Atmospheric Dynamics: High Pressure and Wind Patterns Quiz

The Coriolis force is a result of the Earth's rotation and causes winds to be deflected to the left in the southern hemisphere.

Warm air advection and cold air advection typically occur on the western flank of high and low pressure systems due to the movement of air masses. The other options are not the typical locations for WAA and CAA to occur.

Baroclinic atmosphere is characterized by temperature gradients across isobars, leading to the formation of weather systems and disturbances.

Warm air advection (WAA) can occur in a baroclinic atmosphere due to the temperature gradient present in such systems, allowing warm air to advect into cooler regions.

When considering the effect of frictional forces on high and low pressure systems, it is important to understand how they impact wind flow patterns. The correct answer highlights the deflection towards the pressure gradient force at a specific angle due to frictional retardation.

In this sentence, the missing words are 'parallel' referring to the direction, 'isotherms' related to different temperatures, 'cold' describing the type of air, and 'right' indicating the direction in the southern hemisphere.

The correct answer is that when isobars are close together, the pressure gradient force is greater, causing faster wind velocities. This is due to the pressure difference between high and low-pressure systems, resulting in stronger airflow along the pressure gradient.

The pressure gradient force is calculated by the formula: (-1)*(change in pressure/change in distance). Plugging in the values, we get (-1)*(2 hPa / 100 km) = 0.02 Pa km^-1 * 1000 m^-1 = 0.002 Pa m^-1 = 0.0016 Pa kg^-1 m^2.

Friction between the wind and the surface slows down the wind, leading to a decrease in wind speed and reduction in the Coriolis force effect.

The Coriolis force IS directly proportional to the wind speed; zero when the air is stationary and at a maximum when the wind speed is at a maximum.

The Coriolis force does influence wind direction, but it does not directly cause backing. Backing describes a specific type of wind direction change, which is not clockwise.

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmosphere. They are caused by a gap in the height of the tropopause, rather than the height of the Stratosphere, Thermosphere, or Exosphere.

The Trade wind flow is primarily driven by the Equatorward branch of the Hadley Cell, where air moves towards the equator in the lower troposphere. The other options do not directly play a significant role in generating the Trade winds.

Deserts are not solely determined by proximity to mountains or elevation, but rather by the atmospheric circulation patterns such as the Hadley cell, which lead to descending air and create arid conditions.

This question tests understanding of the meeting point of different wind systems in the Earth's atmosphere, specifically in the region of temperate latitudes. The correct answer, Temperate latitude low-pressure, denotes the area where polar easterly winds collide with mid-latitude westerly winds. Incorrect options include Equatorial trough (associated with low-pressure at the equator), Subtropical high-pressure (characteristic of the subtropics), and Polar high-pressure (indicative of high-pressure zones near the poles).

The height of the tropopause is actually around 8 to 9 km at the Poles and up to 16 to 18 km at the Equator.

The Polar cell is not defined by air sinking near 60 degrees south and air rising over the South Pole. It is a cell of Hadley cell circulation in the Earth's atmosphere where air rises at 60 degrees north and south and sinks at the poles.

The correct answer mentions water vapour and the troposphere because water vapour plays a crucial role in driving Earth's weather patterns and the troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere where most weather systems develop.

The Coriolis force is the dominant force responsible for the Easterly flow near the South Pole, as it deflects the wind to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, creating an easterly component of the wind flow.

The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) accounts for a typical atmospheric condition at altitude. In this case, if the actual temperature is -52.3 degrees Celsius, it means the temperature deviation from ISA would be +4 degrees Celsius.

In an unstable atmosphere, the air parcel will cool faster than the dry adiabatic lapse rate as it rises due to the ambient lapse rate being greater. This promotes vertical instability and can lead to convective processes and severe weather.

When a warm parcel of air is placed in a cold atmospheric environment, it becomes less dense compared to its surroundings. As a result, the less dense warm parcel will rise due to buoyancy forces.

Conditional instability is a meteorological concept where the atmosphere is stable for unsaturated air parcels but can become unstable for saturated air parcels under specific conditions. This is characterized by the Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) being greater than the Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR), which in turn is greater than the Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR).

Correct, as the pressure increases (for a descending air parcel), its temperature also increases. Because the pressure is inversely proportional to volume then the volume of the air parcel decreases. This process is called adiabatic compression.

The correct answer explains that warm air containing more water vapor results in more latent heat being released, causing the DALR to be higher than the SALR. The incorrect answers provided do not accurately reflect the relationship between temperature, water vapor, and lapse rates.

The environmental lapse rate refers to the change in temperature with altitude in the Earth's atmosphere. It is a significant factor in meteorology and climatology.

Subsidence inversions occur when sinking air causes temperature inversions. This usually happens on the eastern flank of high pressure systems or anticyclones where the air is descending and warming due to compression.