physical geography is about the distribution of natural phenomena in space.

Sample questions

2011-12-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

Physical Geography

Sample questions

1. The first nearly correct measurement of the Earth's circumference was made by ________.

A) Newton

B) Einstein

C) Eratosthenes

D) Columbus

E) Plato

2. Greenwich Mean Time" is also known as ________.

A) Universal Time Coordinated

B) European Time

C) the perihelion

D) Polaris

E) The Plane of the Ecliptic

3. The Sun's rays are directly overhead at the ________ on or about December 21.

A) Tropic of Capricorn

B) Tropic of Cancer

C) Arctic Circle

D) Antarctica Circle

E) North Pole

4. The Greenwich Meridian is also known as the ________.

A) Perihelion

B) Aphelion

C) Prime Meridian

D) Equator

E) Small Circle

5. The world is divided into ________ theoretical time zones.

A) 11

B) 15

C) 24

D) 180

E) 360

6. Of the following, which is truly a great circle?

A) Tropic of Capricorn

B) Tropic of Cancer

C) Equator

D) Arctic Circle

E) Antarctic Circle

7. The maximum distance between Earth and Sun occurs in July and is called the ________.

A) Coriolis

B) aphelion

C) sidereal

D) ecliptic

E) perihelion

8. On June 21, the Sun's rays are directly overhead over the ________.

A) Equator

B) Tropic of Cancer

C) Tropic of Capricorn

D) Arctic Circle

E) Plane of the Ecliptic

9. The fact that at any time during the year, the Earth's axis is parallel to its orientation at all other times is called its parallelism, or ________.

A) revolution

B) rotation

C) polarity

D) aphelion

E) perihelion

10. While the United States spans six time zones, the Russian Federation is spread over ________ time zones.

A) 3

B) 9

C) 12

D) 24

E) 36

11. How many time zones are contained within Alaska?

A) 1

B) 2

C) 3

D) 4

E) 5

12. Longitude is divided into multiples of ________ degrees for the purpose of delimiting time zones.

A) 10

B) 15

C) 25

D) 30

E) 34

13. Eratosthenes was the first to accurately measure the Earth's ________.

A) radius

B) polarity

C) circumference

D) crust

E) hemisphere

14. Universal Time Coordinated is also known as ________.

A) Pacific Standard Time

B) Greenwich Mean Time

C) Central Daylight Time

D) Leap Year Time

E) the solstice

15. The Earth/Sun aphelion occurs once per year during the month of ________.

A) January

B) March

C) July

D) December

E) September

16. When the Sun's rays are directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, it is ________.

A) March 21

B) June 21

C) September 21

D) December 21

E) October 21

17 On both the Spring and Fall equinox, the Sun's rays are vertically overhead at the ________.

A) Tropic of Cancer

B) Equator

C) Tropic of Capricorn

D) Arctic Circle

E) None of the above

18 The constant angle between Earth's axis and the Plane of the Ecliptic is called Earth's ________.

A) polarity

B) Mean Time

C) perihelion

D) aphelion

E) praxis

19. The most important physical effect of the Earth's rotation is ________.

A) to cause continents to "drift"

B) seasonal change

C) the alternation of sunlight and darkness

D) Daylight Saving Time

E) the blue appearance of clear sky

20. The solid, inorganic portion of the Earth system is known as the ________.

A) Earth

B) lithosphere

C) hydrosphere

D) atmosphere

E) biosphere

21. The best description of the actual shape of the Earth is as a

A) circle.

B) sphere.

C) spheroid.

D) oblate spheroid.

E) centroid.

22. Which of the following is NOT defined by latitude?

A) parallel

B) Arctic Circle

C) Antarctic Circle

D) North Pole

E) meridian

23. Rotation of the Earth causes ________.

A) tides

B) Coriolis effect

C) local variations in temperature

D) day and night

E) all of the above

24. An equinox has the property of

A) the Sun at the same angle at all latitudes.

B) 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night at all latitudes.

C) the vertical rays of the Sun at the Tropic of Cancer.

D) total darkness north of the Arctic Circle.

E) 24 hours of darkness at the Equator.

25. ) Geography is

A) a physical science.

B) a social science.

C) an art, not a science.

D) much the same as geology.

E) a combination of physical and social sciences.

