Climatology Final Exam
Course Introduction
Climatology is the scientific study of climate, defined as the long-term patterns and averages of weather in a particular region or globally. This course examines the fundamental principles underlying Earths climate system, including the interactions between the atmosphere, oceans, land surfaces, and biosphere. Students will explore topics such as energy balance, atmospheric circulation, climate classification, and the factors driving climate variability and change. The course also addresses the role of natural and human-induced processes in shaping climate, methods for analyzing climate data, and the implications of climate change for environments and societies around the world.
Recommended Textbook
Extreme Weather and Climate 1st Edition by C. Donald Ahrens
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633 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: The Turbulent Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Where cold surface air is replacing warm air,the boundary separating the different bodies of air is termed a:
A)parallel of latitude.
B)tornado.
C)cold front.
D)warm front.
Answer: C
Q2) Which of the following is most likely associated with fair weather?
A)high pressure area
B)low pressure area
C)a cold front
D)a warm front
Answer: A
Q3) Standing at the top of a tall mountain,a breath of air would contain a lot fewer molecules than a breath of air taken at sea level,but the proportion of oxygen in the two breaths of air,relative to the other constituents,would remain the same.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Energy That Drives the Storms
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Sample Questions
Q1) When it is January and winter in the Northern Hemisphere,it is July and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) During an equinox,the days and nights are of equal length except at the poles.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The proper order from shortest to longest wavelength is:
A)visible,infrared,ultraviolet.
B)infrared,visible,ultraviolet.
C)ultraviolet,visible,infrared.
D)visible,ultraviolet,infrared.
E)ultraviolet,infrared,visible.
Answer: C
Q4) Describe the atmospheric greenhouse effect.Is there any difference between the way the atmospheric greenhouse effect works on a clear night and on a cloudy night?
Answer: no answer
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Chapter 3: Temperature and Humidity Extremes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The primary cause of a radiation inversion is:
A)infrared radiation emitted by the earth's surface.
B)infrared radiation absorbed by the earth's surface.
C)solar radiation absorbed by the earth's surface.
D)solar radiation reflected by the earth's surface.
E)infrared radiation absorbed by the atmosphere and clouds.
Answer: A
Q2) In summer,humid regions typically have smaller daily temperature ranges and lower maximum temperatures than drier regions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The lowest temperature is usually observed:
A)at the time of sunset.
B)near midnight.
C)several hours before sunrise.
D)around sunrise.
E)several hours after sunrise.
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Condensation in the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) List the main types of fog.Then briefly explain how each one forms.Where might you expect each of these different types of fog to form?
Q2) Does radiational cooling at the ground at night act to increase or decrease atmospheric stability? How does daytime heating at the ground during the day affect atmospheric stability?
Q3) Light or moderate-but-steady precipitation is most often associated with __________ clouds.
A)nimbostratus
B)cirrostratus
C)cirrocumulus
D)cumulonimbus
Q4) Hail is usually associated with what cloud?
A)stratus
B)cumulus
C)stratocumulus
D)altocumulus
E)cumulonimbus
Q5) List the major height categories of clouds.What differences might you expect to find in the clouds that form at these different levels?
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Chapter 5: Clouds and Stability
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Sample Questions
Q1) The difference between the "moist" and "dry" adiabatic rates is due to:
A)the fact that saturated air is always unstable.
B)the fact that an unsaturated air parcel expands more rapidly than a saturated air parcel.
C)the fact that moist air weighs less than dry air.
D)the fact that latent heat is released by a rising parcel of saturated air.
Q2) Most thunderstorms do not extend very far into the stratosphere because the air in the stratosphere is:
A)unstable.
B)stable.
C)too cold.
D)too thin.
E)too dry.
Q3) What types of clouds might you expect to see form when a cold mass of air moves over warmer water?
Q4) Vertical mixing of air tends to __________ a large environmental lapse rate.
A)decrease
B)increase
Q5) List and explain the four processes that cause rising air motions in the atmosphere.
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Chapter 6: Precipitation Extremes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The collision-coalescence process is most effective when clouds are made entirely of ice crystals.
A)True B)False
Q2) Rain which falls from a cloud,but evaporates before reaching the ground is called virga.
A)True B)False
Q3) During the ice crystal process of rain formation:
A)only ice crystals need be present in a cloud.
B)ice crystals grow larger at the expense of the surrounding liquid cloud droplets.
C)the temperature in the cloud must be -40<sup>o</sup> C (-40<sup>o</sup> F)or below.
D)the cloud must be a cumuliform cloud.
Q4) The first raindrops to reach the ground at the beginning of a rain shower are often very large.Explain why this is so.
Q5) What is the main difference between a raindrop and a cloud droplet?
Q6) Design an automated device for measuring snowfall.How might it work?
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Motions
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Sample Questions
Q1) On an isobaric surface,
A)altitude is constant.
B)temperature is constant.
C)pressure is constant.
D)both a and c
Q2) The _________ force is the force that causes the wind to blow.
A)Coriolis
B)pressure-gradient
C)friction
Q3) The vertical pressure gradient force is directed downward.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Suppose that the winds aloft are geostrophic and blowing from the north.With the same orientation of isobars at the surface,the winds would blow from the southeast.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain why strong upper-level divergence will cause the pressure in the center of a surface low to decrease.
Q6) Under what conditions (if any)might you record a station pressure of 750 mb?
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Chapter 8: Wind Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is meant by the term monsoon wind system? How is this wind system different from a land-sea breeze?
