Exam 8: Air Pressure and Winds

The surface pressures at the bases of warm and cold columns of air are equal. Air pressure in the warm column of air will ____ with increasing height ____ in the cold column.​

​Surface pressure is unaffected by the relationship between upper-level divergence and surface convergence.

​Surface winds that blow over the ocean are closer to being geostrophic than those that blow over land.

If two air parcels at sea level have the same size but different temperatures, the colder parcel of air will have​

Suppose a parcel of air has a given temperature, pressure, and density. If the parcel's size remains the same while its temperature increases, then the air pressure inside the parcel will​

Explain why strong upper-level divergence will cause the pressure in the center of a surface low to decrease.

"Barometer" literally means an instrument that measures ____________________.​

On a sunny day, an aneroid barometer would indicate "____" weather when carried to the top of a hill or mountain.​

Surface winds blow across isobars at an angle and the pressure gradient force is balanced by the ____ force and the Coriolis force.​

​On an isobaric weather chart, the spacing of the height contours indicates the magnitude of the pressure gradient force.

If Earth did not rotate, the wind would blow directly from regions of ____________________ pressure toward regions of ____________________ pressure.

The amount of pressure change that occurs over a given horizontal distance is called the​

If upper-level divergence exceeds surface convergence, the air pressure at the center of the surface low will​

​It takes a larger column of cold, more-dense air to exert the same surface pressure as a taller column of warm, less-dense air.

On an upper-level 500-mb map the winds tend to parallel the contour lines in a wavy west-to-east direction, and the contour lines tend to decrease in height from south to north. Explain.

A rapid change in pressure over a relatively short distance is called a ____ pressure gradient.​

How does an aneroid barometer differ from a mercury barometer?

There is always a strong pressure gradient force directed _________.​

The friction layer usually extends upward to an altitude near ____ above the surface.​

The magnitude of the Coriolis force varies with ____ and ____.​