26. The word geography comes from the Greek, meaning ________.

A) the study of rocks

B) Earth description

C) planet measurement

D) drawing of maps

E) the study of human culture

27. The most famous and, undoubtedly, most widely used of all the map projections is the ________ projection.

A) gnomonic

B) Mercator

C) polyconic

D) sinusoidal

E) Mollweide

28. Of the following, which is NOT considered a map essential?

A) title

B) date

C) cartographer's identification mark

D) legend

E) scale

29. The largest scale among the following representative fractions is ________.

A) 1:100,000

B) 1:1,000,000

C) 1:24,000

D) 1:10,000

E) 1:50,000

30. The relationship between the map distance and the corresponding distance on the ground is known as the ________.

A) vector

B) azimuth

C) map quotient

D) loxodrome

E) scale

31. The characteristic of projections which portray accurate sizes but distort the shapes of land masses is called ________.

A) conformality

B) sinusoidal

C) equivalence

D) azimuthality

E) polyconic

32. Which of the following is considered a "perfect" map projection in terms of the amount of distortion associated with it?

A) Mercator

B) conic

C) cylindrical

D) equivalent

E) none of the above

33. All map projections have this in common:

A) small scale

B) some distortion

C) equivalence

D) conformality

E) perfect portrayal of the globe

34. A major disadvantage of oblique aerial photographs as compared to vertical air photographs is that ________.

A) the view is not familiar

B) they are more expensive

C) accurate measurement is more difficult

D) they are usually classified by the government

E) shadows make identification of Earth features impossible

35. Conformal maps greatly distort ________ of continents in higher latitudes.

A) shapes

B) sizes

C) the number

D) the latitude

E) the longitude

36. The smallest scale of the following is:

A) 1:100,000

B) 1:200,000

C) 1:500,000

D) 1:750,000

E) 1:900,000

37. The original purpose of the Mercator projection was

A) to produce an accurate, equal area map.

B) for the guidance of intercontinental missiles.

C) for ocean navigation.

D) to make the first map of the world.

E) to befuddle introductory physical geography students.

38. In the Mercator projection, which piece of the Earth is portrayed ridiculously large in comparison to its actual size?

A) low-latitude locations

B) Greenland

C) Brazil

D) the continental U.S.

E) the continent of Africa

39. The explanations of symbols used on a map should be contained in

A) the title.

B) the scale.

C) the legend.

D) the space under the north arrow.

E) the data source.

40. The global positioning system (GPS) is based on

A) aerial photography.

B) infrared light sources.

C) data from satellites.

D) large, expensive receivers.

E) gravity waves from the Sun and moon.

41. The main component of the lower atmosphere by total volume is ________.

A) oxygen

B) nitrogen

C) helium

D) argon

E) water vapor

42. A major characteristic of the troposphere is the ________.

A) decrease of temperature with increasing altitude

B) presence of the ozone layer

C) total absence of water vapor

D) increase of pressure with altitude

E) the hottest temperatures in the atmosphere

43. The climatic controls include all but which of the following?

A) distribution of land and water

B) latitude

C) plane of the Equator

D) general circulation of the ocean currents

E) altitude

44. The segment of the atmosphere which blends into interplanetary space is called the ________.

A) troposphere

B) exosphere

C) stratosphere

D) mesosphere

E) thermosphere

45. Oxygen (O2) is being added to the atmosphere by

A) solar radiation.

B) animal decomposition.

C) meteorites.

D) vegetation.

E) the burning of coal.

46. With the exception of water vapor, ________ is the most plentiful of the variable gases in the atmosphere.

A) argon

B) carbon dioxide

C) sulfur dioxide

D) ozone

E) carbon monoxide

47. The ________ is the layer of the atmosphere where electrified atoms are plentiful.

A) thermosphere

B) ionosphere

C) troposphere

D) exosphere

E) stratosphere

48. The main impact of ozone on life on the Earth's surface is to ________.

A) provide oxygen for the atmosphere

B) reduce ultraviolet solar radiation

C) serve as nucleus for cloud formation

D) act as a lid preventing gases from escape

E) to initiate violent storms

49. A main absorber of ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere is ________.

A) argon

B) neon

C) ozone

D) carbon dioxide

E) dust

50. The ozone layer is in that portion of the atmosphere known as the

A) troposphere.

B) mesosphere.

C) stratosphere.

D) heterosphere.

E) ionosphere.

51. The Sun's radiant energy reaches the Earth across space in approximately

A) 8 seconds.

B) 8 minutes.

C) 8 hours.

D) 8 days.

E) 8 months

52. The hydrologic cycle refers to the ________.

A) totality of forms of precipitation

B) non-stop circulation of Earth's water supply

C) flow of rivers

D) groundwater flow to the surface

E) latent heat of vaporization

53. The transfer of moisture from land to air is termed ________.

A) evapotranspiration

B) vaporization

C) evaporative cooling

D) dew point

E) specific humidity

54. Among cloud types, those that occur at the highest altitudes are the ________.

A) cumulus

B) altocumulus

C) stratus

D) cirrus

E) stratocumulus

55. ) Air that resists vertical movement is said to be ________.

