WX 201 Exam 2 Latest Update Graded A+

WX 201 Exam 2 Latest Update Graded A+ Attenuation radar signal is wearied when observing strong echoes (heavy precipitation) Buoyancy -Less dense than surrounding fluid = positively buoyant = accelerated upward -More dense than surrounding fluid = negatively buoyant = accelerates downward -warmer parcel rices and colder parcels sink Cloud condensation nuclei Aerosols- sea salt, dust, carbon particles Cloud Nomenclature Nimbus = rain Cumulus = heaped Status = layered Alto = middle Cirrus = high Cloud types 1. Cumuliform: bumpy, heaped clouds, unstable air 2. Stratiform: layered clouds Constant altitude charts All locations at the same altitude above ground level (for surface analysis, pressures are typically adjusted to MSL) Constant pressure charts all locations on the chart have the same pressure; contour lines of equal height of the atmospheric column to that pressure level; typically used for elevated levels of the atmosphere such as 700 and 500 mb Convergence / Divergence -Convergence occurs when there is more inflow to than outflow from a region (arrows pointing inward toward each other) -Divergence occurs when there is more outflow from than inflow to a region (arrows away from each other) -Sinking motion develops when there is convergence aloft with divergence at the surface -Rising motion develops when there is divergence aloft with surface convergence Analysis Chart Depict actual data obtained at a given observation time Destabilization Processes - Increase ELR -Low level heating and upper level cooling - cold air advection aloft or warm advection at low levels -lifting -turbulent mixing Doppler radar capable of measuring the radial motion of the particles -uses phase shift of the radar pulse -indicates speed of precipitation particles toward or away from the radar antenna Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) Unsaturated