Review for Semester Examination #3

Review Session for Exam #3

There will be 2 review sessions Monday April 6. The first will be from 6:30 - 8:00 PM in Room 305 Love. The second will be from 8:00 - 10:00 PM in Room 101 Love. You may attend either one or both review sessions. As was the case with the last revie w session, I will not be answering questions about what is on the test, however, I will be answering any questions pertaining to the subject material.

The exam is Wednesday April 8 from 12:20 to 1:10 PM. Do not be late!

Here are a few pieces of advice regarding exam #3:

• The exam is in the same format as the previous two: 25 multiple choice questions, each worth 3 points, and an essay worth 25 points. You will answer one essay question from a list of five.
• There are a few questions that will require you to perform simple calculations. A simple calculator is recommended.
• Since the last semester examination, we have basically covered 5 topics:
  • Frontal systems
  • Mid-latitude synoptic scale cyclones
  • Thunder and lightning (thunderstorms)
  • Hurricanes
  • Air pollution, environmental issues
• The examination will not have as much quantitative (mathematical) material, however, there are still a few questions that will require you to think on the analytical side. Also, there is an essay question that those more comfortable with the mathemat ics discussed thus far in the semester will appreciate.
• There are quite a few questions similar to the last examination that will test your ability to understand the concepts we have discussed as they pertain to weather map settings. Review the Exam 2 Soluti on Guide for some insight into these types of questions.
• The essay questions are quite involved, and I am expecting a scientific explanation!
• Choose the essay question you feel you know the best and will score the most points on!
• Organize your thoughts into a brief outline on the essay. It may help you to communicate your thoughts more effectively.
• Overall, the exam is easier than the last one, but to score in the A range, you'll still have to know your stuff!

For your convenience, I will provide the following as a reminder of some of the more important topics we have focused on over the last month since Exam #2.

• In the March 16 lecture, we discussed different types of air masses.
• The air masses we discussed are named according to their moisture content and their temperature and their characteristics are determined by the geographic area over which they formed.
• Dry air masses are referred to as continental and moist air masses are referred to as maritime. Cold air masses originating over cold lands are polar while warm air masses originating in warmer latitudes are tropical.
• A warm, dry air mass then for instance, would be classified as a continental tropical air mass, abbreviated cT.
• Air masses will often migrate. Polar air masses often migrate toward equatorial regions while tropical air masses migrate toward polar regions.
• The interface between two different air masses is called a front.
• In the March 16 and March 18 lectures, we discussed four different types of frontal systems:
  • Warm fronts
  • Cold fronts
  • Occluded fronts
  • Stationary fronts
• Often, the strong interaction between cold, polar air masses and warm, tropical air masses generate strong storm systems that propagate in the mid-latitudes called mid-latitude synoptic scale cyclones.
• The strong, counterclockwise, southerly flow out ahead of the low pulls warm air northward generating a warm front while the strong north-west flow behind the low generates a cold front. The low moves with its associated frontal systems.
• The region between the warm front and the cold front in a mid-latitude synoptic scale cyclone is called the warm sector.
• Make sure you visit the March 18 lecture to review weather characteristics associated with frontal boundaries.
• Familiarize yourself with frontal cross-sections as well as mid-latitude synoptic scale cyclone cross-sections that were covered in the March 18 and March 20 lectures.
• In a warm front situation, air is lifted more gradually than in a cold front. Hence, the cloud development in a warm front tends to be more stratiform and thickens as the front approaches, while in a cold front, the air is lifted much more violently, hence the cloud development tends to be more cumuli-form. Hence precipitation associated with a warm front is often lighter and steadier (longer-lasting) while in a cold front, precipitation is often much more intense, but is more scattered in nature.
• The merging of a warm front and a cold front is called an occlusion and an occluded front is formed. In an occluded front, the warm sector is pinched aloft. The horizontal surface temperature gradient is thus reduced, and the front wil l begin to die.
• Check out the satellite picture of a mid-latitude synoptic scale cyclone on the March 20 lecture.
• Objects in vibration that resonate the air create sound waves. Humans, on average, can hear sounds generated by objects vibrating between 20 and 20,000 Hertz (Hz). One Hertz is equal to one vibration per second.
• The loudness or intensity of a sound wave is determined by its amplitude.
• Be familiar with the principles involved in lightning formation. These are covered in the March 23 lecture.
• It is actually different varieties of ice at different temperatures and at different elevations within a cumulonimbus cloud that cause charge gradients to develop within the cloud and between the ground and the cloud. The discharge of this pot ential energy that builds up is lightning.
• Talk or write in your own words before the test about the relationship between lightning and thunder.
• We talked about a few different types of thunderstorms. Scattered, afternoon variety thunderstorms are called air mass thunderstorms. They are more on the microscale. Larger, more organized thunderstorm events on the mesoscale can be squa ll lines, MCC's (mesoscale convective complexes), or even hurricanes.
• Read up on the processes that lead to the formation of air mass thunderstorms as well as mesoscale convective complexes.
• A severe thunderstorm is classified as a thunderstorm where winds over 50 mph are observed or hail greater than 3/4" in diameter is observed.
• Hail forms in cumulonimbus clouds that have very strong updrafts and downdrafts. This situation will be observed in mature thunderstorms.
• Hurricanes form in warm, tropical waters above 79 F. Read up on the other mechanisms that cause hurricanes.
• There will be several hurricane questions. Some pertain to the historically catastrophic hurricanes we have discussed, others pertain to how hurricanes are named and classified. Study the March 27 and the March 30 lectures very hard.
• Read over the Hurricane safety tips covered in the March 30 lecture.
• In the April 1 lecture, there are links to a tremendous amount of hurricane resources. Check it out.
• The movie we saw on April 1 was called Danger's Edge and it was a production of The Weather Channel.
• There will be questions on the exam concerning the April 3 and April 6 lectures (April 6 lecture is not currently online yet). These lectures pertain to air pollution and air pollution meteorology.
• Meteorological conditions, such as humidity, wind conditions, stability, and temperature, can all have an impact on how easily air pollution is dispersed and diluted into the atmosphere once released from either anthropogenic or natural sources.
• Combustion is a reaction between a hydrocarbon and oxygen. Products of combustion are heat, water, and carbon dioxide. In incomplete combustion, or combustion in the presence of nitrogen or other gases, pollutants such as carbon monoxi de, nitrogen oxide, and a host of other chemicals is produced.
• Carbon monoxide is a silent, innocuous, deadly pollutant that suffocates you as red blood cells will bond carbon monoxide 300 times quicker than oxygen.
• Study hard!

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