| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Atmosphere | A blanket of gases that surrounds our planet to protect and support life in many ways. |
| Water Vapor | The gaseous form of water. |
| Ozone | A relatively scare type of oxygen molecule in which 3 oxygen atoms or bonded. (O3) |
| Stratosphere | The layer I immediately above the tropopause, stretches from the tropopause to an altitude of about 31 mi. |
| Mesosphere | The layer immediately above the stratopause, the begins to drop more altitude increases, extends 53 mi, least understood layer. |
| Thermosphere | Layer above the mesosphere extends from 53 mi to 300 mi. |
| Cosmic Rays | Extremely powerful radiation that comes from deep space. |
| Magnetic Field | The region in which the magnet effects other objects. |
| Van Allen Radiation Belt | Region where solar wind particles are trapped in a region that looks like a belt or doughnut that is encircling the earths equator. |
| Albedo | The decimal equivalent of solar radiation reflected by an object. |
| Energy Budget | Amount of energy available to heat earths land, water, and air. |
| Convection Current | Currents set into motion by moving currents of hot air or of other fluids. |
| Up Drafts and Down Drafts | Vertical movements of air. |
| Adiabatic Cooling | Occurs because molecules spread out, resulting with fewer collisions. |
| Adiabatic Heating | A gas being compressed the temperature of gas rises as the gas is compressed with no heat lost. |
| Hadley Cell | The convection cell that exists between the equator and latitude 30* |
| Ferrel Cell | High pressure warm air at latitude 30* and 60*it creates a low pressure region creating winds that come from latitude 30* and 60* |
| Polar Cell | When newly warmed air rises to flow back to the poles. |
| Cyclone | Circulating spiral around a low in northern hemisphere. (Rotates counter clockwise). |
| Anticyclone | A wind system around a high in northern hemisphere. (Rotates clockwise). |
| Doldrums | A belt where there are often calms or light breezes. |
| Trade Winds | The surface winds that blow from the high pressure regions of the horse latitudes towards the equator. |
| Polar Easterlies | The high pressure regions created by the constantly sinking air at the poles cause winds to blow away from the poles towards the lower latitudes. |
| Prevailing Westerlies | Blows towards the poles, they "outrun" the earths surface so that they come out of the southwest and northwest. |
| Rossby Waves | Upper troposphere waves. |
| Sea Breeze | Cooler air from over the water blows inland. |
| Fall Wind | Occurs when dense, cold air flows from higher to lower elevations due to gravity's pull. |
| Chinook | Foehns on the east side of the Rocky Mountain. |
| Santa Ana | A very dry and dusty wind that blows in Southern California. |
| Nitrogen | The Most abundant gas in the homosphere. |
| Troposphere | The atmosphere's "weather layer". |
| 3 Types of UV Radiation | UVA, UVB, UVC |
| Mesopause | The atmosphere's coldest point. |
| Exosphere | The atmosphere's outermost layer. |
| PSI at Sea Level | 14.7 atmospheric pounds per square inch. |
| Water Vapor | Most important green house gas. |
| Winds | Horizontal movements of air. |
| Jet Streams | Strong, narrow winds in the upper tropopause. |
| Foehns | The general name for a dry wind that travels down a slope. |
| Why do mountains stay snow capped over the summer ? | Because as you go higher the weather gets colder preserving the snow. |
| Land Breeze | A gentle wind that blows from land to sea. |
| 4 Things That Effect Insolation | Cloudy Weather by as much as 85%, length of daytime, the angle of the suns rays, and earths distance from the sun. |
