
Chapter 7 – Scales of Atmospheric Circulations
Scales of Circulation – The size and lifetime of individual circulations.
 Macroscale – Largest circulations, have the longest lifetime and horizontal
dimensions of 1,000nm to 10,000nm.
o Monsoon Circulation
 Mesoscale – has a horizontal dimension of 1nm to 1,000nm.
 Microscale – Smaller circulations, have shortest lifetime.
 Embedded Circulations – Hidden circulations and often driven by larger scale
circulations.
 The General Circulation – Refers to the wind system around the whole globe.

Intertropical Convergence Zone –It is a belt of low pressure which circles the Earth
generally near the equator where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern
Hemispheres come together.
Circulation Cells – 3 Cell Circulations:
 Hadley Cells – At the surface between the equator to 30 North and the equator 30
South. The trade winds blow towards the equator, then ascend near the equator as a
broken line of thunderstorms and rain due to precipitation, which forms the Inter-
Tropical-Convergence Zone (ITCZ). 
 Ferrel Cells – At the latitude between 30 North to 60 North and 30 South to 60
South.  Air converges at low altitudes to ascend along the boundaries between cool
polar air and the warm subtropical air that generally occurs between 60 North and
South.
 Polar Cells – Higher than 60 North and South. Air in these polar cells sinks over
the highest latitudes and flows out towards the lower latitudes at the surface.

Trade Winds – Winds blowing in the Hadley cells towards the equator then deflected by
Coriolis effect.
 Northeasterly Trade Winds – In the northern Hadley cell blowing towards the
equator then deflected to the east by Coriolis effect.
 Southeasterly Trade Winds – In the southern Hadley cell blowing towards the
equator then deflected to the east by Coriolis effect.
Horse Latitudes – A region at 30 North and 30 South, which is a high-pressure
subtropical area. Winds diverge and either flown towards the poles (prevailing westerlies)
or towards the equator (trade winds).
Polar Front – A region at 60 North and 60 South, which is a low-pressure area. It is the
line separating the warm airmasses from tropical regions and cold airmasses from polar
region. It is an area of clouds and precipitation.

Jet Streams – A narrow band of high-speed winds that reaches its greatest speed near the
tropopause (at 8km – 18km).
 The Polar Front Jet Streams – It is found near the latitude of the polar front. It is
stronger and farther south in the winter and weaker and further north in summer.
 The Subtropical Jet Streams – It is found near 25 North to 30 North (near North
America). It is strongest in winter and disappears in summer.
Chapter 8 – Airmasses, Fronts & Cyclones
Eddies - An eddy is a circulation that develops when the wind flows over or adjacent
to rough terrain, buildings, mountains or other obstructions.
Extratropical Cyclones – Also known as Frontal lows or Frontal Cyclones, it is a
macroscale low-pressure disturbance that develops outside the tropics. The cyclones get
their energy from temperature difference across the polar front.
Tropical Cyclones – A mesoscale cyclonic circulation that develops in the tropical
easterlies, which is not branded by fronts, airmass temperature contrast. Instead, it is
associated with low-pressure, high winds and heavy rain. Tropical Cyclones draw their
energy from warm oceans and die over cold waters and land.
 Tropical Disturbance < 20 knots
 Tropical Depression – 20 knots to 34 knots
 Tropical Storm – 35 knots to 64 knots
 Hurricanes > 64 knots
o Hurricane Eye – Center of the storm which is nearly cloud-free, low-pressure
region of 10nm to 20nm.
o Eye Wall – A cloudy region with embedded thunderstorms next to to the
hurricane eye.
Storm Surge – Abnormal rise of water due to tropical cyclones.
Cyclone Formation:
 Wave forms on a frontal surface separating warm airmasses from cold airmasses.
 Cold airmasses overtakes warm airmasses resulting in a low-pressure center.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the cyclonic rotation is always counterclockwise, while in the
Southern Hemisphere it is always clockwise because of Coriolis effect.
The Types of Fronts are: (Google Front Shape)
 Cold Front – A rapid front where cold air replaces warm air at the surface.
Associated with Cumulonimbus clouds, strong thunderstorms and has a big slope.
 Warm Front – A slow front where warm air replaces cold air at the surface.
Associated with Stratiform clouds.
 Stationary Front – A front that barely moves.
 Occluded Front – A front with the worst weather conditions.

