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5.6: Review and Additional Resources

  • Page ID
    21696
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    Important Terms and Concepts \(\PageIndex{1}\)
    • Phase change
      Phase changes of water
      Phase Changes of Water
    • Evaporation
      the phase change of a liquid to a gas
    • Transpiration
      the transfer of water into the air via leaf pores or stomata.
    • Humidity
      a measure of the water vapor content of the air.
    • Saturation
      "holding all the moisture it can"
    • Specific humidity
      the weight of water vapor in the air per unit weight of air, which includes the weight of water vapor.
    • Mixing ratio
      the weight of water vapor per unit weight of dry air.
    • Vapor pressure
      the partial pressure created by water vapor.
    • Saturation vapor pressure
      the pressure that water vapor creates when the air is fully saturated.
    • Relative humidity
      the ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to its saturation point.
    • Condensation
      the phase change of water vapor into a liquid
    • Condensation nuclei
      act as a platform for condensation to take place, increasing the size of a droplet and decreasing surface tension.
    • Dew
      small droplets of water that form as a result of condensation.
    • Fog
      a cloud that forms near the ground
    • Radiation Fog
      forms during the evening under cloudless skies and with little to no wind
    • Steam Fog
      occurs when cool dry air settles over a warm, moist surface
    • Advection Fog
      forms when warm and moist air travels over a cool surface.
    • Upslope Fog
      forms when moist air if forced up a slope
    • Frontal Fog
      associated with weather fronts, especially a warm front.
    • Saturated Adiabatic rate
      If the air is saturated, the rate of temperature change is .6oC/100 meters.
    • Dry Adiabatic Rate
      If the air is dry, the rate of temperature change is 1oC/100 meters.
    • Stable air
      Stable atmospheric conditions prevail when the environmental lapse rate is less than the saturated adiabatic rate.
    • Unstable air
      Air is unstable when the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate.
    • Cirrus cloud
      appear as wispy thin veils or detached filaments composed mostly of ice.
    • Cirrostratus
      a transparent, whitish veil of cloud that usually covers much of the sky.
    • Altostratus
      formless layer of grayish cloud that cover most if not all the sky.
    • Stratus
      appear as a uniform dark-gray layer of clouds covering the entire sky.
    • Cumulus
      appear as small, cotton ball-like clouds that generally form by convection.
    • Nimbostratus
      dark-gray layer of clouds that cover the entire sky. The prefix "nimbo" indicates that these clouds are precipitating.
    • Cumulonimbus
      form during very unstable conditions.

    Additional Resources

    Use these resources to further explore the world of geography

    A World of Change: El Niño, La Niña, and Rainfall (NASA Earth Observatory)


    5.6: Review and Additional Resources is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Arnaud Temme, Kansas State University.