SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS        SURVEY OF METEOROLOGY        CH 8

1. Net convergence of air would cause surface pressure to _____ and net divergence would cause surface pressure to _____.

     a.  increase, decrease

     b.  increase, increase

     c.  decrease, decrease

     d.  decrease, increase

2. The surface pressures at the bases of warm and cold columns of air are equal. Which of the following statements is not correct?

     a.  pressure will decrease with increasing height at the same rate in both columns

     b.  the cold air is more dense than the warm air

     c.  both columns of air contain the same total number of air molecules

     d.  the weight of each column of air is the same

3. If two air parcels at sea level have the same size but different temperatures, the colder parcel of air will have:

     a.  a higher pressure but the same density as the warm parcel

     b.  the same pressure but lower density than the warm parcel

     c.  the same pressure but higher density than the warm parcel

     d.  a lower pressure but the same density as the warm parcel

4. An aneroid barometer carried from sea level to the top of a 300 m (1000 ft) hill would indicate:

     a.  low humidity

     b.  stormy weather

     c.  clear skies

     d.  fair weather

5. Pressure changes:

     a.  more rapidly in the horizontal direction than in the vertical

     b.  more rapidly in the vertical direction than in the horizontal

     c.  at the same rate in the horizontal and vertical directions

     d.  more rapidly in the vertical over land than over the ocean.

6. An elongated region of low atmospheric pressure is called:

     a.  an anticyclone

     b.  a trough

     c.  a ridge

     d.  a thunderstorm

     e.  a high

7. Low _____ on a constant height chart corresponds to low _____ on a constant pressure chart.

     a.  pressures, pressures

     b.  pressures, heights

     c.  heights, pressures

     d.  heights, heights

8. Warm air aloft is associated with constant pressure surfaces that are found at _____ altitude than normal and _____ than normal atmospheric pressure aloft.

     a.  higher, higher

     b.  higher, lower

     c.  lower, higher

     d.  lower, lower

 9. On an upper-level chart the wind tends to blow:

     a.  at right angles to the isobars or contour lines

     b.  parallel to the isobars or contours

     c.  at an angle between 10 and 30 to the contours and towards lower pressure

     d.  at constant speed

10. Which of the following forces does not have a direct effect on horizontal wind motions?

     a.  pressure gradient force

     b.  frictional force

     c.  gravitational force

     d.  Coriolis force

 11. Which of the following forces can not act to change the speed of the wind?

     a.  pressure gradient force

     b.  frictional force

     c.  Coriolis force

     d.  none of the above

12. Which of the statements below is not correct concerning the pressure gradient force?

     a.  the PGF points from high to low pressure in the Northern Hemisphere

     b.  it is non-existent at the equator

     c.  it can cause the wind to speed up or slow down

     d.  the PGF points from high to low pressure in the Southern Hemisphere

13. Which of the following produces the strongest Coriolis force?

     a.  fast winds, low latitude

     b.  fast winds, high latitude

     c.  slow winds, low latitude

     d.  slow winds, high latitude

 14. If the earth stopped rotating which of the following would not be true?

     a.  surface winds would below from high toward low pressure

     b.  there would still be a Coriolis force

     c.  there would still be a pressure gradient force

     d.  there would still be a gravitational force

15. If in the Northern Hemisphere the upper level winds above you are blowing from the south, then it is a good bet that a trough of low pressure is to the _____ of you.

     a.  north

     b.  south

     c.  east

     d.  west

16. A surface LOW pressure area that moves from south to north directly east of your home would most likely produce winds that shift from:

     a.  S to SE to E

     b.  SE to E to SW

     c.  N to NE to E

     d.  W to NW to N

     e.  NE to N to NW

 17. Surface winds blow across the isobars at an angle due to:

     a.  the Coriolis force

     b.  the pressure gradient force

     c.  the frictional force

     d.  the centripetal force

 18. Winds blow slightly inward:

     a.  around surface low pressure centers in the Northern Hemisphere only

     b.  around surface low pressure centers in the Southern Hemsiphere only

     c.  around surface low pressure centers in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

     d.  at the poles in both hemispheres

 19. The wind around a surface high pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere blows:

     a.  counterclockwise and outward from the center

     b.  counterclockwise and inward toward the center

     c.  clockwise and outward from the center

     d.  clockwise and inward toward the center

20. The atmosphere around the earth would rush off into space if the vertical pressure gradient force were not balanced by:

     a.  the Coriolis force

     b.  the horizontal pressure gradient force

     c.  gravity

     d.  the centripetal force

     e.  friction