Homework answers / question archive / University Of Arizona ATMO 170A Chapter 5 1)A parcel of air expands and cools, or compresses and warms, with no interchange of heat with its outside surroundings

University Of Arizona ATMO 170A Chapter 5 1)A parcel of air expands and cools, or compresses and warms, with no interchange of heat with its outside surroundings

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University Of Arizona

ATMO 170A

Chapter 5

1)A parcel of air expands and cools, or compresses and warms, with no interchange of heat with its outside surroundings. What is this called?

a.            Isothermal ascent

b.            Adiabatic process

c.             Force lifting

d.            Advection

2.            The dry adiabatic rate is the rate at which             .

a.            an air parcel rises

b.            temperature changes in a rising or descending parcel of unsaturated air               

c.             volume changes when a parcel expands or is compressed

d.            latent heat energy is released in a rising air parcel

3.            The most latent heat would be released in a       parcel of              saturated air.

a.            rising; warm      

b.            rising; cold

c.             sinking; warm

d.            sinking; cold

4.            The rate at which the temperature changes inside a rising (or descending) parcel of saturated air is called the                .

a.            environmental lapse rate

b.            dry adiabatic lapse rate

c.             moist adiabatic lapse rate            

d.            latent heat release rate

5.            The difference between the "moist" and "dry" adiabatic rates is due to the fact that       .

a.            saturated air is always unstable

b.            an unsaturated air parcel expands more rapidly than a saturated air parcel

c.             moist air weighs less than dry air

d.            latent heat is released by a rising parcel of saturated air

6.            Suppose a rising parcel of unsaturated air is warmer and less dense than the air around it. In this case, the atmosphere is   .

a.            absolutely stable

b.            absolutely unstable

 

c.             convectively unstable

d.            conditionally unstable

7.            Which set of conditions, working together, will always make the atmosphere the more stable?

a.            cooling the surface and warming the air aloft

b.            cooling the surface and cooling the air aloft

c.             warming the surface and cooling the air aloft

d.            warming the surface and warming the air aloft

8.            Which cloud type would most likely form in absolutely stable air?

a.            cumulus congestus

b.            cumulonimbus

c.             stratus

d.            altocumulus

9.            Subsidence inversions are best developed with surface high pressure areas because the

                air motions associated with them causes the air just above the surface to             .

a.            rising; cool

b.            sinking; cool

c.             rising; warm

d.            sinking; warm

10.          An inversion represents an extremely stable atmosphere because          .

a.            air becomes cooler with height

b.            surface air becomes warmer than air aloft

c.             inversions act as a lid on vertical air motion

d.            inversions allow air pollutants to escape freely from surface air

11.          If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it continues to move upward on its own accord, the atmosphere is said to be              .

a.            stable

b.            unstable

c.             buoyant

d.            dynamic

12.          Which of the following environmental lapse rates would represent the most unstable conditions in a layer of unsaturated air?

a.            3°C per 1000 m

b.            6°C per 1000 m

c.             9°C per 1000 m

d.            11°C per 1000 m

13.          What set of conditions, working together, will always make the atmosphere the more unstable?

a.            cooling the surface and warming the air aloft

b.            cooling the surface and cooling the air aloft

c.             warming the surface and cooling the air aloft

d.            warming the surface and warming the air aloft

14.          The elevation above the surface where a cloud first forms is called the  .

a.            level of free convection

b.            condensation level

c.             evaporation level

 

d.            adiabatic zone

15.          Which cloud type below would most likely form in an unstable atmosphere?

a.            cumulonimbus

b.            cirrostratus

c.             nimbostratus

d.            stratocumulus

16.          A conditionally unstable atmosphere is  with respect to unsaturated air and        

with respect to saturated air.

a.            unstable; stable

b.            unstable; unstable

c.             stable; unstable

d.            stable; stable

17.          In a conditionally unstable atmosphere, the environmental lapse rate will be      than the moist adiabatic rate and        than the dry adiabatic rate.

a.            greater; less

b.            greater; greater

c.             less; greater

d.            less; less

18.          If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it falls back to its original position, the atmosphere is said to be           .

a.            stable

b.            unstable

c.             isothermal

d.            adiabatic

19.          If a rising air parcel is colder and heavier than the air surrounding it, the atmosphere is

                .

a.            conditionally unstable

b.            absolutely stable

c.             absolutely unstable

d.            neutrally stable

20.          Which of the following cloud types would commonly be found downwind of a mountain?

a.            lenticular clouds

b.            anvil clouds

c.             mammatus clouds

d.            contrails

21.          During the ice crystal process of rain formation, .

a.            only ice crystals are present in a cloud

b.            ice crystals grow larger at the expense of the surrounding liquid cloud droplets

c.             the temperature in the cloud must be -40°C (-40°F) or below

d.            the cloud must be a cumuliform cloud

22.          The ice crystal process of precipitation formation operates in the mixed ice and water phase region of a cold cloud where there are ice crystals and   .

a.            supercooled drops

b.            updrafts and downdrafts

c.             cloud condensation nuclei

d.            positive and negative electrical charges

 

23.          If you observe large raindrops hitting the ground, you could probably say that the cloud overhead was  and had        updrafts.

a.            thick; weak

b.            thick; strong

c.             thin; weak

d.            thin; strong

24.          Which cloud type below will only produce precipitation by the collision-coalescence process?

a.            a thick, cold nimbostratus cloud

b.            a thick, warm cumulus cloud

c.             a thick, cold cumulus cloud

d.            a thick, supercooled cumulonimbus cloud with abundant nuclei

25.          Most rain at middle latitudes is produced by the ice crystal process. This is because          .

a.            clouds in these region have below-freezing temperatures at all levels but experience strong uplifts

b.            clouds in these regions can extend into regions where air temperatures are below

freezing

c.             ice crystals evaporate more slowly than water droplets in clouds of these regions

 

d.            most rain occurs during the winter in these regions

26.          Suppose rain falls on one side of a street and not on the other side. This rain most likely fell from a          .

a.            nimbostratus cloud

b.            stratus cloud

c.             cumulonimbus cloud 

d.            altostratus cloud

27.          A raindrop that freezes before reaching the ground is called       .

a.            snow

b.            hail

c.             sleet

d.            glaze

28.          In the winter you read in the newspaper that a large section of the Midwest is without power due to downed power lines. Which form of precipitation would most likely produce this situation?

a.            snow

b.            hail

c.             freezing rain      

d.            sleet

29.          Radar gathers information about precipitation in clouds by measuring the            .

a.            energy emitted by the precipitation particles

b.            absorption characteristics of falling precipitation

c.             amount of energy reflected back to a transmitter

d.            amount of sunlight scattered off the precipitation

30.          What can the Doppler Radar do in addition to what conventional radars do?

a.            They can measure the temperature of cloud tops.

 

b.            They can provide a vertical view of a cloud’s droplets and ice particles.

c.             They can measure the speed at which falling rain is moving vertically.

d.            They can measure the speed at which falling rain is moving horizontally.

31.          On average, the water equivalent of a fresh snowpack is              . a. 1:1

b. 5:1

c.   10:1

d. 20:1

32.          The temperature of the air in a rising parcel of air will always be the same as that of the surrounding air.

33.          Supercooled water droplets are more plentiful than ice crystals in certain regions of cold

clouds.

34.          Visibility generally improves after a rain storm.

35.          Hail can fall from both cumulonimbus and nimbostratus clouds.

36.          Falling raindrops are tear-shaped because that is the profile that minimizes air resistance.