ATMO Final Exam REVISED ACTUAL
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Convective (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 10 kilometers, hours
Example: Cumulonimbus, Tornado
Mesoscale (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 100 kilometers, hours
- days
Example: Sea breeze, large storm
Synoptic (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 1000 kilometers, days -
weeks
Example: a cold/warm front, monsoon
Global (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 10,000 kilometers, weeks
- months
Example: Hadley Cell and Walker Circulation
Thermally Direct Circulation - CORRECT ANSWER - upward motion forced by a warm
surface
Sea Breeze - CORRECT ANSWER - when land warms relative to sea surface during the
day, produces coastal wind from sea to land
Indian Monsoon (Synoptic) - CORRECT ANSWER - Season oscillation between high and
low pressure over the Indian subcontinent that causes a seasonal shift in wind
, Thermally direct
Single-Cell Model (Global) - CORRECT ANSWER - Air rises over the equator, sinks over
poles - the surface is northerly to return air to the equator
Thermally direct
Very idealized and requires surface easterlies everywhere
Three-Cell Model - CORRECT ANSWER - Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, Polar cell
Hadley Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - Upwards motion over the equator (in a region of
equatorial lows that are associated with lots of storminess
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
Doldrums are weak winds in the equatorial low religion, and tradewinds are strong winds
converging into the ITCZ
Ferrel Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - Thermally indirect circulation with rising air over
mid-latitudes and sinking air over (warmer) subtropics
Weaker circulation between Hadley and Polar Cells, acts like "ball bearing"
Gives us surface westerlies over most of US
Polar Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - the Hadley Cell, but further North, with low pressure
and strominess in the mid-latitudes (60 N) and sinking air and dry weather (lack of storms) over
high pressure at poles
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Convective (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 10 kilometers, hours
Example: Cumulonimbus, Tornado
Mesoscale (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 100 kilometers, hours
- days
Example: Sea breeze, large storm
Synoptic (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 1000 kilometers, days -
weeks
Example: a cold/warm front, monsoon
Global (Atmospheric Scale of Motion) - CORRECT ANSWER - 10,000 kilometers, weeks
- months
Example: Hadley Cell and Walker Circulation
Thermally Direct Circulation - CORRECT ANSWER - upward motion forced by a warm
surface
Sea Breeze - CORRECT ANSWER - when land warms relative to sea surface during the
day, produces coastal wind from sea to land
Indian Monsoon (Synoptic) - CORRECT ANSWER - Season oscillation between high and
low pressure over the Indian subcontinent that causes a seasonal shift in wind
, Thermally direct
Single-Cell Model (Global) - CORRECT ANSWER - Air rises over the equator, sinks over
poles - the surface is northerly to return air to the equator
Thermally direct
Very idealized and requires surface easterlies everywhere
Three-Cell Model - CORRECT ANSWER - Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, Polar cell
Hadley Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - Upwards motion over the equator (in a region of
equatorial lows that are associated with lots of storminess
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
Doldrums are weak winds in the equatorial low religion, and tradewinds are strong winds
converging into the ITCZ
Ferrel Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - Thermally indirect circulation with rising air over
mid-latitudes and sinking air over (warmer) subtropics
Weaker circulation between Hadley and Polar Cells, acts like "ball bearing"
Gives us surface westerlies over most of US
Polar Cell - CORRECT ANSWER - the Hadley Cell, but further North, with low pressure
and strominess in the mid-latitudes (60 N) and sinking air and dry weather (lack of storms) over
high pressure at poles
