Homework 3 Solutions

1. Pressure gradients generate winds blowing from high pressures to low pressures. Corolis and friction changes the wind, but themselves cannot generate wind. 2. or a surface low to e!ist for an e!tended amount of time, upper level divergence in needed to counter balance the inflow near the surface. "therwise, the surface low pressure will #fills up# $uickl%, and %ou will have no low pressure. 3. Speed & How fast'rapidit% of motion & basicall% distance'time (elocit% & Speed with a direction in a nutshell. )ou have also specified the direction %ou are going. orce & *ewton+s Second ,aw - orce . mass / acceleration. orce is a measure of the

capacit% to generate motion. Capacit% to do work 0which lots of people have put down for their answer1 is wrong2 capacit% to do work is energ% not force. Pressure & Pressure . orce'area. 3asicall%, pressure is a measure how concentrated the force is. 4his is the reason wh% a poke of needle ma% hurt so much more then a strong push 0as long as %ou do fell on the ground of course1.

5.

6 do not full% agree what the book has but... 7acroscale & 1889 km spatial scales, last for da%s or longer. 6ncludes large scale circulation features like :alker and Hadle% cell to individual mid&latitude and tropical c%clones. 7esoscale & 1 & 188 km spatial scales, last for hours. 4hunderstorms, fronts, and organi;ed patches of clouds. 7icroscale & 3elow 1 km, last for minutes. 6ncludes individual small clouds, turbulent eddies, wind gusts, an%thing that is #small#. <. Chinook winds are hot winds that descends from the mountains. =ue to windward side release of latent heat and adiabatic compression, Chinook can get reall% hot and dr%. Chinook is the *ative >merican word for Snow ?ater. 4hanks to its dr%ness, Chinook melts snow ver% $uickl% on the east side of the @ock% 7ountains. A. Batabatic winds are cold winds that descends from mountain ranges and highlands to lower lands around it. Sometimes reall% cold air on top of mountains and highlands get heavier enough to be pulled down b% gravit% and descend down the slopes. =espite of adiabatic compression, Batabatic winds are still colder than the air on the lowlands.

C. =ue to prevailing wind patterns, surface ocean currents along the :est Coast move southward along the coast toward Peru and 7e!ico, and then turn back outward to the

Central Pacific right around Peru. Corolis effect bends the movement of ocean water Dust below the surface awa% from the :est Coast 0this is called the ?kman Spiral in meteorolog% and oceanograph%1. 6n order to make up the loss of ocean water, deeper ocean water must rise. =eep ocean water is much colder than surface water 0which is heated b% solar radiation1, and this leads to a relativel% low ocean temperature along California