Weather and Climate Definitions

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  • Created by: zelahl32
  • Created on: 18-01-17 14:50
The heating of a gas as a result of pressure and volume changes alone.
Adiabatic heating
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The cooling of a gas as a result of pressure and volume changes alone.
Adiabatic cooling
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An extensive body of air in which there is only gradual horizontal change in temperature and humidity at a given height.
Air mass
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The reflectivity of a surface.
Albedo
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Effects that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in biophysical environments without human influence.
Anthropogenic
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An area of high atmospheric pressure and they tend to have a very low pressure gradient and light, variable winds.
Anticyclone
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The mixture of gases surrounding the Earth.
Atmosphere
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The force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface.
Atmospheric pressure
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A natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compounds for an indefinite period.
Carbon sink
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Occurs when there are 'urban canyons' which concentrate all airflow in one direction.
Channelling
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The average annual pattern of weather experienced by a place. It is based on records from the last 30 years and describes the seasonal pattern of temperatures and precipitation.
Climate
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A boundary between warm and cold air where cold air is advancing on warm air, undercutting it and causing the warm air to rise. Associated with rainfall.
Cold front
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Rainfall resulting from the uplift and subsequent cooling of air that has been heated by contact with a warm land surface.
Convectional rainfall
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The effect of the Earth's rotation on air flow.
Coriolis effect
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The use of annual growth rings of trees to infer past climatic conditions. Counting the rings can also give us a date.
Dendrochronology
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An area of low atmospheric pressure with a roughly circular pattern of isobars that occurs in temperature latitudes.
Depression
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The atmosphere convection cell between the subtropical high pressure zone and the temperate low pressure zone.
Ferrel cell
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A model constructed to explain overall patterns rather than localised variations e.g. the tri-cellular model.
Geographical model
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A term used to describe the recent, rapid rise in global temperatures.
Global warming
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An atmospheric gas that acts as a filter, allowing incoming shortwave ultraviolet and light radiation through the atmosphere but stopping long wave infrared radiation from leaving e.g. carbon dioxide.
Greenhouse gas
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The atmospheric convection cell between the equatorial low pressure zone and the subtropical high pressure zone.
Hadley cell
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The balance between the incoming insolation and outgoing radiation from the Earth.
Heat budget
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A measure of solar radiation energy received on a given surface area in a given time.
Insolation
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The low pressure equatorial region where there is rising air. It is located where the north-east trade winds converge with the south-east trade winds.
Inter tropical convergence zone
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A narrow belt of fast moving air near the top of the tropopause.
Jet stream
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The rate at which temperature decreases with height.
Lapse rate
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The amount of energy released or absorbed by a substance during a change of physical state that occurs without changing its temperature.
Latent heat
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The angular distance of a place north or south of the Equator.
Latitude
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The influence exerted by seas and oceans. It tends to have a moderating effect on climate.
Maritime
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The northwest extension of the Gulf Stream. It brings slow-moving warm water to north-west European shores.
North Atlantic Drift
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Rainfall resulting from the uplift and subsequent cooling of air over high ground.
Orographic rainfall
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A term used to describe particles of 10 micrometres or less that are the result of human activity, particularly industrial processes and vehicle exhausts. They can include cement dust, tobacco smoke, ash and coal dust.
Particulate pollution
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A form of air pollution caused by a photochemical radiation between the exhaust gases of cars and sunshine.
Photochemical smog
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The atmospheric convection cell between the polar high pressure zone and the temperate low pressure zone.
Polar cell
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The most common wind direction for a location.
Prevailing wind
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A series of waves that occur in the upper westerly winds which blow in the higher parts of the atmosphere. They occur in both hemispheres.
Rossby waves
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The area between the Sahara desert in the north and the savanna in the south. It stretches across the north of the African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.
Sahel
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The name given to a climate which can be found in tropical sub Saharan Africa, the Brazilian Plateau and northern Australia.
Savanna
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The area of high pressure found between 25 and 35 degrees north and south of the Equator.
Subtropical high pressure
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This describes temperatures or climates with few extremes, It can also describe the latitudes between the tropics and the polar cells.
Temperate
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A reference to the pattern of prevailing easterly surface winds found in the tropics.
Trade winds
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A model that explains some of the main aspects of atmospheric circulation. It divides each hemisphere into three large convection cells.
Tri-cellular model
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A generic term that refers to intense low pressure weather systems that originate over warm tropical oceans and migrate westward and poleward. They have a variety of names e.g. hurricanes, typhoons.
Tropical revolving storm
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The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere.
Tropopause
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The lowest layer of the atmosphere. It varies in thickness between 8km and 12km. It contains 75% of the atmospheric gases.
Troposphere
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The zone around and above an urban area which has higher temperatures than the surrounding rural area.
Urban heat island
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The squeezing of moving air through a narrow gap (between buildings) that increases the velocity of the winds.
Venturi effect
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A boundary between warm and cold air where warm air is advancing on cold air. The less dense warm air rises over the denser cold air. Fronts are associated with rainfall.
Warm front
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The hour-by-hour state of the atmosphere in any one place.
Weather
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

The cooling of a gas as a result of pressure and volume changes alone.

Back

Adiabatic cooling

Card 3

Front

An extensive body of air in which there is only gradual horizontal change in temperature and humidity at a given height.

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

The reflectivity of a surface.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Effects that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in biophysical environments without human influence.

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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