A) unstable

B) stable

C) cyclonic

D) anticyclonic

E) adiabatic

56. Air containing all of the water vapor it can hold is ________.

A) adiabatic

B) saturated

C) at its dew point

D) unstable

E) convective

57. The rising and subsequent cooling of air at the rate of 10°C per 1,000 meters is called ________.

A) supercooling

B) the dry adiabatic lapse rate

C) the wet adiabatic lapse rate

D) the dew point

E) the latent heat of condensation

58. Which measure of humidity is a ratio of the mass of water vapor to the volume of the air?

A) absolute humidity

B) specific humidity

C) dew point

D) relative humidity

E) mixing ratio

59. Downwind of large mountain ranges there is less precipitation; this drier zone is called the ________.

A) windward side

B) rain shadow

C) advection side

D) adiabatic area

E) lifting condensation level

60. The amount of water vapor expressed as the mass of water vapor in a given mass of air is ________.

A) relative humidity

B) specific humidity

C) dew point

D) absolute humidity

E) pressure gradient

61 The mass or weight of water vapor in a given volume of air (in grams per cubic meter) is:

A) absolute humidity.

B) relative humidity.

C) specific humidity.

D) dew point.

E) saturation ratio.

62. ________ is the temperature at which saturation is reached.

A) Absolute humidity

B) The dew point

C) The flash point

D) Specific humidity

E) Relative humidity

63 Which of the following promotes evaporation?

A) warm water at Earth's surface

B) warm air

C) moving air

D) dry air

E) all of the above

64. ) The altitude at which rising air reaches the dew point temperature is the ________.

A) lifting condensation level

B) upslope fog level

C) saturation level

D) isohyet level

E) adiabatic level

65. Air forced to move over a mountain is most closely associated with which type of lifting?

A) convection

B) hydrologic

C) convergence

D) orographic

E) stable

66. In classifying air masses, the cold, dry, ones are termed ________.

A) maritime tropical

B) continental tropical

C) continental polar

D) equatorial

E) maritime polar

67. Which of the following is NOT NECESSARILY a property of an air mass?

A) It must be large.

B) It must have uniform properties in the horizontal dimension.

C) It must have a warm front at its leading edge.

D) It must travel as a recognizable entity.

E) It must modify as it leaves its source region.

68. When neither air mass displaces the adjacent one, their boundary is called a(n) ________ front.

A) warm

B) cold

C) stationary

D) occluded

E) dry

69 Fronts are located

A) near air masses.

B) underneath air masses.

C) in the middle of air masses.

D) at the edges of air masses.

