MODULE 4 STUDY GUIDE assignment

1. What is atmospheric pressure?

2. What generally happens to atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude?

3. Explain how atmospheric pressure is related to air

density and air temperature.

4. How does the vertical movement of air differ in a low pressure system from

that in a high pressure sys- tem?

5. How are the development of low or high pressure be influenced by surface tem-

peratures?

6. Practice mapping atmo- spheric pressure by drawing lines to represent 1008mb,

1012, 1024mb, and 1020mb of pressure. I have drawn in

the 1016mb lines for you already. When you are done,

label where the high pres- sure and low pressure are on

the map.

4. ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND WIND

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7. What is wind? How is the direction wind flows relat- ed to air pressure and the

pressure gradient?

8. What are cyclones and anticylones? What kind of

weather is associated with a cyclone, an anticyclone?

9. Explain how friction, the pressure gradient, and the

coriolis effect influence wind direction in a cyclone

and an anticyclone?

10. Draw in the direction of air movement in the cy-

clones and anticyclones in the diagrams to the right.

11. What kind of weather is generally associated with the

intertropical convergence zone? How about the sub-

tropical highs? 2/3

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13. Explain the reason why sea breezes and

land breezes develop. What direction does the wind blow during the day and at night?

14. How do Santa Ana winds develop and what are their

characteristics?

15. What role to the Santa Ana winds play in the fire season of

Southern California?

12. On the map below draw in and label the global wind and pressure systems including: the Intertropical Convergence Zone, Subtropical High, Subpolar Low, Polar High, Trade Winds (Easterlies), Westerlies, and the Polar Easterlies. Winds should be drawn with arrows in the proper direction and high and low pressure systems should be represented with an L (for low) or H (for high). I reccomend labeling the pressure systems on the left side of the diagram and the wind systems on the right side of the diagram so that it’s easier to identify them later as you are studying.

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