Inversion - Is one which cold air close to the ground is trapped by a layer of warmer air. As
the inversion continues, air becomes stationery near the ground. Therefore, inversions
often cause the formation of smog.
Chapter 9 – Thunderstorms
Dry Convection – air in the cumulus clouds or cumulonimbus clouds originally comes from
the boundary layer.
 Boundary layer – from ground to 3,000ft.
Thunderstorm - Is a local storm produced by a cumulonimbus clouds and always
accompanied by lightning and thunder.
 Single-cell airmass thunderstorm – Lasts less than one hour.
 Supercell severe thunderstorm – May last two hours or longer.
 Multicell thunderstorm – A multicell storm is a compact group of thunderstorms.
Cumulus Stage of Thunderstorm – Is when atmospheric moisture and instability are
sufficient the development of the airmass thunderstorm begins due to convection.
Towering Cumulus (TCU) – During the cumulus stage, the convective circulation grows
rapidly into a Towering Cumulus clouds which typically grows to 20,000ft in height and
three to five miles in diameter. It takes 15 minutes to reach the next stage of development.
 A continuous updraft is normally associated with the cumulus stage of a
thunderstorm.
 An indication that downdrafts have developed, and that the thunderstorm cell has
entered the mature stage (greatest development) is when precipitation begins to fall
from the cloud base.
Embedded Thunderstorms - are thunderstorms that are obscured by massive cloud layers
and cannot be seen.
Squall line – Also known as instability line, is a broken or continuous line of thunderstorms
not necessarily associated with a front.
 The most severe weather conditions, such as destructive winds, heavy hail, and
tornadoes are generally associated with squall lines.
Chapter 10 – Local Winds
Local winds – Are winds that move short distances and can blow from any direction; can
be produced by the temperature changes due to local geographic features.
 Thermally Driven Local Winds – are caused by local differences in radiational
heating or cooling.
 Externally Driven Local Winds –are produced when strong winds interact with the
local landscapes.
Sea Breeze – It occurs during the day when cooler air over the ocean flows toward warmer
air over land.
Land Breeze – It occurs at night when cooler air over land flows toward warmer air over
the ocean.
Valley Breeze – It occurs during the day as warm air rises from the valley up the mountain
slope.
Mountain Breeze – It occurs at night as the cool air sinks down the mountain into the
valley.
Upslope Wind - The hillside deflects the air producing upslope wind.

Downslope winds – the pressure gradient reverses and downslope winds develop along the
hillsides.
Chapter 11 – Wind Shear
Wind Shear – Also known as wind gradient, is the difference between wind speed and
direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere.
 Strong wind shear is a hazard to aviation because it can cause turbulence and large
airspeed fluctuations and, therefore, serious control problems.
Horizontal Wind Shear - A change in wind over a horizontal distance.
Vertical Wind Shear – A change in wind over a vertical distance.
Causes of Wind Shear:
 Thunderstorms
 Low-level temperature inversion
 Jet streams
 Frontal zone
Downburst - A strong downdraft of air that causes an outflow of damaging, straight-line
winds at or just above the ground.
Microburst - Is an intense small-scale downdraft produced by a thunderstorm or rain
shower under Towering Cumulus . There are two types of microbursts:
 Wet Microburst –are accompanied by significant precipitation.
 Dry Microburst – the precipitation evaporates within the downdraft.
Air Mass Wind Shear - occurs at night under fair weather conditions in the absence of
strong fronts. It develops when the ground becomes cooler than the overlying air mass as a
result of radiational cooling.
Frontal Wind Shear - Is a zone between two different airmasses (cold and warm); it is
concentrated in that zone.
Chapter 12 – Turbulence
Aviation Turbulence (pilots, crew & passengers’ definition) – Bumpiness in flight.
Levels of Turbulence:
 Light
 Moderate
 Severe
 Extreme
Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) – A sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions
that causes violent buffeting of aircraft. Associated with high altitudes and jet streams.
Low Level Turbulence (LLT) – Is a turbulence that occurs primarily within the
atmospheric boundary layer, where surface heating and friction are significant. When
improves with altitude away from the boundary layer.

Mechanical Turbulence - It occurs when the air near the surface of the Earth flows over
obstacles.
Thermal Turbulence – It occurs during day time over land under fair weather conditions.
It is Low Level Turbulence produced by dry convection in the boundary layer.
Human-Made Turbulence - Also known as Wake Turbulence, is a disturbance in the
atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes various
components, the most important of which are wingtip vortices.
Funnelling Effect - Like the increase in the speed of the current of a river where it narrows
(Venturi), strong local winds with substantial LLT and wind shear are created when a
broad air stream is forced to flow through a narrow mountain pass.
 Unstable cold airmasses moving over warm airmasses result in Cumuliform clouds,
turbulence, and good visibility.
Turbulence in and near Thunderstorms (TNT) – It occurs within developing Towering
Cumulus and thunderstorms, in the vicinity of the thunderstorm tops and wakes, in
downbursts, and in gust fronts.
Turbulence below thunderstorms – The downdrafts, downbursts and micro bursts are the
primary turbulent areas below the thunderstorm.
Mountain Wave Turbulence - fluctuations to the downside of high ground resulting from
the disturbance in the horizontal air flow caused by the high ground.