Chapter #5 Solutions - Essentials of Meteorology - C Donald Ahrens - 6th Edition

1qr. What is an adiabatic process? Get solution

1qt. Suppose a mountain climber is scaling the outside of a tall skyscraper. Two thermometers (shielded from the sun) hang from the climber’s belt. One thermometer hangs freely, while the other is enclosed in a partially inflated balloon. As the climber scales the building, describe the change in temperature measured by each thermometer. Get solution

2qr. How would one normally obtain the environmental lapse rate? Get solution

2qt. Where would you expect the moist adiabatic rate to be greater: in the tropics or near the North Pole? Explain why. Get solution

3qr. Why are the moist and dry adiabatic rates of cooling different? Get solution

3qt. What changes in weather conditions near the earth’s surface are needed to transform an absolutely stable atmosphere into an absolutely unstable atmosphere? Get solution

4qr. How can the atmosphere be made more stable? More unstable? Get solution

4qt. In the middle latitudes, under what circumstances can a rain shadow be formed on the western side of a mountain range? Get solution

5qr. If the atmosphere is conditionally unstable, what does this mean? What condition is necessary to bring on instability? Get solution

5qt. A major snowstorm occurred in northern New Jersey. Three volunteer weather observers measured the snowfall. Observer #1 measured the depth of newly fallen snow every hour. At the end of the storm, Observer #1 added up the measurements and came up with a total of 12 inches of new snow. Observer #2 measured the depth of new snow twice: once in the middle of the storm and once at the end, and came up with a total snowfall of 10 inches. Observer #3 measured the new snowfall only once, after the storm had stopped, and reported 8.4 inches. Which of the three observers do you feel has the correct snowfall total? List at least five possible reasons why the snowfall totals were different. Get solution

6qr. Explain why an inversion represents an extremely stable atmosphere. Get solution

6qt. Why is a warm, tropical cumulus cloud more likely to produce precipitation than a cold, stratus cloud? Get solution

7qr. What type of clouds would you most likely expect to see in a stable atmosphere? In a conditionally unstable atmosphere? Get solution

7qt. Suppose a thick nimbostratus cloud contains ice crystals and super cooled cloud droplets all about the same size. Which precipitation process will be most important in producing rain from this cloud? Why? Get solution

8qr. Why are cumulus clouds more frequently observed during the afternoon? Get solution

8qt. Clouds that form over water are usually more efficient in producing precipitation than clouds that form over land. Why do you think this is so? Get solution

9qr. There are usually large spaces of blue sky between cumulus clouds. Explain why this is so. Get solution

9qt. Everyday in summer a blizzard occurs over the Great Plains. Explain where and why. Get solution

10qr. Why do most thunderstorms have flat tops? Get solution

10qt. It is –12°C (10°F) in Albany, New York, and freezing rain is falling. Can you explain why? Draw a vertical profile of the air temperature (a sounding) that illustrates why freezing rain is occurring at the surface. Get solution

11qr. List four primary ways in which clouds form. Get solution

11qt. When falling snowflakes become mixed with sleet, why is this condition often followed by the snowflakes changing into rain? Get solution

12qr. Explain why rain shadows form on the downwind (leeward) side of mountains. Get solution

12qt. Why are ice storms not associated with cumuliform clouds, such as cumulus congestus and cumulonimbus? Get solution

13qr. On which side of a mountain (windward or leeward) would lenticular clouds most likely form? Get solution

14qr. What is the primary difference between a cloud droplet and a raindrop? Get solution

15qr. Why do typical cloud droplets seldom reach the ground as rain? Get solution

16qr. Describe how the process of collision and coalescence produces rain. Get solution

17qr. How does the ice-crystal (Bergeron) process produce precipitation? What is the main premise behind this process? Get solution

18qr. Explain the main principle behind cloud seeding. Get solution

19qr. Explain how clouds can be seeded naturally. Get solution

20qr. How does rain differ from drizzle? Get solution

21qr. Why do heavy showers usually fall from cumuliform clouds? Why does steady precipitation normally fall from stratiform clouds? Get solution

22qr. Why is it never too cold to snow? Get solution

23qr. How would you be able to distinguish between virga and fallstreaks? Get solution

24qr. What is the difference between freezing rain and sleet? Get solution

25qr. How do the atmospheric conditions that produce sleet differ from those that produce hail? Get solution

26qr. Describe how a standard rain gauge measures precipitation. Get solution

27qr. (a) What is Doppler radar? (b) How does Doppler radar measure the intensity of precipitation? Get solution