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ENERGY AND THE ATMOSPHERE

ENERGY AND THE ATMOSPHERE. METEOROLOGY. THIS UNIT IS ABOUT WEATHER. HOW IT’S DESCRIBED AND MAPPED THE ENERGY INVOLVED WEATHER VARIABLES AFFECTING DAILY CONDITIONS AS YOU LEARN NEW WORDS AND CONCEPTS LOOK AROUND YOU AND THINK ! !.

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ENERGY AND THE ATMOSPHERE

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  1. ENERGY AND THE ATMOSPHERE METEOROLOGY

  2. THIS UNIT IS ABOUT WEATHER • HOW IT’S DESCRIBED AND MAPPED • THE ENERGY INVOLVED • WEATHER VARIABLES AFFECTING DAILY CONDITIONS • AS YOU LEARN NEW WORDS AND CONCEPTS LOOK AROUND YOU AND THINK! !

  3. SO. . . WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF WEATHER. . . THIS?

  4. OR HOW ABOUT THIS?

  5. TO DESCRIBE WEATHER WE TALK ABOUT ATMOSPHERIC VARIABLES • TEMPERATURE • PRECIPITATION • WIND • HUMIDITY • AIR PRESSURE

  6. WEATHER INSTRUMENTS INDICATE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS

  7. WEATHER IS THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF ATMOSPHERIC VARIABLES • LOCAL • SHORT-TERM CONDITIONS • TROPOSPHERE (THE LOWEST LAYER OF THE ATMOSPHERE)

  8. WHAT’S A WEATHER FORECAST? • AN INFERENCE • SHORT-TERM PREDICTION ABOUT THE INTERACTION OF VARIABLES • TEMPERATURE • HUMIDITY • AIR PRESURE • WINDS

  9. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT EACH VARIABLETEMPERATURE IS AFFECTED BY: • INTENSITY AND DURATION OF SUN (INSOLATION) • EARTH SURFACES (LAND, WATER, ICE) • ALTITUDE

  10. REMEMBER, NOT ALL INSOLATION REACHES EARTH’S SURFACE!

  11. AIR PRESSURE IS BAROMETRIC PRESSURE • MEASURED IN MILLIBARS OR INCHES OF MERCURY • ON A MAP ISOBARS CONNECT POINTS OF EQUAL AIR PRESSURE

  12. THE WEIGHT OF AIR PUSHING DOWNWARD CREATES AIR PRESSURE. THIS IS AFFECTED BY: • TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY OF THE AIR • ALTITUDE • MOISTURE CONTENT

  13. HUMIDITY IS WATER VAPOR IN THE AIR • SATURATED AIR HAS 100% HUMIDITY • DEWPOINT IS THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH AIR BECOMES SATURATED • WARM AIR HOLDS MORE MOISTURE SO IT HAS A HIGHER DEWPOINT

  14. WIND IS CAUSED BY DIFFERENCES IN AIR PRESSURE • AIR MOVES FROM HIGH TO LOW PRESSURE • WIND SPEED IS RELATED TO PRESSURE GRADIENTS • ISOBARS CLOSE TOGETHER INDICATE A STEEP PRESSURE GRADIENT: HIGHER WINDS!

  15. ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPARENCY • HOW CLEAR THE ATMOSPHERE IS • AFFECTS RADIATION REACHING EARTH • AEROSOLSSCATTER AND ABSORB RADIATION • PRECIPITATION CLEANS THE ATMOSPHERE

  16. SYNOPTIC WEATHER MAPS SHOW THE BIG PICTURE • ATMOSPHERIC CONDITONS OVER A LARGE AREA • HELPS ANALYZE HOW VARIABLES INTERACT

  17. AIR MASSES ARE LARGE BODIES OF AIR HAVING SIMILAR CONDITIONS • IDENTIFIED BY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE CONTENT • DETERMINED BY THEIR SOURCE REGIONS

