Exam 8: Air Pressure and Winds

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

Warming and cooling of air creates density oscillations known as ____________________ that show up as small pressure changes near Earth's surface.

In the tropics, daily (diurnal)fluctuations of pressure appear to be due primarily to the absorption of solar energy by ozone in the upper atmosphere and by water vapor in the lower atmosphere.

List the information that can be derived from studying the direction and spacing of contour lines and isobars.

In an aneroid barometer, a general rule is that the higher the reading, the more likely ____ weather will occur, and the lower the reading, the better the chances are for ____ weather.

Newton's second law states that the force exerted on an object equals its ____________________ times the ____________________.

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 ____.

Because lows are also known as cyclones, the flow of air around them is often called ____________________.

On an upper-level chart, normally we find warm air associated with ____________________ pressure, and cold air associated with ____________________ pressure.

Isobaric surfaces are higher in ____ air and lower in ____ air.

On a 500 mb chart, ____ are drawn to represent horizontal changes in altitude which correspond to horizontal changes in pressure.

To correctly monitor horizontal changes in air pressure, the most important correction for a mercury barometer is the correction for ____.

Because of friction, surface winds move ____ winds aloft with the same pressure gradient.

The force that would cause a stationary parcel of air to begin to move horizontally is called the ____.

A station at an altitude of 900 m (about 3,000 feet)above sea level measures an air pressure of 930 mb. Under normal conditions, which of the values below do you think would be the most realistic sea level pressure for this station?

Explain why obtaining the correct air pressure of a mercury barometer is not simple.

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.

We can generally expect the air to be ____________________ above areas of surface low pressure and ____________________ above areas of surface high pressure.

A surface low pressure center is generally associated with ____ on an upper level isobaric chart.

If Earth were not rotating, how would the path of a satellite traveling from north to south around Earth be observed from the surface?