E) with respect to motion, to the rear of air masses

70. In an occluded front, the warm air sector is ________.

A) on the ground

B) above the ground

C) north of the cold sector

D) south of the cold sector

E) forced to sink

71 The warmest air can be found in the ________ air mass.

A) cP

B) mP

C) mT

D) cT

E) E

72 Which of the following is NOT an ideal air mass source region?

A) the Rocky Mountains west of Denver

B) the flat tundra surface of northern Canada

C) the flat desert surface of the Sahara

D) the Pacific ocean near the Gulf of Alaska

E) the regions of the world which have stable air

73 The Köppen system of climate classification is based on ________.

A) solar radiation

B) temperature and precipitation

C) evapotranspiration

D) sensible temperature indices

E) cumulative humidity indices

74. The three climate zones of the classical Greeks were "torrid", "temperate", and "________".

A) Arctic

B) cold

C) warm

D) equatorial

E) frigid

75 Most of Earth's water is stored ________.

A) on the surface in liquid form

B) in gaseous form

C) on the surface in solid form

D) underground in liquid form

E) as capillary water in the soil

76. Ice, when it is frozen year-round in the ground, is termed ________.

A) berg ice

B) permafrost

C) ice pack

D) shelf ice

E) groundwater

77. The world's longest river is the ________.

A) Amazon

B) Missouri

C) Nile

D) Hwang Ho

E) Amur

78 The change of ice directly to water vapor is called ________.

A) evaporation

B) sublimation

C) oxidation

D) calcification

E) transpiration

79. The term hydrosphere describes one of the Earth's "spheres" and it includes all of the ________.

A) water above and below the continents

B) fresh water on the planet

C) liquid water on the Earth minus ice

D) water on the surface of the continents

E) water on the planet

80. The weathered layer of loose inorganic material overlaying unfragmented rock below is ________.

A) separates

B) regolith

C) clay

D) peds

E) horizons

81 The soil classification system currently in use in the United States is called the ________.

A) Great Soil Group

B) Soil Taxonomy

C) Latin System

D) Edaphic Index

E) Pedogenic Factor

82. Among layers of the soil horizon, the one with the most organic material is ________.

A) O

B) A

C) B

D) C

E) R

83. Roughly one half of the volume of an "average" soil type is composed of ________.

A) organic material

B) clay

C) pore spaces

D) cations

E) rocky fragments

84. A soil texture in which none of the three main soil separates dominates the other two is called ________.

A) adobe

B) humus

C) loess

D) loam

E) podzol

85 This type of water is held to soil particles by adhesion and is normally unavailable to plants.

A) combined water

B) hygroscopic water

C) gravitational water

D) capillary water

E) frozen water

86. The most common sedimentary rock is ________.

A) basalt

B) granite

C) sandstone

D) shale

E) marble

87. The maintenance of hydrostatic equilibrium of the Earth's crust is called ________.

A) plate tectonics

B) plasticity

C) isostasy

D) broad warping

E) diastrophism

88. The original large continental mass containing all of the present continents prior to separation millions of years ago has been named ________.

A) Laurasia

B) Gondwanaland

C) Pangaea

D) Transcurrent

E) Subduction

89. The Pacific "ring of fire" refers to the ________.

A) Mt. St. Helens region

B) Hawaiian Islands

C) volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean

D) Society Islands

E) subduction zones on the ocean floor

90 Wegener's early proposal of continental drift was not taken seriously because of his ________.

A) failure to provide a plausible cause

B) lack of attention to Earth's species distribution

C) lack of scientific research

D) training as a meteorologist

E) inability to read and write

91. The Himalayas were formed by crumpling of plate edges in a ________ zone.

A) transcurrent

B) divergent

C) convergent

D) rift

E) school

92. The scientific study of location of people and activities across the earth and the reasons for their distribution is…..

A. History

B. Geology

C. Geography

D. Cartography

93. A system for transferring locations from a globe to a flat map is

A) distribution.

B) interruption.

C) projection.

D) scale.

94. The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from another long-distance method is

A) GIS.

B) GPS.

C) remote sensing.

D) USGS.

95 A computer system that stores, organizes, retrieves, analyzes, and displays geographic data is

A) GIS.

B) GPS.

C) remote sensing.

D) USGS.

96. The name given to a portion of Earth's surface is known as

A) location.

B) site.

C) situation.

D) toponym.

97. An area distinguished by one or more unique characteristics is a

A) biome.

B) landscape.

C) region.

D) uniform unit.

98 Which is not an example of a functional region?

A) the circulation area of a newspaper

B) the area of dominance of a television station

C) the market area of a supermarket

D) the area dominated by a particular crop

99. According to environmental determinism,

A) the physical environment causes social development.

B) the physical environment sets limits on human actions.

C) people can adjust to the physical environment.

D) people can choose a course of action from many alternatives offered by the physical environment.

100. The concept that the physical environment limits human actions, but that people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment is

A) climate.

B) environmental determinism.

C) possibilism.

D) spatial association.

Fall 2011 Syllabus

2011-08-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Course syllabus

GEO 200 Physical Geography

Fall 2011

Contact information

Ebenezer Peprah

Dept. of Earth Sciences

peprah.kofi@gmail.com

Office hours:

By appointment only

Required materials

1. Alan F. Arbogast, 2007, Discovering Physical Geography. Available in the University Bookstore and in the University Library on 2-hour reserve.

2. One package of 3 inch 5 inch index cards.

Course prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites. Furthermore, GEO 200 satisfies the Physical Science requirement (Area B1) of the University General Education requirements for undergraduate degrees.

Course objectives

This course will introduce you to the geography of Earth’s natural, physical environments (physical geography), which may be inanimate (i.e., rugged mountain ranges) or ecological (e.g., savannas). You will not only learn where the physical features are located, but why those identified features are located where they are, and not elsewhere. To answer the important question of why, we will investigate the underlying natural scientific processes which are at work on our dynamic planet. This methodology underlies why GEO 200 is a science course; college-level geography is not merely descriptive (i.e., maps and names), but is also analytical.

A benefit of studying the fundamental physical processes of nature is that there are always worldly examples to highlight. Consequently, it is a further goal of GEO 200 to expand your geographic literacy by learning examples of natural environments, as they relate to current events, from around the globe.

Student learning outcomes

By the end of the course, each successful student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Use geographic coordinates to locate map positions.

2. Compute map scale, and differentiate between large and small scale perspectives.

3. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to interpret multilayered maps.

