Earth Science vocabulary
Terms
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- eye
- calm center of a tropical cyclone that develops when teh winds around its center reach at least 12 km/h
- dew point
- the tempurature which air is cooled at to reach saturation
- orographic lifting
- cloud formation that occurs when warm moist air is forced up the side of a mountain
- oceanography
- the study of the earth's oceans including its inhabitants
- evaporation
- the changing of liquid water into water vapor
- fujita scale
- classifies tornados according to their wind speed, duration, and path of destruction
- condensation nuclei
- small particles in the atmosphere around which cloud droplets can form
- precipitation
- all solid and liquid forms of water (ie. rain, snow, hail) that fall from clouds
- temperature inversion
- increase in temperature with the atmospheric level
- upwelling
- upward movement of ocean water that occurs when winds push aside water and it is replaced with cold nutrient-rich water
- mixed tide pattern
- one pronounced high tide and one smaller high tide per day
- hygrometer
- weather instrument used to measure reletive humidity
- surface current
- wind-driven movement of ocean water that primarily affects the upper few hundred meters of ocean
- temperature
- the measur of how quickly or slowly the air molocules are moving
- density current
- movement of ocean water that occurs in depths too great to be affected by the surface winds
- stratosphere
- the layer of the earth's atmosphere that is located above the tropopause
- condensation
- the changing of water vapor from gas form into liquid form
- tornado
- violent, whirling column of air in contact with the ground that forms when wind direction a speed suddnely change
- climatology
- the study of the earth's climate
- neap tides
- occurs when the sun, the moon, and the earth are aligned
- drought
- extended period of low rainfall, usually caused by shifts in the global wind patterns
- jet stream
- high-altitude, narrow, westerly wind band that occurs above that occurs above large tempurature contrasts
- atmosphere
- the blanket of gasses surrounding the earth that contains nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
- trough
- lowest point of a wave
- spring tides
- occures when the sun, the moon, and the earth form a right angle
- coriolis effect
- deflects moving particles such as air right above the equator
- trade winds
- global wind system that flows at 30 degrees north and south latitude
- troposphere
- the atmospheric layer closest to the earth
- front
- boundary between two air masses
- downburst
- violent damaging thunderstorm wind that is concentrated in a local area
- thermocline
- transitional ocean layer that lies between the sunlit surface layer and the dense bottom layer
- storm surge
- occurs when powerful, hurricane foce winds drive a mound of ocean water toward shore
- supercell
- ellextremely powerful, self-sustaining thunderstorm
- meterorology
- the study of the sky and other atmospheric phenomina
- weather
- the current state of the atmosphere including short-term variations
- climate
- average weather of a particular area over a long period of time
- diurnal tide pattern
- one high tide per day
- microclimate
- localized climate that differs from the surrounding regional climate
- humidity
- amount of water vapor in the air
- relative humidity
- ratio of water vapor to amount of water the air is able to hold
- radiation
- energy transfer through space by electronic waves
- semi-diurnal tide pattern
- two high tides per day
- crest
- highest point of a wave
- water cycle
- continual movement of water between the earth's surface and the atmosphere