Meteorology             Natural Science 1005

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Astronomy
Meteorology
Geology

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Astronomy
Meteorology
Geology

Please note: the questions listed are not the only items that you need to know. The questions point out basic information to help understand some topics, some concepts that may not be obvious to all students, and some of the more difficult concepts.

Saturation, Unsaturation, Supersaturation  D2L Explanation

• If we take a close-up look at the surface of liquid water, what is happening in terms of evaporation and condensation?

• How can you describe the relative amount of evaporation and condensation if the atmosphere is unsaturated, saturated, or supersaturated?

Saturation curve  

• Describe how the maximum amount of water vapor in the atmosphere depends on temperature.

Humidity    

• Vapor pressure and mixing ratio
  --How do these describe the amount of water vapor in the air?

• Relative humidity
  --How does RH describe the amount of water vapor in the air?
  --Applications
        --Change in RH as days warms, and as night cools
        --Why does your house feel very dry inside in the winter?
        --Why does a humidifier make your house more comfortable in the winter?
        --Why does your basement feel more humid than the upstairs in the summer?
        --Why does the air feel drier when you run the a/c?
        --What are conditions like if the RH=100%
  --Relative humidity interactive

• Dewpoint 
  --How can the atmosphere cool to the dewpoint?
  --What happens to the RH of a parcel of air with RH<100% if you lift it?
  --What happens to the RH of a parcel of air with RH=100% if you lift it?
  --Describe how the atmosphere can reach the dewpoint if two parcels of air mix together.
  --What happens if the air temperature cools below the dewpoint?

• How are vapor pressure, mixing ratio, relative humidity, and dewpoint different from each other? How are the similar? [To make this easier, just pick 2 to start. How are they different? Similar?]

How does the air get saturated?