4. Map the names and locations of:

• major lines of latitude and longitude

• continents and large landmasses

• oceans, major seas and lakes

• major mountain ranges

• tectonic plates

• prominent world rivers

• large deserts

• ice sheets

5. Diagram the orientation of the Earth, with respect to the Sun, at various times of year.

6. Be able to determine the latitude and longitude of the overhead sun, at various times of year and times of day.

7. Diagram the vertical layers of the atmosphere, explain what measurable quantity differentiates the layers, and state the reasons for the trends in that property.

8. Explain the numerous physical factors that collectively determine local air temperature.

9. Define and label regions by their Köppen climate scheme.

10. Define biomes, and be able to match biome types with world locations and/or photographs.

11. Explain the multiple types of evidence that exist for plate tectonic movements on the past and present Earth.

12. Diagram the directions of motion—and provide example locations—for each type of plate boundary.

13. Explain the linked relationship between geographic location, the chemical composition of magma, and the type and explosivity of volcanoes.

14. Visually-identify fluvial features including canyons, deltas, alluvial fans, and types of waterfalls.

15. Diagram the sequence of stream meandering across a floodplain.

16. Explain the graded evolution of river basins.

17. Visually-identify various types of glaciers (cirque, alpine, valley, tidewater, and piedmont) and glacial features (e.g., tarns, glacial valleys, horns, arêtes, striations, and moraines).

18. Diagram the positions of the hemispherical circulation cells, and label the zones of easterly and westerly winds.

19. Correctly implement common prefixes and powers for the metric system, and convert measurements between metric and English units.

Blackboard/Blog

To facilitate students having easy access to course materials, the following items will be posted on the Blackboard web page for the course:

• Syllabus

• Course lecture materials

• Homework assignments

• Homework keys

• Examination study guides

• Midterm examination keys

Grading policy

Final grades will be assigned by curving cumulative student scores, and using the following scale for the final adjusted percentages:

Percentages	Letter grade
 93%	A
92-90%	A–
87-89%	B+
83-86%	B
80-82%	B–
77-79%	C+
73-76%	C
70-72%	C–
67-69%	D+
60-66%	D
 59%	F

Attendance

Despite course information being remotely accessible on Blackboard, posted materials are supplements, not substitutes, for the lectures. It is vital to maintain attendance, as examination material will originate from the lectures, and some course content is not present in the textbook. Furthermore, group presentations and pop quizzes—both graded items—occur only during class. It is highly probable that students with imperfect attendance will perform poorly in the course.

Assignments
Several homework assignments (and their due dates) will be assigned intermittently throughout the semester. These will be made available over Blackboard/blog or in class. Homework exercises typically have a variety of problem types, such as calculations, mix-and-match problems, vocabulary, image interpretation, and short essay answers.

There may also be in-class assignments. Some of these will be collaborative group assignments, upon which students may collaborate in teams before they provide their individual answers. These in-class assignments further underscore the importance of good attendance.

Assignment late policy
Homework assignments are to be handed in at the beginning of the course period on the day in which they are due. Assignments submitted after class will be considered at least one day late. Assignments submitted late will lose 10% of their potential value (i.e., “off the top,” before being graded) for being one calendar day late, and 20% of initial points for being two calendar days late. Assignments submitted more than two days late receive no credit. In-class assignments and extra credit are not accepted late. Of course, any assignment may be submitted early without penalty.

Reading pop quizzes

Assigned readings are intended to be performed in advance of their listing on the course schedule. It is not the intention of class meetings to introduce every iota of course content; rather, it is an opportunity to emphasize key concepts, practice the computation of problems, and learn about geographic examples of landforms and physical regions around the world. To ensure that students are prepared when coming to class, pop quizzes will be given on an unannounced basis at the beginning of class. There might be 1, 2, or 0 quizzes per week.

Each quiz is intended to cover general information. You will not need to memorize facts from the chapter, but you should have retained the basic information, new terminology, and underlying themes from your reading. This means that you will need to critically read the textbook—not simply skim it, or read it while partially distracted. All quizzes are weighted equally, but your lowest quiz score during the term will be dropped. Pop quizzes cannot be made up due to unexcused absence or late arrival. You will want to maintain good attendance so that you maximize this portion of your course grade.

Exam format

Three examinations will be offered during the semester. Examination questions will be based on topics discussed during the lectures, and within the assigned readings. Like the homework assignments, there will be a variety of question types including calculations, mix-and-match problems, vocabulary, image interpretation, and short essay answers. Additionally, there will be a substantial number of questions, which are true-false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, lists, and the drawing of diagrams.

Missed exams and quizzes

If a student is going to miss an examination, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor in advance of the examination. This holds for planned and unplanned (i.e., illness) circumstances. If student does not provide advance notification (in-person conversation, phone message, e-mail, or sending a representative to inform the instructor), the absence will be treated as an unexcused absence, and a make-up exam may not be offered, regardless of the validity of the reason. Documentation of the student’s extenuating circumstances may also be required for a make-up exam to be offered.

