Moisture, Clouds, Precipitation

1st Sem - Earth Science | STEM-11

Changes of State Involve an Exchange

of Heat:
Heat is Absorbed
-Sublimation
-Melting
-Evaporation
Heat is Released
-Freezing
-Deposition
-Condensation
Humidity
-amount of water vapor in the air
Vapor Pressure: part of total
atmospheric pressure (super humid)
Saturation: air that is filled with vapor to
capacity
Capacity is temperature dependent -
warm air Adiabatic Temperature
-when air is allowed to expand, it cools
Mixing Ratio and when it is compressed, it warms.
(adiabatic = no energy exchange with
surroundings)

Expressed in Grams per kilogram

Relative Humidity

Dew point
-temperature to which a parcel of air
need to be cooled to reach saturation
-Water vapor requires a surface to
condensed on
 Moisture, Clouds, Precipitation
1st Sem - Earth Science | STEM-11
Dry Adiabatic Rate (unsaturated air)
-rising air at 10 degrees pre 1000 meters
-descending air is compressed at 10
degrees per 1000 meters
Wet Adiabatic Rate
-rising air cools and condensed, forming
clouds
-Liberates latent heat
-Heat reduces the rate of cooling
Rate varies from 0.5C to 0.9C per 100
meters due to relative humidity
-if reached dew-point temperature it
forms clouds
Processes That Lift Air
Wind - horizontal
Lift -vertical
Orographic Lifting
-elevated terrains (mountain) act as
barriers, forcing the air to ascend
-result can be rainshadow desert
Frontal Lifting
-cool air as a barrier to warm air
-fronts are part of the storm called
middle-latitude cyclones
Convergence
-air is flowing together and converges in
the center of low pressure
-intertropical convergence zone:
breeding ground of low-pressure areas
(LPA)
Localized Convective Lifting
-Occurs when unequal surface heating
caused pockets of air to rise because of
their buoyancy
Absolute Instability
Conditional Instability
-depends whether the rising air is
saturated
-air must be upward
-wet and dry adiabatic rate
Condensation and Cloud Formation
-water vapor in the air changes to a
liquid: dew, fog, or clouds
Condensation Nuclei: tiny bits of
particulate matter that serves as surface
on which water vapor condenses
 Moisture, Clouds, Precipitation
1st Sem - Earth Science | STEM-11

Types of Clouds
Cirrus - high, white, thin
Cumulus - rounded individual cloud
masses
Stratus - layers that cover much or all of
the sky

High Clouds
-altostratus and altocumulus
Middle Cloud
Low Clouds
-below 2000 meters
-stratus , stratocumulus, nimbostratus
Clouds of Vertical Development
Cumulus - fair weather
Cumulonimbus - often produce thunder
and lighting

How Precipitation Works:

Bergeron process
-temperature in the clouds is below
freezing
-ice crystals collect water vapor
-large snowflakes form
Collision-coalescence process
-warm clouds
-large droplets form (form rapidly)