Meteorological Observations and Analysis
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Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the methods and techniques used in acquiring, interpreting, and analyzing meteorological data. Students will learn about the principles of atmospheric measurement, including temperature, humidity, wind, pressure, and precipitation, as well as the operation and calibration of conventional and automated weather instruments. Emphasis is placed on the collection of reliable observational data, understanding the sources and limitations of measurement errors, and utilizing modern data transmission and visualization platforms. The course further covers the analysis and interpretation of weather patterns using data sets, synoptic charts, and observational networks to assess atmospheric phenomena and support forecasts, research, and decision-making processes in meteorology.
Recommended Textbook
Atmosphere An Introduction to Meteorology 12th Edition by Frederick K. Lutgens
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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The earth's physical environment is traditionally divided into three major parts,one solid,one liquid,and one gaseous.List these three parts.
Answer: lithosphere(solid)-hydrosphere(liquid)-atmosphere(gaseous)
Q2) In meteorological terminology,the acronym TRMM refers to:
A)the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite.
B)Tropospheric Radiation and Meteorological Measurement.
C)the international scientific panel on Technology,Research,and Methods in Meteorology.
D)the Typical Receipt of Mesospheric Meteors.
Answer: A
Q3) List four of the basic elements of weather and climate.
Answer: temperature-humidity-clouds-precipitation-air pressure-wind speed-wind direction
Q4) Ozone is concentrated in the A)mesosphere.
B)troposphere.
C)thermosphere.
D)stratosphere.
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Heating Earths Surface and Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) New York City has its greatest length of daylight on:
A)March 21.
B)September 22.
C)June 21.
D)December 21.
Answer: C
Q2) The intensity of the Sun's rays at a place is determined by the time of year and the ________ of the place.
Answer: latitude
Q3) Heat:
A)is a measure of the average kinetic energy possessed by molecules.
B)is synonymous with temperature.
C)is a transfer of energy from areas with high temperatures to those with low temperatures.
D)measures the total kinetic energy in a substance.
Answer: C
Q4) Snow-covered surfaces have a low albedo.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Temperature
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Sample Questions
Q1) Miami,FL averages less than 500 annual heating-degree days.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The daily mean temperature in a particular place is 83.How many cooling-degree days were accumulated?
A)83 cooling degree days
B)18 cooling degree days
C)74 cooling degree days
D)148 cooling degree days
Answer: B
Q3) The ________ is often used in making a thermograph.
A)maximum thermometer
B)thermistor
C)minimum thermometer
D)bimetal strip
E)wet bulb thermometer
Answer: D
Q4) What season (winter or summer)is the Northern Hemisphere experiencing?
Answer: winter
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Chapter 4: Moisture and Atmospheric Stability
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the diagram shown above,the parcel would have a temperature of ________ when it reached the base on the leeward side of the mountain.
A)15°C
B)20°C
C)25°C
D)35°C
Q2) Refer to the diagram of a simple parcel above.What is the mixing ratio of this parcel?
A)10 g/m³
B)2 g/m³
C)0)2 g/kg
D)5 g/kg
Q3) An air parcel rises over a mountain and cools adiabatically.Which lifting mechanism has acted on this parcel?
A)orographic lifting
B)convective lifting
C)convergence
D)frontal wedging
Q4) What is the most frequent cause of the air becoming saturated?
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6
Chapter 5: Forms of Condensation and Precipitation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Contrails can last long periods of time if they form in air that is near saturation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Tornadoes are only associated with cumulonimbus clouds.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ________ cloud may have an "anvil head."
A)cumulonimbus
B)altostratus
C)cirrus
D)nimbostratus
E)cirrostratus
Q4) The cloud droplets in a cloud are formed by water vapor molecules and:
A)protons.
B)ions.
C)molecules of air.
D)condensation nuclei.
E)other water vapor molecules.
Q5) List the two different precipitation measurements that are applied to snowfall.
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Chapter 6: Air Pressure and Winds
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Sample Questions
Q1) If air pressure is reduced by one-half for every five-kilometer increase in altitude,what would be the air pressure at a height of 25 kilometers as a fraction of sea-level air pressure?
A)1/32
B)1/8
C)1/64
D)1/4
E)1/16
Q2) Friction at the surface results in a stronger Coriolis force.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the northern hemisphere,cyclonic winds flow:
A)inward and counterclockwise.
B)inward and clockwise.
C)outward and clockwise.
D)outward and counterclockwise.
Q4) If pressure gradient was the only force acting on the air,it would move in a curved path.
A)True
B)False
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Circulation of the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The C in ITCZ stands for convergence.What does the convergence refer to?
A)surface winds along the equator
B)winds aloft near the poles
C)surface winds in the mid latitudes
D)surface winds in a monsoon
Q2) El Niño has no measurable impacts on weather in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Chinook and foehn winds are warm because:
A)they are warmed adiabatically as they sink downslope.
B)they blow out of areas experiencing intense solar heating.
C)they occur primarily in deserts.
D)they only occur in the tropics.
Q4) Planetary scale flow such as trade-winds are best classified as:
A)microscale.
B)mesoscale.
C)synoptic.
D)macroscale.
Q5) The southeast and northeast trades converge at the ________.
Q6) Name the four major pressure zones that occur in each hemisphere.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Air Masses
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Sample Questions
Q1) An air mass moves out of its source region.Two days later,the lower layers of the air mass are found to be warmer than they were originally.What letter should be added to the end of the air mass's classification code?
A)k
B)w
C)m
D)c
Q2) All of the following accompany a classic New England nor'easter EXCEPT:
A)heavy snowfall
B)a strong storm forming in Canada and moving into New England from the North C)widespread power outages and transportation interruptions
D)mP air pulled in from the Atlantic Ocean
Q3) The place where an air mass originates is known as the ________.