Reading quizzes may be offered on a make-up basis, if the absence was excused (i.e., advance notification of valid reason). But the makeup must occur promptly: during scheduled office hours before the next class meeting.

Extra credit
Extra credit may be available on an irregular basis, as announced in class.

How to succeed in this course

This class is a science course for General Education credit. Because it is General Education, do not assume that it will be easy! Here are multiple tips for success in the course.

A. Critically read the chapter ahead of time. Performing reading in advance of lecture is expected. This approach prevents you from spending an inordinate amount of time taking notes—limiting your ability to participate in class and ask substantive questions. Without advance reading, you would also have a limited context for the handwritten notes being taken (i.e., trivial points are recorded with great detail, or important themes are overlooked). But how can you retain the proper information from the reading?

Here are some sequential strategies to encourage critical thinking and retention from the readings:

1. Preview the Key Concepts to Remember dialogue box before reading a section. The entries will “cut to the chase” and alert you to the content which you should ultimately understand as a result of reading the section. After meticulosly reading the section, re-read this box—does it now make sense?

2. Write clarifying reading notes/comments for yourself. These may be in the page margins, or on separate sheets of paper. By writing yourself notes, you are helping yourself to mentally process the information.

3. But, don’t highlight excessively. Highlighters are great for especially important passages you do not want to lose, and think you will refer to many times. But your book should not be a rainbow—you’ll spend more time trying to distinguish between the critical and not-so-critical passages. Perhaps wait to selectively highlight until you finish reading the entire section or chapter?

4. Pause during reading to challenge your understanding with the Visual Concept Checks (answers are at the back of each chapter).

5. Process vocabulary terms. Scientific vocabulary is valuable because it allows the compact expression of complex ideas. When you are able to use the terminology, it means that you are able to understand the multiple ideas/processes that justify the creation of that term. Use the Glossary (p. 593) to help you with recalling vocabulary terms. See if you can not only define the term, but also use it in a sentence.

6. Try to mentally answer the end-of-chapter Check Your Understanding questions. If you find yourself stumped, perhaps you did not really understand the reading?

7. Reflect on The Big Picture dialogue box (at end of chapter). This gives an overall context for the information you just learned, and helps set the stage for forthcoming chapters.

B. Cement your understanding at the textbook companion website, www.wiley.com/arbogast. Be sure to select the link for the 1^st edition of the textbook. At this website, you should:

8. Watch the GeoDiscoveries multimedia visualizations. In addition to summarizing a large number of ideas, they form the basis for many of the reading quiz concepts. For your interest, all of the available GeoDiscoveries modules are indexed on textbook page xxvii.

9. Test your understanding of terminology with the Flash Cards. These can help you confirm that you can explain the meaning of vocabulary terms.

10. Take the online Chapter Quiz after completing all of the previous steps. It will automatically score your performance. The results are private—they only appear to you—but they will help you assess how well you are understanding the material.

Moratorium on cellular phones/text devices

Deactivate your phone (i.e., power off, not on vibrate [you’re not going to use it during class, so save the energy]) before the start of class, and keep it put away. The same holds true for text messaging—despite its silence, this is not an acceptable classroom activity.

Academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism
All work performed for this course must be done in accordance with the academic integrity and plagiarism rules of the University. Plagiarism is the usage of another person’s unique ideas and/or words without acknowledging the original source, and may even occur unintentionally. The University mandates students to submit original, independently created work for both examinations and homework. Even small violations of academic integrity can be grounds for University probation, suspension, or even expulsion. For a detailed discussion of the University academic integrity and plagiarism policies, see the Academic Integrity link of the online University Catalog, at http://www.csudh.edu/catalog/2009-2011/acadIntegrity.htm.

In this course, students will be held accountable for violations of plagiarism when it comes to homework. Students often work together to solve problem sets. This is fine, but answers must be independently written and explained. Answers that are verbatim matches to other students’ submissions will invalidate the problems and/or assignment, and students will possibly be referred to a university dean for probation or possible suspension.

Accommodation for students with disabilities
Every effort will be made in this course to accommodate students with learning disabilities. Learning disabilities need be documented by the CSUDH Office of Disabled Student Services (Welch Hall B-250, x3660), and special accommodations to enable learning will be coordinated with that office, the instructor, and the student.

Flexibility disclaimer
This syllabus is a tentative plan for the course, and could be altered based on time restrictions and/or instructor judgment. In that circumstance, a revised syllabus will be announced and posted on Blackboard/blog.

