Atmospheric Processes: Weather, Climate, and Heat
Chapter 11: Heating the Atmosphere
Chapter 12: Moisture, Clouds, and Precipitation
Weather: The state of the atmosphere at any given time.
Climate: A description of aggregate weather conditions; the sum of all statistical weather information that helps describe a place or region.
Rotation: The spinning of a body, such as Earth, about its axis.
Revolution: The spinning of a body about another, such as Earth and the Sun.
Radiation (electromagnetic radiation): The transfer of energy (heat) through space by electromagnetic waves.
Conduction: The transfer of heat through matter by molecular activity. Energy is transferred through collisions from one molecule to another.
Convection: The transfer of heat by the movement of mass or substance. It can take place only in fluids.
Latent Heat: The energy absorbed or released during a change in state.
Humidity: A general term referring to water vapor in the air.
Precipitation: For precipitation to work, millions of cloud droplets must join together into drops that are large enough to reach the ground.
Condensation: The change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Evaporation: The process of converting a liquid to a gas.
Adiabatic Temperature Change: Cooling or warming of air that occurs not because heat is added or subtracted.
Chapter 13: The Atmosphere in Motion
Wind: Air flowing horizontally with respect to the Earth’s surface.
Coriolis Effect: The deflective force of Earth’s rotation on all free-moving objects, including the atmosphere and oceans.
Composition of the Atmosphere
Air is a mixture of many discrete gases. If water vapor, dust, and other variable components of the atmosphere are removed, then the air is comprised mostly of nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is present only in small amounts but is important because it can absorb heat radiated by Earth and helps keep the atmosphere warm.
Structure of the Atmosphere
- Troposphere: The lowermost layer, where temperature decreases with increasing altitude.
- Stratosphere: Exhibits warming because of the absorption of ultraviolet (UV) radiation by ozone.
- Mesosphere: Temperatures decrease with height.
- Thermosphere: A layer with only a tiny fraction of the atmosphere’s mass and no well-defined upper limit.
Cause of Seasons
The Sun’s angle and the length of daylight change during the year. Rotation causes day and night; revolutions cause the seasons.
Global Warming
Caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.