Untitled document
After completing the course, the student should be able to:
1. list the six elements of weather, and identify the weather instrument
used to measure each one;
2. define the observational qualities that allow meteorologists to divide
the atmosphere into four vertical layers;
3. assess the impact of each of the three major and the seven minor
atmospheric ingredients have upon global precipitation and global
temperature;
4. state average sea level temperature pressure in pounds/inches square,
inches of mercury, centimeters of mercury, millibars, and Pascals;
5. express the correct value of the solar constant in
calories/centimeters
square, and state the two reasons why this "constant" varies;
6. at the latitude of Santa Rosa, calculate the altitude of the noontime
sun on the winter solstice, summer solstice, and equinox dates;
7. write a coherent essay that describes the origin of the Antarctic
ozone hole, how it was detected, and why it mainly exists in the Southern
Hemisphere;
8. state the values of the latent heat of fusion and vaporization of
water;
9. define and express the units used to express specific heat, the
calorie, and the kilocalorie;
10. define the three mechanisms of heat transfer;
11. discuss how latitude, water, elevation, and land can exert a powerful
influence on a city's annual temperature variation.
12. calculate the relative humidity when given a saturation mixing ratio
and an observed (actual) mixing ratio;
13. distinguish the subtle difference between lifting condensation level
and dew point temperature;
14. correctly define the difference between rain and drizzle, as well as
sleet and freezing rain;
15. describe in a short essay how condensation nuclei and freezing nuclei
both contribute to the formation of rain;
16. memorize the ten basic cloud forms, and correctly classify them as
low, middle, or high;
17. classify fog into five types and remember the one that is common in
Santa Rosa during the winter, and the one that is common in Santa Rosa
during the day;
18. given the location and time of a rainbow and/or halo observation,
correctly state what change in weather should take place in the next
twenty four to thirty six hours;
19. describe how passive and active cloud seeding should theoretically
work, and how much these two methods typically increase precipitation;
20. use vectors to illustrate how freely moving, non steered bodies veer
to the right in the Northern Hemisphere;
21. list the two conditions that produce a geostrophic wind, and where
geostrophic winds typically occur in the United States;
22. correctly identify the wind direction at any point around a nearby
high pressure or low pressure region;
23. properly state the correlation between latitude and the strength of
the coriolis force;
24. correctly identify the locations of the east trade winds, the
prevailing westerlies, the polar easterlies, the Inter-Tropical
Convergence, and the horse latitudes;
25. correctly draw in the position of the polar jet stream that flows
westward through this field of high and low pressure systems;
26. accurately label ridges, troughs, rex blocks, omega blocks, cut-off
lows, and zonal flows on a 500 millibar chart;
27. state where the source regions are located for the four principle air
masses that affect weather in the original forty eight US States;
28. define lake-effect snow, and list three US cities which frequently
experience it;
29. identify the conditions necessary to produce a chinook wind, and where
this type of wind occurs in the United States;
30. define how meteorologists calculate the slope of an approaching cold
air mass associated with a cold front;
31. list the sequence of clouds observed during the approach of a slow
moving cold front and fast moving cold front;
32. locate a "comma shaped" cloud pattern on a satellite photograph and
correctly draw in the position of the cold front, warm front, occluded
front;
33. state the principle reason why a well developed occluded front marks
the end or dissipation of a frontal system;
34. identify the three stages in the life of an air mass thunderstorm, and
correctly note which stage is dominated by updrafts, and which stage is
dominated by entrapment of cold air;
35. place the following terms in order from first to last in a lightning
discharge: return stroke, charge separation, dart leader, stepped ladders,
thunder;
36. define wind shear, and explain it's relationship to microbursts,
macrobursts, and airline safety;
37. specifically state the minimum hail diameter and surface wind speed,
required for a thunderstorm to be classified as severe;
38. identify the location of the wall cloud, roll cloud, anvil,
overshooting top, rear flank downdraft, front flank downdraft, and gust
front in a drawing of a supercell;
39. define the difference between a severe thunderstorm watch and severe
thunderstorm warning;
40. detail the specific criteria used to classify a tornado in the F0 to
F5 Fujita intensity scale;
41. detail the specific criteria used to classify a hurricane in the F1 to
F5 Simpson-Saffir intensity scale;
42. state the ideal circumstances necessary for hurricane formation in
terms of water temperature, depth of water temperature, winds aloft,
season of the year, and latitude;
43. compare and contrast the hurricane damage done by wind, storm surge,
inland flooding, and hurricane spawned tornadoes;
44. draw a diagram showing the cross sectional view of a hurricane that
reveals the regions of updraft and downdraft, divergence and convergence;
45. Use the "564" line on a 500 mb chart to determine whether the "storm
window" is open or closed for any west coast city;
46. ray trace the path of sunlight through a raindrop that forms a
rainbow;
47. use the internet to find an ensemble forecast to assess the accuracy
of the numerical forecast models;
48. state the values of the lifted index and K index which indicate
whether, or whether not a thunderstorm watch should be issued;
49. ray trace the path of sunlight through a cloud ice crystal to reveal
how a halo is formed.
Untitled document
I. Introduction to the Atmosphere
A. Origin of the atmosphere
B. Ingredients of the atmosphere
C. Greenhouse effect and global warming
D. The seven weather elements
E. Definition of weather and climate
II. Solar Energy
A. The electromagnetic spectrum
B. Mechanisms of heat transfer
C. Seasons in the northern hemisphere
D. Temperature scales
E. Earth's energy equilibrium
III. Air Temperature
A. Compiling air temperature data
B. Measuring air temperature
C. Temperature variations
D. Specifics of heat
E. Environmental controls of temperature
IV. Humidity, Condensation, and Clouds
A. Relative humidity
B. Dew and frosts
C. Fog
D. Cloud classification and identification
E. Wet and dry adiabatic lapse rates
V. Cloud Development and Precipitation
A. Precipitation formation processes
B. Measuring precipitation
C. Weather radar
D. Precipitation types
E. Atmospheric stability
VI. Air Pressure and Winds
A. Measuring air pressure
B. Forces influencing the wind
C. Winds aloft
D. Surface winds
E. Beaufort wind scale
VII. Atmospheric Circulations
A. Scales of atmospheric motion
B. Global wind patterns (three cell model)
C. El Nino and the southern oscillation
D. Monsoons
E. Local winds
VIII. Air Masses and Fronts
A. Classification of air masses
B. Cold and warm fronts
C. Stationary and occluded fronts
D. Frontogenesis
E. The jet stream
IX. Weather Forecasting
A. Predicting weather from local signs
B. Satellite photo interpretation
C. Forecast models
D. Watches, warnings, and advisories
E. Internet weather resources
X. Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
A. Air mass thunderstorms
B. Supercells and severe thunderstorms
C. Lightning
D. Tornadoes, waterspouts, and dust devils
E. Tornado damage
XI. Hurricanes
A. Tropical precipitation patterns
B. Anatomy of a hurricane
C. Hurricane damage
D. Predicting hurricane storm tracks
E. Hurricanes on other planets
XII. Air Pollution and Atmospheric Optics
A. Primary and secondary pollutants
B. Air pollution weather
C. Acid rain
D. Rainbows and red sunsets
E. Halos, sundogs, and solar pillars
