Chapter 17
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What is a calorie?
The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1°C.
Define latent heat.
The energy absorbed or released during a change in state.
What is evaporation?
The process of converting a liquid to a gas.
What is condensation?
The change of state from a gas to a liquid.
Define sublimation.
The conversion of a solid directly to a gas without passing through the liquid state.
What is deposition?
The process by which water vapor is changed directly to a solid without passing through the liquid state.
What does humidity refer to?
A general term referring to water vapor in the air but not to liquid droplets of fog, cloud, or rain.
What is saturation in meteorology?
The maximum quantity of water vapor that the air can hold at any given temperature and pressure.
Define vapor pressure.
The part of the total atmospheric pressure attributable to water-vapor content.
What is the mixing ratio?
The mass of water vapor in a unit mass of dry air, commonly expressed as grams of water vapor per kilogram of dry air.
What is relative humidity?
The ratio of the air’s water-vapor content to its water-vapor capacity.
Define dew-point temperature.
The temperature to which air has to be cooled in order to reach saturation.
What is a hygrometer?
An instrument designed to measure relative humidity.
What is a psychrometer?
A device consisting of two thermometers (wet bulb and dry bulb) that is rapidly whirled to yield the relative humidity and dew point.
Define adiabatic temperature changes.
Cooling or warming of air caused when air is allowed to expand or is compressed, not because heat is added or subtracted.
What is a parcel in meteorology?
An imaginary volume of air enclosed in a thin elastic cover.
What is the dry adiabatic rate?
The rate of adiabatic cooling or warming in unsaturated air, at 1°C per 100 meters.
What is the lifting condensation level?
The height at which rising air that is cooling at the dry adiabatic rate becomes saturated and condensation begins.
Define sensible heat.
The heat we can feel and measure with a thermometer.
What is the wet adiabatic rate?
The rate of adiabatic temperature change in saturated air, always less than the dry adiabatic rate.
Define orographic lifting.
Mountains acting as barriers to the flow of air, forcing the air to ascend.
What is a rainshadow desert?
A dry area on the lee side of a mountain range.
What are fronts in meteorology?
The boundary between two adjoining air masses having contrasting characteristics.
Define frontal lifting.
Lifting of air that results when cool air acts as a barrier over which warmer, lighter air arises.