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Ch. 11-13 I. Atmosphere - Layer of Gas That Surrounds the Earth

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Ch. 11-13 I. Atmosphere - Layer of Gas That Surrounds the Earth Ch. 11-13 I. Atmosphere - layer of gas that surrounds the Earth. A. Composition 1. 78% - N2 2. 21% - O2 3. 0%-4% - water vapor 4. 1% - other gases 5. Ozone - O3 - protects us from UV radiation. B. Smog - smoke and fog mixing with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide 1. From the burning of coal, gasoline, and other fossil fuels C. solids (dust and ice) and liquids (water). II. Layers - divided according to major changes in temperature A. Troposphere - the lowest layer we live here weather occurs here 1. 75% of all atmosphere gases 2. ↓ temp. with ↑ altitude 3. Tropopause - boundary between troposphere and the next layer B. Stratosphere - 2nd layer 1. Jet stream - strong west wind. 2. Ozone (O3) - is found here. 3. ↑ temp. with ↑ altitude. 4. Stratopause - boundary between stratosphere and mesosphere. C. Mesosphere - area where meteors burn up ↓ temp. with ↑ altitude Mesopause - boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere D. Thermosphere - means "heat sphere" 1. Very thin air (1/10,000,000) of the earth's surface 2. High temperature - N2 and O2 absorb U.V. light and turn it into heat 3. Cannot measure with thermometer D1. Ionosphere - lower part of thermosphere 1. Layer of ions 2. Used for radio waves 3. When particles from the sun strike the ionosphere it causes: Auroras - northern and southern lights D2. Exosphere - layer that extends into outer space 1. Satellites orbit here III. Air pressure - the pressure that air molecules force upon an object. A. Decreases with altitude. B. Barometer - instrument that measures atmospheric pressure. (Altimeter?) C. Warm air is less dense than cold air. D. HIGH pressure is usually clear and sunny. E. LOW pressure indicates cloudy weather. IV. Ozone– absorbs U.V. radiation, found in the stratosphere. A. U.V. can cause sunburn, skin cancer and other health problems. B. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) – molecules that destroy the ozone by breaking up O3 into O2 & O. (chlorine is the destroying element) V. Energy transfer A. Three things that happen to light when it reaches earth 1. Reflected back into space – 30% a. Clouds and atmosphere - 25% b. Surface of earth - 5% 2. Absorbed by clouds and atmosphere - 20% 3. Absorbed by the earth's surface - 50% B. Radiation - can travel through a vacuum 1. Can pass through the atmosphere but cannot travel back out C. Conduction - direct contact molecules bump into each other D.Convection - transfer of energy by a fluid 1. Due to density differences a. Warm air rises b. Cold air sinks VI. Movement of air A. Coriolis effect - because the earth rotates it causes air in the Northern Hemisphere to curve to the right, and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left. B. Wind systems 1. Doldrums - windless zone at the equator due to rising air 2. Trade winds (east wind) - 15° to 30° latitude a. Air flows to the equator Trade winds 2. Trade winds (east wind) - 15° to 30° latitude 1. Air flows to the equator Trade winds Trade winds 3. Prevailing Westerlies - 30° to 60° latitude Prevailing Westerlies Trade winds 3. Prevailing Westerlies - 30° to 60° latitude Prevailing Westerlies Trade winds Trade winds Prevailing Westerlies 4. Polar easterlies - 60° to 90° latitude Polar Easterlies Prevailing Westerlies Trade winds Trade winds Prevailing Westerlies 4. Polar easterlies - 60° to 90° latitude Polar Easterlies Prevailing Westerlies Trade winds Trade winds Prevailing Westerlies Polar Easterlies 5. Horse latitudes - (Windless) 30°N and 30°S latitude Polar Easterlies Prevailing Westerlies Trade winds Trade winds Prevailing Westerlies Polar Easterlies Horse Latitudes Two belts of latitude where winds are light and the weather is hot and dry. They are located mostly over the oceans, at about 30° lat. in each hemisphere, and have a north-south range of about 5° as they follow the seasonal migration of the sun. The horse latitudes are associated with the subtropical anticyclone and the large-scale descent of air from high-altitude currents moving toward the poles. After reaching the earth’s surface, this air spreads toward the equator as part of the prevailing trade winds or toward the poles as part of the westerlies. The belt in the Northern Hemisphere is sometimes called the “calms of Cancer” and that in the Southern Hemisphere the “calms of Capricorn.” The term horse latitudes supposedly originates from the days when Spanish sailing vessels transported horses to the West Indies. Ships would often become becalmed in mid-ocean in this latitude, thus severely prolonging the voyage; the resulting water shortages would make it necessary for crews to throw their horses overboard. Already wrote this down. No need to do again. 