Week date topic chapter(s) pages

1 August 29 Course overview
August 31 Introduction and geographic tools 1&2 start-29

2 September 5 (labor day) no classes
September 7 Geographic tools 2 29-45

3 September 12 Geographic tools (cont’d)
September 14 Earth-Sun Geometry & the seasons 3 start-59

4 September 19 Migrating sun 60-end
September 21 Global Energy system 4

5 September 26 Global Energy system (cont’d)
September 28 Global Temperature patterns 5 90-end

6 October 3 Global Temperature (cont’d)
October 5 Review

7 October 10 Midterm 1
October 12 Atmospheric pressure, wind, global circulation 6 112-end

8 October 17 Atmospheric pressure, wind etc cont’d
October 19 Atmospheric moisture and precipitation 7 146-end

9 October 24 Atmospheric moisture and precipitation cont’d
October 26 Air masses and cyclonic weather systems 8 178-end

10 October 31 Air masses and cyclonic weather systems cont’d
November 2 Midterm 2

11 November 7 Global Distribution and characteristics of soil 11 278-end
November 9 Global distribution and characteristics of soil cont’d

12 November 14 Earth’s internal structure, rock cycle and geologic time 12 320-end
November 16 Earth’s internal structure, rock cycle and geologic time 12 cont’d

13 November 21 Tectonic process and landforms 13 352-end
November 23 Tectonic process and landforms 13

14 November 28 weathering and mass movement 14 392-end
November 30 weathering and mass movement cont’d

15 December 5 Relevance of physical geography and environmental issues 20 560
December 7 Review

16 December 10-16 (finals) (comprehensive- date to be determined)

latitudes and Longitudes earth-sun relation

2010-02-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

Forces that shape the Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7EO4ygqyIU

Earth sphere
The earth’s sphere
Earth’s surface is a complex interface where four spheres meet, and to some degree overlap and interact.
Lithosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere

lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid portion of the Earth
Atmosphere
Contains the complex mixture of gasses to sustain life
Hydrosphere
Comprises water in all its form
biosphere
Comprise all part of earth where living organisms can exist:
Comprise of variety of earthly life forms
The Solar system
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/science/index.html

The size and shape of the earth
Earth is an oblate spheroid rather than a true sphere
Earth shape is affected by two main facts:
It bulges in midriff, because of pliability of Earth’s lithosphere;
It has topographical irregularities.
In context of Earth’s full dimensions, these variations are minute
Size and Shape of Earth
How to Find locations on the earth surface
Geographic grid
Earth’s natural reference points
North Pole
South Pole
Equatorial planes
Rotational Axis

The equatorial plane
It an imaginary plane that passes through earth halfway between the poles and perpendicular to the axis of rotation
1. Axis of rotation
It is an imaginary line that connects the points of the earth surface called North Pole and South Pole

The Geographic Grid
The Equator
Great Circles and Small Circles
Latitude
Longitude
The Equator

Great and Small Circles
Latitude: Parallels
Longitude: Meridians
Important Latitudes

Nautical Miles
Each degree of latitude on the earth surface covers a north south distance of about 111km( 69miles)
Distance varies with latitudes because of the flattening of earth at the poles
What is the relationship between the earth and the Sun?

Earth-Sun Relations
Life on earth is dependent on solar energy
The relationship between the earth and the sun does not remain the same because of the movement of the earth

Earth Movement
Daily Rotation on its axis
Annual Revolution around the sun
Daily Earth Rotation On Its Axis
Earth rotates from West to East in a counterclockwise direction
One rotation of the Earth takes about 24 hours and it equals a one day.

Earth’s daily rotation
1.Coriolis Effect
Deflection in the flow path of both air and water current.
To the right in the Northern Hemisphere
To Left in the Southern Hemisphere
Coriolis Effect
2. Gravitation pull
Onshore and offshore rhythmic movement of ocean water
Rise and fall of water level ( tides)
3. Night and day
4. stars, sun, moon and planets appear to rise in the east
As the Earth rotates to the East, any object not attached to it will seem to drift to the West.
This is why the stars, Sun, Moon, and planets all rise in the East, and set in the West.

Earth’s Revolution
Earth’s revolution around the sun takes 365¼ days in a counterclockwise Direction
The path that the earth follows is elliptical – not circular.…because of that, the earth-sun distance is not constant.