Q4) Air-mass source regions are least likely to exist in:
A)subtropical regions.
B)middle-latitude regions.
C)equatorial regions.
D)polar regions.
Q5) Name three processes by which an air mass can be modified.
Q6) Why are the boundary zones of air masses of special concern?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Weather Patterns
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Sample Questions
Q1) Typically,upper-level air flow is slower over anticyclones than over cyclones.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The approximate lifetime of a wave cyclone is:
A)a month.
B)10 - 24 hours.
C)1 - 2 days.
D)10 - 14 days.
E)a few days to a week.
Q3) The process best illustrated in the diagram of a front above is:
A)convection.
B)convergence.
C)overrunning.
D)occlusion.
Q4) When surface cyclones form,they almost invariably occur just ahead of an upper air ridge.
A)True
B)False
Q5) An "invading" cP air mass
Q6) Pressure falls when front approaches
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of lightning is least likely?
A)within the same cloud
B)cloud-to-Earth
C)cloud-to-cloud
Q2) Which of the following is likely during the mature stage of a thunderstorm?
A)lightning
B)light winds
C)light precipitation
D)no precipitation
Q3) "Heat lightning":
A)is actually a display of the northern lights.
B)is also called "ball lightning."
C)is brighter than ordinary lightning.
D)occurs more than 20 kilometers from the person observing it.
Q4) If a severe thunderstorm produces large hail,it will not produce a tornado.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The anvil top of a thunderstorm often marks the beginning of the stratosphere.
A)True
B)False
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hurricanes can form over tropical land masses as well as over tropical oceans.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One of the most important factors for a hurricane's rapid demise is the cut off of the storm's source of warm moist air.
A)True
B)False
Q3) As a hurricane advances toward the coast in the Northern Hemisphere,storm surge is always most intense on the left side of the eye where winds are blowing away from the shore.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The most important tool for detecting and monitoring hurricanes is: A)radar.
B)data buoys.
C)submarine reconnaissance.
D)aircraft reconnaissance.
E)satellites.
Q5) List three tools used to study and observe hurricanes.
Q6) Name two retired names of hurricanes.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Weather Analysis and Forecasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) The polar jet stream migrates southward in winter and northward in summer.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Nowcasting is heavily dependent on weather radar and geostationary satellites.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following upper air maps is most useful for observing the details of the polar jet stream?
A)1000-mb map
B)850-mb map
C)500-mb map
D)300-mb map
Q4) Upper-air maps are commonly drawn for all the following pressures,except:
A)500 millibars.
B)700 millibars.
C)200 millibars.
D)850 millibars.
E)1000 millibars.
Q5) What type of image allows meteorologists to distinguish between thick cold clouds and thin warm clouds?
14
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Chapter 13: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ pollutant levels cause gradual deterioration of a variety of physiological functions over a span of years.
A)Chronic
B)Major
C)Critical
D)Acute
Q2) These six pollutants are known as the criteria pollutants and are covered by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
A)particulates,sulfur dioxide,carbon monoxide,nitrogen oxide,lead,and ozone
B)particulates,sulfur dioxide,nitrogen oxide,lead,VOC's and smog
C)particulates,sulfur dioxide,carbon monoxide,nitrogen oxides,lead,and VOC's
Q3) Smoke released from a stack into a very stable air mass would tend to:
A)mix both upward and downward.
B)diffuse rapidly in all directions.
C)go almost straight up.
D)spread out horizontally but not mix up or down.
E)mix rapidly downward.
Q4) A substance with a pH of 4 is more acidic than a substance with a pH of 3.
A)True
B)False
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Changing Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which one of the following statements is not related to the astronomical theory of climatic change?
A)variations in the shape of the earth's orbit
B)changes in the angle that the earth's axis makes with the plane of the ecliptic
C)wobbling of the earth's axis
D)variations in solar output
E)distance variations between the earth and the Sun
Q2) Warming temperatures melt ice cover,exposing a darker surface that absorbs more solar radiation.In response,the air warms even further.This is an example of:
A)a stable-feedback mechanism.
B)a negative feedback mechanism.
C)a positive feedback mechanism.
D)a variable-feedback mechanism.
Q3) Global warming is not expected to involve changes in rainfall.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe two examples of how the warmer temperatures due to increased CO in the atmosphere may lead to positive feedback effects.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: World Climates
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Sample Questions
Q1) The primary control of solar radiation at a place is altitude.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The ________ is also called taiga.
A)subarctic climate
B)tundra climate
C)ice cap climate
D)humid subtropical climate
E)Siberia region
Q3) All of the cities described below are in North America and are classified as humid continental climates.Which city is intermediate among the three cities in terms of total annual precipitation?
A)city B,a city in the interior of the continent at 40 degrees north latitude
B)city C,a city in the interior of the continent at 50 degrees north latitude
C)city A,a leeward coastal city at 40 degrees north latitude
Q4) Ice cap climate locations tend to maintain themselves because they have high albedos.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Permanently frozen subsoil characteristic of the tundra is termed ________.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Optical Phenomena of the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) A 46° halo results instead of a 22° halo when:
A)light passes through the side of an ice crystal but exits through the base or the top.
B)light passes through the side of an ice crystal and exits through the opposite side.
C)light is refracted by liquid water droplets rather than frozen ice crystals.
D)light reflects off of the side of ice crystals rather than passing through them.
Q2) ________ occurs when cold air near the surface bends light in the same direction as the Earth's curvature,causing the object to appear suspended above the horizon.
A)Fata Morgana
B)Towering
C)Looming
D)Aurora borealis
Q3) The ________ forms in association with the Moon as well as the Sun.
A)rainbow
B)sun dog
C)glory
D)halo
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