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Water and Wind. Chapter 22.2. http:// planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/blue-august-acid-in-the-water.html. Objectives. By the end of this section you will be able to… Discuss what happens to water in the troposphere What is air pressure and what is it also known as Explain what causes wind.
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Water and Wind Chapter 22.2 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/blue-august-acid-in-the-water.html
Objectives By the end of this section you will be able to… Discuss what happens to water in the troposphere What is air pressure and what is it also known as Explain what causes wind
Key Terms Water cycle, transpiration, precipitation, humidity, dew point, Coriolis effect
Water is continually being moved throughout the troposphere The water cycle outlines this movement See page 781 in your book
The sun’s energy strikes the oceans (or any body of water for that matter) allowing them to escape into the air This process is known as evaporation
http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module01/Transpiration.htm Evaporated water condenses to form precipitation During transpiration plants lose moisture through their porous leaves These amounts can be immense a 1Km2 cornfield can transpire 900,000 gallons of water per day
The water in the atmosphere rises until it will cool enough to condense into droplets of liquid water (clouds) As clouds cool and condense they can sometimes release moisture in the form of precipitation
The Fates of Precipitation It remains on the ground until it evaporates again It will flow into a larger body (Stream, sewer, lake, ocean etc.) It will be absorbed and become groundwater It can contribute to a snow/ice pack
Air contains different amounts of water vapor As temperatures drop the ability for air to hold water diminishes (air is drier) At higher temperatures more water can be held by air (air is moist) Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air
Relative humidity is a ratio, or a comparison between the amount of water the air can hold and the amount it is currently holding This is usually given as a percentage
A hygrometer measures relative humidity Water vapor becomes liquid at its dew point This is the point at which the rate of condensation equals the rate of evaporation
So why do drops of water form on a cool glass of lemonade during a warm summer day?
Clouds are made up of small water droplets or at higher altitudes, ice crystals Where clouds form can determine their shape and characteristics The root words cirrus, stratus, and cumulus are applied to cloud types in order to describe them
Cirrus clouds are thin and wispy and occur at high altitudes Stratus clouds are layered and look like blankets Cumulous clouds are white and fluffy and usually have flat bottoms See page 783 http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/g-word-cloud-study.html
Cloud names can be combined or have a prefix or suffix added to them The prefix nimbo- or the suffix –nimbus implies that particular cloud will produce precipitation
Mercury barometers indicate air pressure by using a column of mercury (Hg) This is why atmospheric pressure is sometimes referred to as mm of mercury Average barometric pressure is around 760 mm of Hg Pressure can also be measured by the unit atmosphere. 1atm = 760 mm Hg The pascal (Pa) or torr is also used
Aneroid barometers do not contain liquid These types of barometers contain a vacuum chamber which will move a lever on a spindle Why is one better than the other?
What causes wind? Pressure gradients (or differences) are what causes air to move Much like the window in your car Or more dramatically the window of an airplane What causes pressure gradients on Earth? The Sun! ….see demo
Wind always moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure You can see these on weather maps Isobars are areas of pressure that are the same. Each line represents an area of consistent pressure See weather map
Directions of wind are also affected by the Earth’s rotation The Coriolis effect is the curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight path, because of the Earth’s rotation http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/gifs/coriolis.mov
So why does the Coriolis effect occur? Its physics! Depending where you are located on the Earth will dictate the speed you are traveling (even if you’re standing still) Someone standing on the equator has to travel faster than someone standing on the north pole (demo?)
The Coriolis effect and isobars can allow us to make predictions on wind and weather patterns These regions are known as wind belts Each hemisphere (N&S) have 3 These paths are so predictable we can use them to travel