science quiz (atmosphere)

• Troposphere is the

  • Lowest layer and extends to 14 to 18 km from surface
  • Wind, clouds, water vapor and weather changes occur
  • Tropopause- boundary zone between troposphere and stratosphere
  • Jet streams- eastward winds and fast-moving river of air 
• Stratosphere is the

  • Second layer and about 50 km above in earth
  • Ideal for aircraft because of the horizontal direction of air
  • Contains the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from harmful UV radiation
  • Area for radiosondes
• Mesosphere is the

  • Third layer and extends 90 km above earth
  • Coldest region and has thin air and low atmospheric pressure
  • meteors burn up upon entry in this layer creating the visual phenomenon known as shooting stars
• Thermosphere is

  • Topmost part extends 1000 km above earth
  • composed of individual gas molecules
  • Auroras-Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and Southern Lights 
  • Holds the ionosphere
• Exosphere is

  
  

  • Outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere into the vacuum of space

  
  

  • Contains hydrogen and helium gases

  
  

  • Satellites and other human-made objects in Earth's orbit are found
• The atmosphere is important because

  1. it makes life is possible.
  2. Regulates temperature of earth’s crust
  3. Filter solar radiations - umbrella
  4. Prevents build up of harmful gases and vapors
• Atmospheric pressure is

  • Downward force that exerts pressure to the earth surface
  • Determined by air mass and temperature
  • Air mass- large amount of air that has the same amount of temperature and moisture 
• Continental air mass: Air mass that originates from the land and are dry
• Maritime air mass: Air mass that originates from the sea and are moist
• Air warms up and rises from low pressure then cools and sinks in high pressure
• Wind is

  • Wind is a moving air
  • Caused by uneven heating of the earth’s surface
  • Types are global winds and local winds
  • Local winds can be a sea breeze and a land breeze
• When air is heated, warm air goes up. The particles of warm air moves faster and spread out making it less dense or light.
• The surrounding air (cold air) will move toward the place where warm air rises to replace it. 

  This moving air is the wind.
• Sea breeze is a wind coming from the sea to the land
• Land breeze is a wind coming from the land to the sea
• Precipitation is:

  • Movement of water from the atmosphere to earth’s surface
  • Types of precipitation can be liquid (rain) or solid (snow, freezing rain, sleet or hail)
  • The types will depend on the temperature of the air and ground
• Rain - Falls out when clouds become heavy with condensed water droplets
• Snow - Occurs when temperature in the cloud is below freezing point, changing water vapor into ice crystals
• Freezing Rain - Forms when melted snow falls and turns into solid ice as it hits the ground 
• Sleet - Forms when snow melts and refreezes as it falls through the layers of cold air
• Weather disturbance - A change in atmospheric conditions or weather patterns
• Thunderstorm:

  • A small scale weather system that has lightning and thunder
  • Produced by funnel-cumulonimbus clouds
  • Brings gusty winds, heavy rains, sometimes hail
• Lighting - Build-up of discharge electrical energy
• Thunder - The very loud sound created when electrical discharge heats up its surrounding air
• Tropical cyclone:

  • Greek term, kyklos mean “coiling snake”
  • A low pressure system that forms in tropical areas of ocean near the equator 
  • Cyclonic- swirl around a central eye 
  • Wind direction is counterclockwise 
• Cyclone - South Pacific and Indian Ocean 
• Hurricane - Northeast Pacific and Atlantic Ocean
• Typhoon - Northwest Pacific
• Philippine area of responsibility

  • Tropical cyclones that have 63 km/h wind speed from the West Philippine Sea are likely to enter PAR

  Once entered PAR the name of the Tropical Cyclone will be typhoon with the specific name designed by PAGASA
• Monsoon

  • comes from the arab word “mansim” which means seasonal winds.
  •  large scale sea breezes
• ICZ

  • It is where hot and cold trade winds from the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere meet.
  •  George Hadley