Weather ATMS 101
Quiz Section #5 Announcements TA website link again:
http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~kelly/101
Midterm - Problem A
2. The first process that likely contributed to the formation of the temperature inversion is emission of infrared radiation by the ground. On a calm, clear night, the ground will emit IR radiation out to space, causing the ground to cool down. Consequently, the air above the surface is warmer than the ground. The second process to contribute to the formation would then be the conduction of heat from the warm air to the cool ground. This lowers the temperature of the air closer to the surface, creating the temperature inversion. 8. This sites diurnal temperature range might be much smaller than the previous sites because it could be located near a large body of water, such as the ocean. Due to waters high specific heat (compared to land), it is harder to heat up during the day and cool down at night, effecting the diurnal temperature spread of nearby towns.
OR
A reason why this sites diurnal temperature range is so different could be that it experienced overcast conditions through the time period, whereas the previous site was clear. Clouds block the suns radiation from being absorbed by the ground during the day, and absorb and reemit the IR emitted by the ground, thereby keeping the daytime temperature lower and nighttime temperature higher than otherwise.
Midterm - Questions
1. Trees emit infrared radiation because they are "warm bodies". The snow around a tree trunk absorbs the infrared radiation that is emitted by the tree. absorption This of IR provides the specific heat to raise its temperature (if necessary) and the latent heat necessary for the snow to change phase to liquid, i.e. melt. Thus, snow around tree trunks melts. 2. Chlorine (Cl) is so efficient at destroying ozone because once it breaks up an ozone molecule, it can be recycled, and thus the chemical reaction can be repeated several times. In addition, Cl's lifetime in the atmosphere is about 50 years. During its long lifetime, one single Cl molecule can destroy thousands of ozone molecules. Therefore, even with a small amount of Cl, the destruction of ozone is very efficient. 3. Due to the tilt of the Earth, the north pole does not receive any sunlight in January, and therefore it is extremely cold. This makes a large temperature contrast between the equator and the north pole. There would be a smaller contrast between the equator and the south pole because the south pole receives sunlight and is not ...