QUIZ 01

1) Almost 99% of the atmosphere lies within

of the earth's surface.

30 km
2) In a volume of air near the earth's surface,

occupies 78% and

nearly 21%.

nitrogen, oxygen
3) Water vapor
is invisible
4) Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?
water vapor
5) The gas that shows the most variation in concentration from place to place and from time to time in the lower
atmosphere.
water vapor (H2O)
6) Typically, water vapor occupies about what percentage of the air's volume near the earth's surface?
less than 4%
7) The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is relatively low compared to some of the other
constituents. CO2 is important none the less because
it is a greenhouse gas
8) The greenhouse gas that has been increasing in concentration, at least partly due to deforestation.
carbon dioxide (CO2)
9) Which below is not considered a greenhouse gas?
oxygen (O2)
10) Which of the following ingredients are needed for ozone formation in the stratosphere?
oxygen molecules (O2) and oxygen atoms (O)
11) About 97% of the
radiation.

in the atmosphere is found in the stratosphere where it absorbs harmful ultraviolet

ozone
12) The so-called "ozone hole" is observed above
the continent of Antarctica
13) The most abundant gas emitted from volcanoes is
water vapor

14) The amount of force exerted over an area of surface is called

pressure
15) Much of Tibet lies at altitudes over 18,000 feet where the pressure is about 500 mb. At such altitudes, the
Tibetans live above roughly
50% of the air molecules in the atmosphere
16) Inches of mercury (Hg) are commonly used units of
atmospheric pressure
17) Which of the following weather elements always decreases as we climb upward in the atmosphere?
pressure
18) The number of air molecules in a given space or volume is called
density
19) In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally
increases with increasing height
20) The flat top of a thunderstorm about 30,000 or 10 km high would mark the top of the
troposphere
21) The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on changes in the vertical profile of
air temperature
22) The most abundant gas in the stratosphere is
nitrogen (N2)
23) Which of the following would remain constant if you traveled up through the troposphere?
percentage oxygen concentration
24) Warming in the stratosphere is mainly caused by
absorption of ultraviolet radiation by ozone
25) In a temperature inversion
air temperature increases with increasing height
26) The rate at which temperature decreases with increasing altitude is known as the
lapse rate
27) The atmospheric layer in which we live is called the
troposphere
28) The instrument that measures temperature, pressure, and humidity in the vertical is the

radiosonde
29) Which of the following best determines the weather?
all of the above
30) A south wind
blows from the south

QUIZ 02
1) Which of the following provides a measure of the average speed of air molecules?
temperature
2) If the temperature of the air is said to be at absolute zero, one might conclude that
the molecules contain a minimum amount of energy
3) Energy of motion is also known as
kinetic energy
4) The transfer of heat by molecule-to-molecule contact is
conduction
5) A change of one degree on the Celsius scale is

a change of one degree on the Fahrenheit scale

larger than
6) Heat is energy in the process of being transferred from
hot objects to cold objects
7) The horizontal transport of any atmospheric property by the wind is called
advection
8) Which of the following is not a heat-transport process in the atmosphere?
convergence
9) A heat transfer process in the atmosphere that depends upon the movement of air is
convection
10) Which of the following is the poorest conductor of heat?
still air
11) This is released as sensible heat during the formation of clouds.
latent heat
12) This process causes rising air to cool.
expansion

13) The cold feeling that you experience after leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry, summer day is
heat transport by latent heat
14) The temperature of a rising air parcel
always cools due to expansion
15) Energy transferred by electromagnetic waves is called
radiation
16) The proper order from shortest to longest wavelength is
ultraviolet, visible, infrared
17) Which of the following has a wavelength shorter than that of violet light?
ultraviolet radiation
18) Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.7 micrometers is called
visible light
19) Solar radiation reaches the earth's surface as
ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation
20) The earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at
infrared wavelengths
21) The combined albedo of the earth and the atmosphere is approximately
30 percent
22) Which of the following is an incorrect identification?
black body - selective absorber
23) The major process that warms the lower atmosphere is
absorption of infrared radiation
24) If the amount of energy lost by the earth to space each year were not approximately equal to that received
the atmosphere's average temperature would change
25) The main reason for warm summers in middle latitudes is that
the sun is higher in the sky and we receive more direct solar radiation
26) Which of the following is one of the main causes of the seasons?
the length of the daylight hours
27) The north-facing side of a hill in a mountainous region tends to
all of the above

28) The heat energy released when water vapor changes to a liquid is called
latent heat of condensation
29) The earth's radiation is often referred to as
radiation

radiation, while the sun's radiation is often referred to as

longwave, shortwave
30) If the amount of energy lost by the earth to space each year were not approximately equal to that received
the atmosphere's average temperature would change.

