REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CH7- STABILITY AND CLOUD DEVELOPMENT

1. What is meant by stable and unstable equilibrium? How are these concepts related to the atmosphere?
2. Why does rising air expand and cool?
3. Why does sinking air compress and warm?
4. What is an adiabatic process?
5. What is the dry adiabatic lapse rate?
6. What is the moist adiabatic lapse rate? Why is it less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate?
7. What is the bottom line for determining atmospheric stability?
8. What is the environmental lapse rate? How is it determined?
9. What are the three cases of atmospheric stability?
10. How are stable and unstable layers created in the atmosphere?
11. What type of clouds would you expect to form in different atmospheric stability cases?
12. How are cloud base and cloud top determined based on atmospheric stability?
13. What is the "level of free convection"?
14. What are common lifting mechanisms for producing clouds?

last updated: 08/20/04 08:17 AM