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Atmospheric Circulation

Atmospheric Circulation. GPH 111. Volcanic debris from Mt. Pinatubo spreads worldwide - covering 42% of the globe in 60 days. Atmospheric Pressure and Wind. Atmospheric Processes The Nature of Wind General Circulation of the Atmosphere Modifications of General Circulation

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Atmospheric Circulation

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  1. Atmospheric Circulation GPH 111

  2. Volcanic debris from Mt. Pinatubo spreads worldwide - covering 42% of the globe in 60 days

  3. Atmospheric Pressure and Wind • Atmospheric Processes • The Nature of Wind • General Circulation of the Atmosphere • Modifications of General Circulation • Localized Wind Systems

  4. Atmospheric Processes • Pressure, Density, and Temperature • Mapping Pressure with Isobars

  5. Pressure and Density

  6. More Air Pressure…

  7. What is HIGH pressure, what is LOW pressure? What’s an Isobar?

  8. Global Patterns of Pressure…

  9. Sample Pressures…

  10. How does wind work? • Direction of Movement • Pressure Gradient - Wind speed - Cyclones and Anticyclones • Coriolis Effect - Geostrophic Winds (Pressure and Coriolis) • Friction

  11. Pressure Gradient

  12. Pressure Gradient: High to Low Pressure

  13. Pressure Gradient: (again) High to Low Pressure

  14. High Pressure = AnticycloneLow Pressure = Cyclone

  15. Coriolis Effect… This will bend your brain…

  16. Geostrophic Winds Combined result of pressure gradient and corioliseffect!

  17. The effect of surface friction…

  18. The effect of surface friction… Overcomes the balance of pressure gradient and coriolis by slowing the wind down. Show movies

  19. Just the Pressure Gradient Force Friction Force Pressure Gradient and Coriolis Forces generate High Altitude Geostrophic Wind Extends to a height of about 1,650ft

  20. General Circulationof the Atmosphere • Hadley Cells • Components of General Circulation • Jet Streams - Rossby waves

  21. Hadley Cell… The most dominant wind patterns on the planet!!!

  22. General Worldwide Circulation… Components • Subtropical Highs • Trade Winds • Intertropical Convergence Zone • The Westerlies • Polar Highs • Polar Easterlies • Subpolar Lows

  23. Wind Circulation in Profile… High Low High Low

  24. What are Jet Streams? Jet streams form along the upper boundaries of large warm and cold air masses Speeds range between 50 and 300 mph

  25. Consider two side-by-side columns of air, one warm and one cold. If you rise 1,000 meters in cold air, you would rise above more air molecules than you would in warm air. Translated: pressure falls faster in colder air. Eventually, this change in pressure makes a big difference. At the high altitudes of the jet stream, pressure is much higher in warm air and the warmer, “denser” air pushes toward the cold “thinner” air. The result is wind. This wind is geostrophic at high elevations and parallels the isobars, thus whipping around the planet in the jet streams Jet stream and Pressure

  26. Polar Jet Stream affected by Rossby Waves Important for when we get into Cold and Warm Fronts, show movie

  27. Let’sreview this stuffagain!

  28. Modifications of General Circulation • Seasonal Variations in Latitude • Monsoons

  29. Seasonal variations in Latitude Show movie!

  30. The Asian Monsoon…

  31. Localized Wind Systems • Sea and Land Breezes

  32. Local Winds: Daytime Sea-Breeze and Night and Land-Breeze Conditions

  33. Things to Know: • Define and describe Air Pressure • World wind patterns, including Hadley Cells, Westerlies, Trade Winds, etc. (DIAGRAM) • Driving forces in the atmosphere including pressure gradient, coriolis, and friction • What a geostrophic wind is and where you find them? • Cyclones and Anticyclones • Jet Streams and Rossby Waves • Local winds: sea-breeze, land breeze • Seasonal circulation variations due to latitude and how this generates the Asian Monsoon Help – Chapter AC

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