GS106

Objectives:  Atmosphere

 

1)  Know the basic composition of the earth’s atmosphere with regards to the amount of nitrogen/oxygen relative to other components.

 

2)  Be able to explain (in general) why wet air mass have a lower density than dry air masses.

 

3)  What is an aerosol and be able to give several examples.

 

4)  What role do aerosols play in the atmosphere with regards to cloud formation?

 

5)  How do aerosols affect solar radiation in the atmosphere and understand what reflection, refraction and absorption are.

 

6)  What is the difference between a primary and secondary pollutant and be able to give examples of each.

 

7)  Who is the DEQ, what is the clean air act and what is it’s purpose?

 

8)  What is ozone, what is the chemical formula for ozone and how does it form in the upper atmosphere?

 

9)  Know what is meant by the term photochemical disassociation.

 

10)  How/why does ozone form in the lower atmosphere and what time of the year is it a major problem?

 

11)  Why is Ozone good to have in the upper atmosphere and why is it bad to have in the lower atmosphere?

 

12)  Be able to discuss the depletion of ozone in the upper atmosphere with regards to what is causing it, what has been done about it, and where it is a dominant problem?

 

13)  Why is the “hole” in the ozone layer worse in October/September than other times of the year and is it really a hole?

 

14)  Know the following regions of the atmosphere with regards to where they are located relative to each other.

      Troposphere          Stratosphere           Mesosphere      Thermosphere (ionosphere)

 

15)  Understand what causes the temperature variations in each of the different regions

      Ex//  What causes the temperature to get lower in the troposphere?

               What causes the temperature to increase in the stratosphere?

 

16)  What is the tropopause, stratopause and the mesopause?

 

17)  Explain how the atmosphere heats and what factors cause variations in the heating and how they cause the variations

 

18)  What is latent heat and how is it generated in the atmosphere?

 

19)  What do the following terms mean with regards to water changing phases and how to each add/subtract heat from the atmosphere

      Evaporation            Condensation             Melting           Freezing           Sublimation