Q2) Areas along the shores of the Great Lakes often experience a lake breeze circulation.Are these winds different than those associated with a sea breeze circulation? Explain.
Q3) Would you expect chinook winds to form more often on the eastern or the western slopes of a north-south oriented mountain range in the mid-latitudes?
Q4) A sea or land breeze is caused by temperature differences.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A valley breeze would develop its maximum strength:
A)at sunrise.
B)in early afternoon.
C)about an hour after sunset.
D)about midnight.
Q6) The wind belt found on the poleward side of the polar front is called the doldrums.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Air Masses and Fronts
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Sample Questions
Q1) An air mass is characterized by similar properties of __________ and __________ in any horizontal direction
A)temperature,pressure
B)pressure,moisture
C)winds,moisture
D)temperature,moisture
Q2) Draw side views of a typical warm and cold front.Indicate the temperatures of the separate air masses and show their directions of motion.What types of clouds would you expect to find and where? Where would you expect precipitation to occur?
Q3) How would a warm front,a cold front,and a center of low pressure appear on a surface weather map in the Southern Hemisphere?
Q4) Occluded fronts may form as:
A)a cold front overtakes a warm front.
B)a warm front overtakes a cold front.
C)a cold front overtakes a squall line.
D)overrunning occurs along a warm front.
Q5) Explain how,using no meteorological instruments other than your eyes,you could identify the passage of an occluded front.
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Chapter 10: Mid-Latitude Cyclonic Storms
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Sample Questions
Q1) A 'building anticyclone' means the central pressure is increasing.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe or illustrate the various phases in the life cycle of a middle latitude storm according to the polar front theory.
Q3) What is cyclogenesis? List some of the regions in the United States where cyclogenesis is common.
Q4) In the polar front theory of a developing wave cyclone,energy for the storm is usually derived from all but one of the following:
A)rising of warm air and the sinking of cold air
B)latent heat of condensation
C)an increase in surface winds
D)heat energy stored in the ground
Q5) Describe some of the ways in which the upper-level wind flow pattern can influence the development and movement of a middle latitude storm system.
Q6) When making a weather forecast,which kind of chart is more important: a surface chart or a 500 mb chart? Why?
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Thunderstorms
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Sample Questions
Q1) The downdraft in an ordinary thunderstorm is created mainly by:
A)the melting of snow in the anvil
B)electrical attraction between the cloud and ground
C)the release of latent heat as water in the cloud freezes
D)evaporating raindrops that make the air cold and heavy
E)upper level wind motions
Q2) What is wind shear? Why does wind shear represent a hazard to aviation?
Q3) All thunderstorms require:
A)hot,humid air
B)divergence of the air aloft
C)lifting along some barrier such as a mountain or front
D)surface heating
E)rising air
Q4) Lightning may occur:
A)within a cloud
B)from a cloud to the ground
C)from one cloud to another cloud
D)all of the above
Q5) Where does the energy in a mature thunderstorm come from?
Q6) Why is the weather so violent inside a supercell thunderstorm?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Would it be possible for a tornado to form around a high pressure core?
Q2) The region of greatest tornado activity shifts northward from early spring to summer.Why does this occur?
Q3) Do invisible tornadoes exist? Explain.
Q4) The most frequent time of day for tornadoes to form is in the:
A)early morning just after sunrise.
B)late morning just before noon.
C)evening just after sunset.
D)afternoon.
E)middle of the night.
Q5) Most tornadoes last only a few minutes;some tornadoes have existed for several hours.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Damage to structures inflicted by tornadoes can be caused by:
A)flying debris.
B)the tornadoes high winds.
C)the drop in air pressure as a tornado moves overhead.
D)all of the above
E)none of the above
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why can't hurricanes form in the midlatitudes?
Q2) On the Saffir-Simpson scale a category 5 storm would indicate a very strong hurricane.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In what ways would you expect hurricanes in the Southern Hemisphere to be different from hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere?
Q4) In order for a hurricane to form,the layer of warm water must extend from the ocean surface to a depth of at least 400 meters.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Compare the size of an average hurricane to that of an average tornado.Given the size and intensity of each,which do you think is the more destructive storm? Why?
Q6) During a storm surge,water levels along the coast typically rise only about 2 feet. A)True
B)False
Q7) What is a storm surge? How does a storm surge form?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Weather Forecasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) A prog is a chart that interprets the current state of the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Assuming you know last night's minimum temperature,what weather information would you use to predict tonight's minimum temperature?
Q3) Modern computer forecasting models with very small grid spacing can only resolve large-scale features like jet streams and large highs and lows.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Low 1000-500 mb thicknesses correspond to cold air,while high thicknesses correspond to warm air.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If there is a chance for tornadoes tomorrow,a weather watch would probably be issued.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Describe the relationship between dew point and minimum temperatures.
Q7) List some of the factors that affect the accuracy of atmospheric models.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: The Earths Changing Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ice cores record both the record of past temperatures,and also the causes of climate change.
A)True
B)False
Q2) During a period when the earth's orbital tilt is at a minimum,which would probably not be true?
A)there should be less seasonal variation between summer and winter
B)more snow would probably fall during the winter in polar regions
C)there would be a lesser likelihood of glaciers at high latitudes
D)there would be less seasonal variations at middle latitudes
Q3) During the Pleistocene epoch,continental glaciers alternately advanced and retreated over large portions of North America and Europe.
A)True
B)False
Q4) During the climatic optimum,alpine glaciers began to advance down river valleys. A)True
B)False
Q5) What are some of the possible consequences of global warming?
Q6) In what ways might global warming benefit the planet?
Page 17
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