Study aid 1 - GEOG 215 - Climatology

Chapter 1

• Know what climatology is, and how it differs from other aspects of the atmospheric sciences
• Know what kinds of data are collected from the atmosphere and what they might tell us
• Know how data can be presented to show relevant relationships
• Maps, charts tables etc.
• Know the basic composition of the gases that make up the atmosphere
• Know the structure of the layering in the atmosphere and how it is divided
• Troposphere tropopause, stratosphere, stratopause, mesosphere, mesopause, thermosphere,
• Know the difference (and importance) between variable vs constant gases
• Know the basic gas laws
• Know the characteristics associated with the layers in the structured atmosphere
• Know why the thickness of the atmospheric layers is variable depending on latitude

 

Chapter 2

• Know about energy in the atmosphere and its source here on earth
• Know about an energy balance and how energy is transmitted from one location to another
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
• Know the different kinds of energy (e.g., kinetic, potential, atomic, etc.,… )
• Know examples of energy transformation and transmittance
• Know about radiative energy (radiation) and its ultimate source, the sun
• Know what the sun is in terms of energy production
• Know about frequency and wavelength and how those terms relate to electromagnetic energy and where that energy is concentrated in terms of solar spectrum
• Know Stephan-Boltzman’s Law ( heat vs radiation emitted)
• Know Wein’s Law and what it tells us
• Know the basic structure of the sun, and the characteristics of the layers
• Chromopshere, photosphere, solar flares sun spots etc
• Know the inverse square law and why it is important in energy studies of earth
• Know what happens to insolation as it hits Earth’s atmosphere
• Know what variable can affect insolation
• Know what albedo is and why it is important
• Know what the greenhouse effect is and why it is important
• Know which gases absorb radiation and why that is important
• Know what Milankovitch orbital variations are and why the are important

 

Chapter 3

• Know why temperature is important and factors affect it
• Know why the length of the day changes, where it changes, and why that is important to understanding temperature
• Know what is meant by a temperature time lag, and why that happens
• Know the importance of water in the temperature of the atmosphere
• Know about latent heat, sensible heat, and specific heat
• Know when maximum heating and cooling occurs and the variable that determine when this occurs
• Know why specific heat is important for temperature fluctuations
• Know why thermal conductivity is important for temperature manipulation
• Know what the environmental lapse rate is and how it is determined
• Know the factors that influence vertical and horizontal movement of heat
• Be able to think about graphs of energy in its various forms from one location to the next, and explain why the graphs look the way they do
• Know why temperature maximum and minimum occur where they do, and when they do

 

Chapter 4

• Know why the Erath is unique in terms of moisture, and what factors allow that to happen.
• Know what happens to the basic structure of the water molecule as temperature changes
• Know what happens to heat as it encounters moisture
• Know the water (hydrological) cycle and the various components and distribution of water throughout the cycle
• Know what is required to get moisture into the atmosphere
• Evaporation vs condensation
• Know what relative humidity is and how it is measured and used as a predictive tool
• Know what is required to get water to condense
• Know about the adiabatic lapse rates and how they differ from the environmental lapse rate
• Know how the atmosphere gets moisture to condense
• Know the various means of lifting air
• Know basic cloud shapes
• Know about fog
• Know about rain as well as other forms of precipiattion
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