1. Unit 4 Vocabulary The Atmosphere

2. 1. Storm surge – abnormal rise of the sea along a shore as a result of strong winds 2. local winds – winds causes by either topographic effects or by variations in surface composition (land and water) in the immediate area

3. 3. cyclones – low-pressure center characterized by a counterclockwise flow of air in the Northern Hemisphere 4. wind – movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure

4. 5. Coriolis Effect – apparent deflective force of Earth’s rotation on all free-moving objects, including the atmosphere and oceans; to the right in the Northern Hemisphere 6. dew point – temperature to which air has to be cooled in order to reach saturation

5. 7. front – the boundary between two adjoining air masses having contrasting characteristics 8. heat – thermal energy transferred from one object to another 9. monsoons – seasonal reversal of wind direction associated with large continents, especially Asia; winter = wind from land to sea, summer = wind from sea to land

6. 10. rotation – spinning of a body, such as Earth, about its axis (day) 11. revolution – the motion of one body about another, such as the Earth moving in its orbit about the Sun (year) 12. latent heat – energy absorbed or released during a change in state

7. 13. temperature – measure of the average kinetic energy of individual atoms or molecules in a substance 14. weather – the state of the atmosphere at any given time and place

8. 15. absorption – interception of radiant energy by objects, such as Earth’s atmosphere 16. anticyclones – high-pressure center characterized by a clockwise flow of air in the Northern Hemisphere

9. 17. climate – observations of weather collected over many years that help describe a place or region 18. orographic lifting – pushing up of air by elevated terrain (such as mountains)

10. 19. relative humidity – ratio of the actual amount of water vapor in a parcel of air compared to the amount of water vapor it can actually hold 20. troposphere – from Earth’s surface up to about 12km; temperature decreases as you go higher; layer where most weather events occur

11. 21. stratosphere – about 12km to 50km above Earth’s surface; temperature increases as you go higher (due to ozone layer); ozone layer is found here 22. mesosphere – about 50km to 85km above Earth’s surface; temperature decreases as you go higher

12. 23. thermosphere – about 85km to 100km above Earth’s surface; temperature increases as you go higher (due to solar radiation) 24. exosphere – most outer layer of Earth’s atmosphere; mixed layer between Earth’s atmosphere and space