REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CH5- ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE

1. What are the dominant processes which occur in the hydrologic cycle?
2. What is(are) the importance(s) of water vapor in the atmosphere?
3. Under what conditions is air subsaturated, saturated, or supersaturated?
4. How are the following variables defined, what are their units (if any), and what do they represent?
   • humidity
   • absolute humidity
   • specific humidity
   • mixing ratio
   • saturation mixing ratio
   • vapor pressure
   • saturation vapor pressure
   • partial pressure
   • relative humidity
   • wet bulb temperature
   • dew-point temperature
5. how does saturation vapor pressure, depend on temperature?
6. why is absolute humidity not a very useful variable for specifying the amount of moisture in air?
7. what does saturation mean?
8. how can air reach saturation?
9. when will water boil?
10. how does the boiling point vary with altitude? explain this behavior.
11. What is the latitudinal distribution of specific humidity look like?
12. what does the spatial distribution of vapor pressure over the U.S. look like during summer and winter?
13. on a typical day, how does the relative humidity vary?
14. why does air expand as it rises?
15. why does air cool as it rises?
16. how is humidity measured with a sling psychrometer?

last updated: 08/19/04 01:02 PM