  18. LOW AND HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS • LOWS ARE CYCLONES -SPIRAL INWARD -COUNTERCLOCKWISE • HIGHS ARE ANTICYCLONES • SPIRAL OUTWARD • CLOCKWISE

  19. HIGHS AND LOWS HAVE “TYPICAL“ WEATHER CONDITIONS • LOWS HAVE WARMER TEMPERATURES, CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION • HIGHS HAVE COOLER TEMPERATURES, CLEAR SKIES AND DRYER AIR

  20. ALL STORMS ARE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS, SUMMER OR WINTER

  21. SO WHAT HAPPENS FROM SUNDAY THRU WEDNESDAY, IN TERMS OF WEATHER SYSTEMS?

  22. THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN DIFFERENT AIR MASSES IS CALLED A FRONT • THE INTERFACE CREATES UNSTABLE CONDITIONS • WINDS, PRECIPITATION AND CHANGING CONDITIONS

  23. A WARM FRONT: WARM AIR MEETS COLDER AIR • WARM AIR RISES, COOLS AND MOISTURE CONDENSES • USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH LONGER PERIODS OF RAIN

  24. A COLD FRONT OCCURS WHEN COLDER AIR PUSHES INTO A REGION OF WARMER AIR • USUALLY FASTER MOVING • RESULT IN BRIEF BUT HEAVY PRECIPITATION

  25. AN OCCLUDED FRONT IS AN INTERACTION BETWEEN COOL, COLD AND WARM AIR MASSES • FORCES WARM AIR TO RISE • ASSOCIATED WITH FORMATION OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS • OUR BIG ICE STORM WAS AN OCCLUDED FRONT

  26. THE RESULTING PRECIPITATION DEPENDS UPON THE TEMPERATURES

  27. EVOLUTION OF LOW PRESSURE STORMS, TYPICAL OF OUR AREA

  28. AIR MASS TRACKS HAVE PREDICTABLE PATHS • PREVAILING WESTERLIES MOVE WEST TO EaST • TROPICAL AIR MOVES NORTHEAST • POLAR AIR MOVES SOUTH EAST

  29. THE JET STREAM IS ANOTHER INFLUENCE ON OUR WEATHER SYSTEMS • A STRONG CURRENT IN THE UPPER TROPOSPHERE • BLOWS WEST TO EAST • CHARACTERIZED AS A FAST-MOVING RIVER OF AIR

  30. SO . . . HOW DOES THE ATMOSPHERE ACQUIRE MOISTURE?

  31. ENERGY AND MOISTURE ARE CONSTANTLY RECYCLED IN THE ATMOSPHERE • EVAPORATION • TRANSPIRATION • EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

  32. EVAPORATION RATE IS AFFECTED BY VARIABLES • TEMPERATURE (ENERGY!) • SURFACE AREA OF THE WATER • HUMIDITY

  33. HUMIDITY IS A MEASURE OF MOISTURE IN THE AIR, IN RELATION TO TEMPERATURE • ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY IS THE ACTUAL AMOUNT OF VAPOR IN THE AIR • RELATIVE HUMDITY IS THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE IN THE AIR COMPARED TO WHAT IT CAN HOLD AT THAT TEMPERATURE

  34. RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND DEWPOINT CAN BE FOUND WITH A SLING PSYCHROMETER • TWO THERMOMETERS • DRY BULB • WET BULB • “SLING” THEM AROUND AND COMPARE TEMPERATURES

  35. HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: • THE DRY BULB RECORDS AIR TEMPERATURE • THE WET BULB EVAPORATES MOISTURE WHICH RESULTS IN COOLING • THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TEMPERATURES IS SIGNIFICANT. . .THE GREATER THE DIFFERENCE INDICATES LOWER HUMIDITY

