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Review Chapters 5-7

Review Chapters 5-7. Prof. John Toohey-Morales, CCM St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, Florida. Clouds. Stability. It’s important because it determines the rate of vertical motion of air, which controls cloud formation

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Review Chapters 5-7

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  1. Review Chapters 5-7 Prof. John Toohey-Morales, CCM St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, Florida

  2. Clouds

  3. Stability • It’s important because it determines the rate of vertical motion of air, which controls cloud formation • Cold air aloft and warm air at the surface leads to an unstable environment, versus a stable air mass which has warm air aloft and cold air at the surface (see sounding) • Latent heat release keeps moist air from cooling as quickly as dry air when air parcels rise

  4. Cloud Formation (fig. 5.8)

  5. Cloud Physics • Commonly ice-crystals and supercooled water droplets coexist, but the ice-crystals will grow at the expense of the water droplets • Thick clouds with strong updrafts can sustain the weight of more larger drops, leading to bigger raindrops • Hail can only come from Cumulonimbus clouds

  6. Air Pressure and Winds • Warm air aloft is normally associated to HIGH pressure, while cold air aloft is normally associated to LOW pressure • Pressure decreases faster with height in a column of cold air versus a column of warm air • A barometer measures pressure, which is usually around 1000 millibars or 30 inches of mercury at the surface

  7. Air Pressure and Winds • Pressure Gradient Force (PGF) is determined by the amount of pressure change over a given distance • The PGF is directed from higher to lower pressure at right angles to the isobars • PGF starts the air moving horizontally

  8. Coriolis Force • An apparent force due to the rotation of Earth • All free moving objects seem to deflect from a straight line because Earth rotates under them

  9. Coriolis Force (continued) • The stronger the wind, the greater the deflection produced • Coriolis acts only at right angles to the wind, deflecting to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere • It affects wind direction but not its speed • Coriolis is ZERO at the Equator

  10. Geostrophic Wind • When Coriolis balances the PGF, the wind blows in a straight path parallel to the isobars • Low pressure is always to the left and high pressure to the right

  11. Gradient vs. Surface Winds • Gradient wind blows parallel to curved contours above the level of frictional influence aloft • Due to friction surface winds do NOT blow parallel to the isobars, but across at a 30° angle into low pressure and out of high pressure

  12. Sea Breeze • Occurs during the day when the land heats up more than the water, causing the wind to blow onshore and clouds to form over land

  13. Monsoon • Occurs in summer when wind blows from sea to land producing copious amounts of rain

  14. Prevailing Winds

  15. Semi Permanent Highs Near US

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