QUIZ 03
1) The lag in daily temperature refers to the time lag between
the time of maximum solar radiation and the time of maximum temperature

2) During the afternoon the greatest temperature difference between the surface air and the air several meters
above occurs on a
Clear, calm afternoon

3) The greatest variation in daily temperature usually occurs

at the ground

4) In summer, humid regions typically have

drier regions.

daily temperature ranges and

maximum temperatures than

smaller, lower
5) In most areas the warmest time of the day about 5 feet above the ground occurs
in the afternoon between 2 and 5 pm
6) Which of the following is generally true at night?
the earth emits more energy than it absorbs
7) The lowest temperature is usually observed
around sunrise

8) Which of the following is generally true during the day?

the earth absorbs more energy than it emits

9) In clear weather the air next to the ground is usually

above during the day.

than the air above during the night and

than the air

colder, warmer
10) One would expect the lowest temperatures to be found next to the ground on a
clear, dry, calm night
11) Ideal conditions for a strong radiation inversion are a
clear, calm, dry, winter night.
12) Assuming that the night will remain clear, calm, and unsaturated, the predicted minimum temperature is 32o F.
Suddenly the wind speed increases and remains gusty throughout the night. The minimum temperature will
most likely be
higher than predicted due to mixing
13) The primary cause of a radiation inversion is
infrared radiation emitted by the earth's surface
14) An important reason for the large daily temperature range over deserts is
there is little water vapor in the air to absorb and re-radiate infrared radiation.
15) A radiation inversion is most commonly observed
just above the ground.
16) On a clear, calm, night, the ground and air above cool mainly by this process.
radiation
17) Thermal belts are
warmer hillsides that are less likely to experience freezing conditions
18) In a hilly region the best place to plant crops that are sensitive to low temperatures is
along the hillsides
19) Lines connecting points of equal temperature are called
Isotherms
20) Wind machines can prevent surface air temperatures from reaching extremely low readings by
mixing surface air with air directly above
21) Two objects A and B have the same mass but the specific heat of A is larger than B. If both objects absorb equal
amounts of energy
B will become warmer than A
22) Which of the following statements is true?

if you travel from Dallas, Texas to St. Paul, Minnesota in January, you are more likely to
experience greater temperature variations than if you make the same trip in July
23) Which of the following is not a reason why water warms and cools much more slowly than land?
it takes more heat to raise the temperature of a given amount of soil 1o C than it does to
raise the temperature of water 1o C
24) Two object have the same temperature. Object A feels colder to the touch than object B. This is probably
because the two objects have different
thermal conductivities
25) If you subtract the daily minimum from the daily maximum temperature you have the
daily range of temperature
26) This is used as an index for fuel consumption.
heating degree-days
27) How many heating degree-days would there be for a day with a maximum temperature of 30o F and a minimum
temperature of 20o F? (Assume a base temperature of 65o F)
40
28) The wind-chill index
relates body heat loss with wind to an equivalent temperature with no wind.
29) A thermometer with a small constriction just above the bulb is a
maximum thermometer
30) The thermometer that has a small dumbbell-shaped glass index marker in the tube is called a
minimum thermometer

QUIZ 04
1) When the air is saturated, which of the following statements is NOT correct?
an increase in temperature will cause condensation to occur

2) As the air temperature increases, the air's capacity for water vapor
increases
3) If water vapor comprises 3.5% of an air parcel whose total pressure is 1000 mb, the water vapor pressure would
be
35 mb
4) The ratio of the mass of water vapor in a given volume (parcel) of air to the mass of the remaining dry air
describes the

mixing ratio
5) The following two questions refer to the temperature and dew point data in the following cities
City Air Temperature (o F) Dew Point (oF)
City A 95 76
City B 10 5
City C 30 30
City D 50 42
Which city has the greatest amount of water vapor in the air?
City A
6) Which city has the highest relative humidity?
City C
7) The percentage of water vapor present in the air compared to that required for saturation is the
relative humidity
8) Relative humidity changes with
all of the above
9) As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor to the air, the dew point will
remain the same
10) Which of the following would cause relative humidity to decrease?
warming the air
11) If the air temperature remains constant, evaporating water into the air will
relative humidity.

the dew point and

the

increase, increase
12) At 40 F, the atmosphere is saturated with water vapor. If the air temperature increases to 60 F, with no addition
or removal of water vapor, one may conclude that the dew point is about
40 F
13) A large difference between the dry- and wet-bulb readings on a sling psychrometer indicates
dry conditions
14) Dew is most likely to form on
clear, calm nights
15) Which of the following statements is(are) correct?
all of the above are correct
16) For frozen dew to form
all of the above

17) Frost forms when

all of the above
18) Particles that serve as surfaces on which water vapor may condense are called
condensation nuclei
19) Exhaled breath from your mouth in cold weather produces
evaporation (mixing) fog
20) On a cold, calm autumn morning the formation of fog above a relatively warm lake would most likely be
steam fog
21) The term "cirro" tells you something about cloud
altitude
22) When naming clouds, the term "strato-" or "stratus" means
layer clouds.
23) An anvil-shaped top is most often associated with
cumulonimbus
24) The cloud with the greatest vertical growth is
cumulonimbus
25) Which cloud type is composed of ice crystals and can cause a halo to form around the sun or moon?
cirrostratus
26) Light or moderate-but-steady precipitation is most often associated with

clouds.

nimbostratus
27) Which of the following tell you something about the altitude where a cloud has formed?
cirro
28) The cloud-like streamer often seen forming behind an aircraft flying at high altitude is called
a contrail
29) The dew point temperature is a measure of the total amount of water vapor in the air.
True
30) The total pressure inside a parcel of air is equal to the sum of the pressures of the individual gases.
True