  36. HOW IS ENERGY AND MOISTURE TRANSFERRED IN THE ATMOSPHERE? • DENSITY DIFFERENCES FROM UNEQUAL HEATING. . .CONVECTION CURRENTS • PLANETARY WINDS AND AIR PRESSURE “BELTS” • ADIABATIC TEMPERATURE CHANGES. . . WARMING OR COOLING DUE TO PRESSURE CHANGES

  37. ENERGY AND MOISTURE IS TRANSFERRED BY DENSITY DIFFERENCES IN THE ATMOSPHERE • CREATES CONVECTION CURRENTS • AIR RISES IN ONE PLACE AND FALLS IN ANOTHER • PRODUCES LOW AND HIGH AIR PRESSURE “BELTS” • AIR CONVERGES AND RISES AT EQUATOR AND 60 N/S • AIR DESCENDS AND DIVERGES AT POLES AND 30 N/S

  38. ENERGY IS ALSO TRANSFERRED BY ADIABATIC TEMPERATURE CHANGES • WHEN AIR RISES IT COOLS AND IT WARMS AS IT FALLS • RISING AIR LOWERS THE PRESSURE DUE TO EXPANSION • DESCENDING AIR RAISES THE PRESSURE DUE TO COMPRESSION

  39. CLOUDS FORM DUE TO ADIABATIC COOLING • WARM AIR RISES, COOLS AND EVENTUALLY REACHES DEW POINT • CONDENSATION OR SUBLIMATION CREATES MICROSCOPIC WATER DROPLETS AND ICE CRYSTALS • CONDENSATION NUCLEI (DUST OR SALT) ARE NEEDED FOR DROPLETS TO FORM

  40. CLOUDS FORM AT THE ALTITUDE WHERE AIR TEMPERATURE AND DEWPOINT ARE THE SAME • DROPLETS GROW AND EVENTUALLY BECOME PRECIPITATION • DIFFERENT WEATHER CONDITIONS PRODUCE DIFFERENT CLOUDS • CLOUDS ARE NAMED ACCORDING TO SHAPE AND HEIGHT

  41. BASIC TYPES OF CLOUDS • CUMULUS ARE “HEAP” CLOUDS AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS, ASSOCIATED WITH DRY SUNNY DAYS • NIMBUS USUALLY PRODUCE RAIN OR SNOW

  42. CLOUDS • CIRRUS ARE HIGH LEVEL WISPY CLOUDS MADE OF ICE CRYSTALS • AIRCRAFT CONTRAILS FORM FROM WATER VAPOR IN THE EXHAUST THAT CONDENSES AND FREEZES

  43. CLOUDS • STRATUS FORM LAYERS ACROSS THE SKY AND OFTEN PRODUCE RAIN OR DRIZZLE • FOG IS A CLOUD RESTING ON THE GROUND

  44. SO, WHAT ABOUT SEVERE STORMS?

  45. THUNDERSTORMS…THE MOST COMMON SEVERE STORM • THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THUNDERSTORMS ON EARTH AT ANY GIVEN TIME! • UNSTABLE MOIST AIR RISES QUICKLY • CLOUDS FORM, ENERGY IS RELEASED, THE AIR IS HEATED AND THE STORM DEVELOPS VERTICAL HEIGHT

  46. THUNDERSTORM HAZARDS • LIGHTNING • FLOODING • HAIL • MORE PEOLE ARE KILLED BY LIGHTNING THAN BY HURRICANES AND TORNADOES!

  47. BE SAFE! • GO INSIDE, STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS • AVOID USING ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES • IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS, AVOID HIGH OBJECTS SUCH AS TREES

  48. OCCUR FROM JUNE THROUGH SEPTEMBER DEVELOP FROM TROPICAL DEPRESSIONS IN LOW LATITUDES OVER WARM WATER MORE MASSIVE THAN MID-LATITUDE LOWS CONDENSATION RELEASES ENERGY THE CENTER “EYE” IS AN AREA OF CALM WITH VIOLENT WINDS AND HEAVY PRECIPITATION DESTRUCTIVE DUE TO LARGE SIZE HURRICANES

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