- Weather-
the condition of the atmosphere at a particular location and moment.
- Meteorology-
the study of weather variables, the processes that cause weather, and the
interaction of the atmosphere with the Earth’s surface, ocean, and life.
- Climate-
the condition of the atmosphere over many years.
- Atmospheric
Gases: Nitrogen (78.08%), Oxygen (20.95%), Argon (0.93%), Trace gases
(carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, CFCs, water vapor)
Carbon Cycle
- Nitrogen
accumulating over billions of years (chemically stable gas), Oxygen from
algae accumulation photosynthesis, Carbon dioxide from volcanoes
- Source
(supplies gas), Sink (removes gas)
- CO2
maximum in spring, minimum in autumn (In summer, photosynthesis at maximum
removing CO2, in winter, photosynthesis at minimum, adding CO2 from
decaying organisms and plants)
- Ocean
contains 50 times more CO2 than atmosphere-accumulates at bottom of ocean
Hydrologic Cycle
- Evaporation
from oceans is major source of atmospheric water vapor
- Transpiration-
plants release water vapor into the atmosphere
- Surface
of earth generally has largest amounts of water vapor and decreases as
move away from surface
- Clouds
form due to condensation
- Precipitation
is a sink of water vapor in the atmosphere and returns water to the
Earth’s surface after it has evaporated completing the hydrologic cycle
- Methane-
decay of organic substances in rice paddies, burning of forests, coal
mining, cattle raising – doubled since Industrial Revolution
- Aerosols-
smoke, salt, ash, smog, dust- size measured in microns
- Can influence
climate of a region by modifying the amount of solar energy reaching the
surface
Density, Pressure, Altitude
·
As the distance from the surface increases, the
density of the air decreases, a decrease in density results in a decrease in
pressure, b/c there are fewer molecules in the same volume of air.
·
Atmospheric pressure decrease rapidly with
altitude
Atmospheric
Layers
- Four
main layers- troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
- To
troposphere (10 km) from surface temperature decreases with altitude b/c
surface is heated and rest is transparent to incoming solar heat
- Tropopause-acts
as a lid on most weather patterns, height of it is a function of latitude
(higher in equatorial regions than in cold polar regions)
- In
stratosphere (10-50 km), temperature increases with altitude b/c ozone
molecules in the stratospheric ozone layer are absorbing solar energy near
the top of the stratosphere
- Stratopause
average temp close to 0 celsius, warmer than ground below it in winter
- Mesosphere
has temp decreasing with altitude (50 km-85 km)
- Thermosphere-
temp increases with altitude
Weather Maps
- Cold,
warm, stationary, occluded fronts
- Isotherms,
isobars, isotachs, isopleth