Deck 11: Atmospheric Moisture and the Water Balance

Question 1

Heat is released to the environment when water vapor changes into cloud droplets. This process is called:

A) evaporation
B) evapotranspiration
C) condensation
D) sublimation
E) radiation

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The release of stored heat when water freezes is called:

A) specific heat
B) latent heat
C) sublimation
D) radiative heat
E) cold fusion

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following contains the most water vapor?

A) temperature of 50^oF, relative humidity of 50%, dew point of 25^oF
B) temperature of 40^oF, relative humidity of 100%, dew point of 40^oF
C) temperature of 80^oF, relative humidity of 40%, dew point of 50^oF

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In general, the daily highest relative humidity occurs at:

A) sunrise
B) mid-morning
C) noon
D) early evening
E) midnight

Question 5

The rate of evaporation depends on ________.

A) temperature
B) wind speed
C) humidity
D) all of these

Question 6

Over water surfaces, the potential evaporation is _____ the actual evaporation.

A) less than
B) greater than
C) the same as
D) twice as great as

Question 7

Most rainfall occurs with ______ clouds.

A) cirrus
B) stratus
C) cumulus
D) high
E) gray

Question 8

Most rain and snow occurring in the U.S. and Canada occur through the ______ process.

A) coalescence
B) sublimation
C) condensation
D) ice-crystal

Question 9

When snow melts and refreezes in cold air before reaching the Earth's surface, it is called:

A) hail
B) freezing rain
C) slush
D) sleet
E) graupel

Question 10

Which of the following is true about evapotranspiration?

A) Actual evapotranspiration is the amount of water that is lost to the atmosphere from a land surface.
B) Potential evapotranspiration is the maximum amount of water that can be lost to the atmosphere from a land surface with abundant available water
C) AE can be equal to PE when land surface is saturated.
D) all the above

Question 11

Without __________, rainclouds will not form.

A) abundant water vapor
B) condensation nuclei
C) strong updrafts
D) ice crystals

Question 12

Which of the following is expressed as a percentage?

A) specific humidity
B) relative humidity
C) absolute humidity
D) dew point

Question 13

Water covers ____ percent of our planet's surface.

A) about 30
B) about 48
C) about 60
D) about 71

Question 14

Why is relative humidity NOT a direct measurement of water vapor?

A) It varies with the volume of the air.
B) It varies with temperature.
C) Because it uses percentages.
D) none of these

Question 15

On average, the highest amounts of precipitation occur in this zone.

A) near the equator
B) near the subtropics
C) near the subpolar latitudes
D) near the poles

Question 16

Dew and frost are both forms of:

A) precipitation
B) deposition
C) evaporative cooling
D) sublimation

Question 17

In most arid climates, the surplus in the water balance is much less than the deficit.

Question 18

The coalescence process of precipitation requires ice crystals to be present in the cloud.

Question 19

Fog can be defined as a cloud in contact with the Earth's surface.