SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS                        SURVEY OF METEOROLOGY   CH  6

1. If the environmental lapse rate is 5°C per 1000 m and the temperature at the earth's surface is 25°C, then the air temperature at 2000 m above the ground is:

     a.  25°C

     b.  30°C

     c.  20°C

     d.  15°C

2. If an air parcel is given a small push upward and it falls back to its original position, the atmosphere is said to be:

     a.  stable

     b.  unstable

     c.  isothermal

     d.  neutral

     e.  adiabatic

3. A rising parcel of air that does not exchange heat with its surroundings is referred to as:

     a.  isothermal ascent

     b.  an adiabatic process

     c.  forced lifting

     d.  advection

4. At the earth's surface, a rising saturated air parcel would cool most rapidly when its temperature is:

     a.  10°F

     b.  32°F

     c.  50°F

     d.  68°F

     e.  80°F

5. 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

6. A knowledge of air stability is important because:

     a.  it determines the direction of movement of storms

     b.  it determines the vertical motion of air

     c.  it determines the movement of high pressure areas

     d.  it determines seasonal weather patterns

7. 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

8. Which set of conditions, working together, will make the atmosphere the most stable?

     a.  cool the surface and warm the air aloft

     b.  cool the surface and cool the air aloft

     c.  warm the surface and cool the air aloft

     d.  warm the surface and warm the air aloft

9. When the environmental lapse rate decreases more rapidly with height than the dry adiabatic rate, the atmosphere is:

     a.  absolutely stable

     b.  absolutely unstable

     c.  convectively unstable

     d.  conditionally unstable

10. Which cloud type below would most likely form in an unstable atmosphere?

     a.  cumulonimbus

     b.  stratus

     c.  cirrostratus

     d.  nimbostratus

e.        cumulus humilis

11. Just above cumulus humilis clouds you would expect to find:

     a.  a stable layer

     b.  an unstable layer

     c.  a conditionally unstable layer

     d.  unusually strong horizontal winds

12. Which of the following is not a way of producing clouds?

     a.  lifting air along a topographic barrier

     b.  lifting air along a front

     c.  warming the surface of the earth

     d.  convergence of surface air

     e.  air motions caused by subsidence

13. The vertical motion of air caused by sun heating the ground is called:

     a.  convection

     b.  orographic lifting

     c.  subsidence

     d.  convergence