Atmosphere Vocab

Front

High Pressure

Back

sinking air, often associated with clear skies and calm weather

Front

Low Pressure

Back

rising air, often associated with clouds and precipitation.

Front

El Nino

Back

Decreased Trade Winds, increased westerly winds, hot & dry conditions in Australia & Indonesia and warm, wet weather in North and South America

Front

Polar Cell

Back

A circulation pattern in the atmosphere formed by the movement of air between the poles and 60 degrees latitude

Front

Hadley Cell

Back

A large-scale atmospheric convection cell in which air rises at the equator and sinks 30° north or south.

Front

Ferrel Cell

Back

A mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell, located between the Hadley and Polar cells.

Front

Coriolis Effect

Back

The deflection of moving objects (like wind) due to the rotation of the Earth, causing them to curve to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

Front

Troposphere

Back

1st layer, closest to the earth, weather occurs here, contains 75% of the mass in the atmosphere

Front

Thermosphere

Back

3rd layer, air is very thin, the international space station and aurora borealis are located here

Front

Mesosphere

Back

the middle layer, most meteors burn up here