6. Jet stream - narrow high speed band of wind. NOAA Aerosols Satellite Imagery. Tanya Fransen (NOAA) 11-19-2017 I shared this last week on my Facebook page, and thought you all may appreciate it as well. I watched it about 5 times straight, and each time saw something I hadn't noticed before. It's a stunning animation from NASA that shows the aerosols in the atmosphere, from wildfire smoke, to salt particles concentrations over the oceans to the dust coming off the Sahara. It's pretty stunning if you have any bit of weather geek in you at all. :) • It starts in August and goes through the end of October. Maybe show it to your students and ask what things they see beyond what the video discusses (Ophelia!!)? A few that may not stand out at first: • 1. Tropical systems actually going east to west and making it across Mexico from the Carribean to the Pacific. (8-15 seconds in) • 2. The diurnal cycles of wildfires, it really shows up in the Southeast in the Oct time frames in little puffs. • 3. The direction the NW smoke goes based on the weather systems coming through. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1eRp0EGOmE NO notes over the “Breezes” Breezes No Notes A. Sea breeze - occurs during the day 1. land heats faster then the ocean, the air over the land rises and cool ocean air rushes to replace it. No Notes B. Land breeze - occurs at night 1. air over land cools faster then over the ocean. No Notes C. Valley breeze- Day No Notes D. Mountain breeze- Night No Notes E. Summer Monsoon - rain F. Winter Monsoon - dry 12-1 Weather - The current state of the atmosphere and current conditions I. Factors that determine weather. A. Temperature B. Pressure C. Water vapor II. Humidity - amount of water vapor in the air A. Warm air holds more water vapor than cool air. B. Relative humidity - amount of water vapor in the air compared to the amount it can hold at a particular temperature. 1. Psychrometer - Instrument used to measure R.H. C.Dew point - temperature at which the air is saturated and condensation takes place. III. Clouds – made of water droplets. A. Types of clouds 1. Cirrus - high altitude, usually ice crystals, fair weather, may indicate approaching storms. (Mare’s Tails) 2. Stratus - "layered cloud", may produce precipitation. a. Fog - stratus cloud on the ground. 3. Cumulus - dense, billowy clouds, usually indicate fair weather. a. Cumulonimbus – ("thunder heads“), severe weather, anvil on top. Cirrocumulus Stratocumulus Nimbostratus Cirrostatus “rain” B. Precipitation - moisture that falls from the sky. 1. Rain - temperature is above freezing when formed. 2. Snow - temperature is below freezing when formed. 3. Sleet - snow forms, then melts, then freezes. 4. Hail - when drops of water freeze in layers. -- Formed in thunderstorms where rising air causes the hail to rise and fall within the cloud. A new record for the largest hailstone ever was set in 2010! It fell on July 23, in Vivian, South Dakota. It was 8 inches in diameter, 18.62 inches in circumference, and weighed 1.93 pounds RAINBOW If you had no idea at all about what a rainbow is or what causes it, you might actually believe some of the legends that different ancient cultures have created to explain it. Rainbows are among the most beautiful of nature’s displays. A rainbow isn’t really a “thing” and it doesn’t exist in a particular “place.” It is an optical phenomenon that appears when sunlight and atmospheric conditions are just right—and the viewer’s position is just right to see it. When can you see a rainbow? A rainbow requires water droplets to be floating in the air. That’s why we see them right after it rains. The Sun must be behind you and the clouds cleared away from the Sun for the rainbow to appear. Why is a rainbow a bow—or arc? A full rainbow is actually a complete circle, but from the ground we see only part of it. From an airplane, in the right conditions, one can see an entire circular rainbow. What happens in the water droplets? The sunlight shines on a water droplet. As the light passes into the droplet, the light bends, or refracts, a little, because light travels slower in water than in air (because water is denser). Then the light bounces off the back of the water droplet and goes back the way it came, bending again as it speeds up when it exits the water droplet. Light enters a water droplet, bending as it slows down a bit going from air to denser water. The light reflects off the inside of the droplet, separating into its component wavelengths—or colors. When it exits the droplet, it makes a rainbow. Why the colors? Sunlight is made up of many wavelengths—or colors—of light. Some of those wavelengths get bent more than others when the light enters the water droplet. Violet (the shortest wavelength of visible light) bends the most, red (the longest wavelength of visible light) bends the least.
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