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

1qr. Explain why atmospheric pressure always decreases with increasing altitude. Get solution

1qt. The gas law states that pressure is proportional to temperature times density. Use the gas law to explain why a basketball seems to deflate when placed in a refrigerator. Get solution

2qr. What might cause the air pressure to change at the bottom of an air column? Get solution

2qt. Can the station pressure ever exceed the sea-level pressure? Explain. Get solution

3qr. Why is the decrease of air pressure with increasing altitude more rapid when the air is cold? Get solution

3qt. Get solution

4qr. What is considered standard sea-level atmospheric pressure in millibars? In inches of mercury? In hectopascals? Get solution

4qt. The pressure gradient force causes air to move from higher pressures toward lower pressures (perpendicular to the isobars), yet actual winds rarely blow in this fashion. Explain why they don’t. Get solution

5qr. Get solution

5qt. The Coriolis force causes winds to deflect to the right of their intended path in the Northern Hemisphere, yet around a surface low-pressure area, winds blow counterclockwise, appearing to bend to their left. Explain why. Get solution

6qr. With the aid of a diagram, describe how a mercury barometer works. Get solution

6qt. Explain why, on a sunny day, an aneroid barometer would indicate “stormy” weather when carried to the top of a hill or mountain. Get solution

7qr. Get solution

7qt. Pilots often use the expression “high to low, look out below.” In terms of upper-level temperature and pressure, explain what this can mean. Get solution

8qr. How does sea-level pressure differ from station pressure? Can the two ever be the same? Explain. Get solution

8qt. Get solution

9qr. Why will Denver, Colorado, always have a lower station pressure than Chicago, Illinois? Get solution

9qt. If the earth were not rotating, how would the wind blow with respect to centers of high and low pressure? Get solution

10qr. What are isobars? In what increment are they usually drawn on a surface weather map? Get solution

10qt. Why are surface winds that blow over the ocean closer to being geostrophic than those that blow over the land? Get solution

11qr. On an upper-level map, is cold air aloft generally associated with low or high pressure? What about warm air aloft? Get solution

11qt. In the Northern Hemisphere, you observe surface winds shift from N to NE to E, then to SE. From this observation, you determine that a west-to-east moving high-pressure area (anticyclone) has passed north of your location. Describe with the aid of a diagram how you were able to come to this conclusion. Get solution

12qr. What do Newton’s first and second laws of motion tell us? Get solution

12qt. As a cruise ship crosses the equator, the entertainment director exclaims that water in a tub will drain in the opposite direction now that the ship is in the Southern Hemisphere. Give two reasons to the entertainment director why this assertion is not so. Get solution

13qr. What does a steep (or strong) pressure gradient mean? How would it appear on a surface map? Get solution

14qr. Get solution

15qr. What is the name of the force that initially sets the air in motion and, hence, causes the wind to blow? Get solution

16qr. Explain why, on a map, closely spaced isobars (or contours) indicate strong winds, and widely spaced isobars (or contours) indicate weak winds. Get solution

17qr. What does the Coriolis force do to moving air (a) in the Northern Hemisphere? (b) in the Southern Hemisphere? Get solution

18qr. Explain how each of the following influences the Coriolis force: (a) wind speed (b) latitude. Get solution

19qr. Why do upper-level winds in the middle latitudes of both hemispheres generally blow from west to east? Get solution

20qr. What is a geostrophic wind? On an upper-level chart, how does it blow? Get solution

21qr. What are the forces that affect the horizontal movement of air? Get solution

22qr. Describe how the wind blows around high-pressure areas and low-pressure areas aloft and near the surface (a) in the Northern Hemisphere; and (b) in the Southern Hemisphere. Get solution

23qr. If the clouds overhead are moving from north to south, would the upper-level center of low pressure be to the east or west of you? Get solution

24qr. On a surface map, why do surface winds tend to cross the isobars and flow from higher pressure toward lower pressure? Get solution

25qr. Since there is always an upward-directed pressure gradient force, why doesn’t air rush off into space? Get solution

26qr. List as many ways as you can of determining wind direction and wind speed. Get solution

27qr. Below is a list of instruments. Describe how each one is able to measure wind speed, wind direction, or both. (a) wind vane (b) cup anemometer (c) aerovane (skyvane) (d) radiosonde (e) satellite (f) wind profiler Get solution

28qr. An upper wind direction is reported as 225°. From what compass direction is the wind blowing? Get solution