Homework Questions for Chapter 11 - Air Masses and Fronts

Consult Syllabus for Due Date


Questions 1-3 will be turned in for a grade.

SHOW ALL WORK , CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER, PLEASE BE NEAT AND STAPLE YOUR HOMEWORK!

ALSO, PLEASE USE A SPREADSHEET FOR ALL GRAPHS

Follow the Problem solving steps discussed in class


1.  Create a vertical cross section of temperature from northern Canada down past the Gulf of Mexico.  Label the MT and CP air mass locations in this cross section.  Also pencil in the location of the tropopause. Create another cross section of isotahs and isotherms through the polar jet. Label the jet location.

2. One measure of the strength of a front is the magnitude of the temperature difference across the front (delta T). If we assume that the frontal orientation is N-S, as in the case of an eastward moving cold front, the frontal strength (FS) is related to the magnitude of the temperature difference by:

where delta T is the change in temperature over a distance delta X across the front.

(a)  What are the units of frontal strength?

(b)  Assume that one observes a cold front oriented N-S.  If the temperature at the front is 20 degrees C and decreases to 10 degrees C 100 km to the northwest of the front, what is the frontal strength? Assume that the angle between the isotherms and the front is 45 degrees.


 

EXTRA CREDIT:

 

Find an example of a cold frontal passage in a forecast meteogram for Burlington, VT.  Indicate:

  1. which model produced the meteogram
  2. the time of cold frontal passage on the forecast meteogram. 
  3. the time when the front was observed to pass through Burlington.