Earth-sun distance
Closest at 147,166,480km ( 91,455,000miles) also known as Perihelion on or about January 3rd. Farthest at 152,171,500 (94,555,000miles) also known as Aphelion on or about July 4th
Basics of the earth positions
http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanimations/animations/01_EarthSun_E2.html

The Plane of the ecliptic
The plane of the ecliptic is a plane that cuts through the center of the Earth and the Sun in which the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Inclination of the earth
The Earth's axis is tilted 23 1/2 degrees from being perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic.
Polarity of Earth’s Axis
The axis of rotation remains pointing in the same direction as it revolves around the Sun, pointing toward the star Polaris
Parallelism…

The seasons
The combined effect of;
Rotation,
Revolution,
Inclination, and
Polarity result in the seasonal patterns experienced on earth
March of the Seasons
Seasons
The seasons are caused because the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis.
Summer happens to the hemisphere tilted towards the Sun, and
Winter happens to the hemisphere tilted away from the Sun
June solstice
This occur on or about June 21
The Ray of the sun at noon are striking perpendicular to the surface of tropic of cancer, 23.5°north of the equator
All point north of 66.5°north experience 24 continuous hours of daylight
The June solstice is called the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, Winter solstice in the southern Hemisphere. Thus the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere
September Equinox
This occurs on or about September 22
Here the vertical rays of the sun strikes at the equator
All locations on earth receive 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. September equinox is called Autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and Vernal equinox in the southern Hemisphere
December Solstice
This occurs on or about December 21
Here the North pole is oriented directly away from the sun.
The vertical rays of the sun strikes 23.5°s, Tropic of Capricorn.This is called winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere
The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.First day of summer in the southern Hemisphere
March Equinox
This occurs on or about March 20th.This is similar to the September equinox
It is called Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumnal equinox in the southern Hemisphere.Earth-sun relations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taHTA7S_JGk

Significance of seasonal Patterns
Day length, and angle at which the sun’s rays strike the earth surface are the principal determinant of amount of solar energy receives at any particular latitudes are;
Geography Matters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyhSHDGg-cw

Introduction updated version

2010-01-11T11:55:00.001-08:00

Introduction Physical to Geography
What is Geography?
It is the scientific study of the location of natural and human phenomena across the earth and the reasons for their particular distribution.
Areal differentiations…
Geographers study how things differ from place to place
2 broad things???
Natural in origin (physical geography)
Human endeavors (human geography)
Eratosthenes
The first person to use the word geography was Eratosthenes
Two Greek words
‘geo’ =earth
‘graphy’ = description
Geography = Earth description
Branches of Geography
1. Cultural/ Human Geography
2. Physical/ Environmental Geography

Cultural Geography
The elements are those of human endeavors. Examples
Population
Settlements
Economic activities
Transportation
Recreation activities
Religion
Languages
Political systems
Traditions etc

Physical Geography
The study of the natural processes that shape the surface of the Earth and life on it;
It is Concerned with processes and patterns in the natural world.
The elements are natural in origin.
Earth surface
Rocks
Landforms
Soils
Flora
Fauna
Climate
Water
Minerals
Discipline of geography
Geography is also concerned with interrelationship of phenomena on earth surface
Environmental determinism
Environmental Possibilism
Geography is both a physical science and social science because it combines characteristics of both
Knowledge in the natural world is advanced through the use of scientific methods
Art and science
Science is a process of following a set of predetermined guides in order to achieve a result.
An Art, by contrast, takes the power of metaphor and independent thought inherent in the human mind to bear in order to create something.
What is a scientific method?
A body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge,
For correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
What are the processes involved in Scientific methods?

1.Observation and Description
This include reading and studying what others have done in the past because scientific knowledge is cumulative
2. Formulation of Hypothesis
This is a tentative answer to the question: a testable explanation for what was observed
An hypothesis is not an observation, rather, a tentative explanation for the observation
3. Prediction/reasoning
Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.
Two types
Inductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning goes from a set of specific observations to general conclusions:
Example
I observed cells in x, y, and z organisms, therefore all animals have cells.
From specifics observation to generalization
Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning flows from general to specific. From general premises, a scientist would extrapolate to specific results:
Ex. if all organisms have cells and humans are organisms, then humans should have cells.
This is a prediction about a specific case based on the general premises.
4.Experimentation and conclusion
Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters
Good sciences tend to be cautious in the conclusion that are drawn
“ the evidence suggests…, the results most likely….
The result becomes a theory
Theory
A theory is a generalization based on many observations and experiments;
It is a well-tested, verified hypothesis that fits existing data and explains how processes or events are thought to occur
The acceptance of scientific ideas and theories are based on evidence, not on beliefs
Geographic questions?
Where?- location
Why?- explanation
What?- description/definition
How?-impact/processes of formation
Location
The Geographic Grid
The Equator
Great Circles and Small Circles
Latitude
Longitude
Latitudes
Latitude lines run east and west along the surface of the earth
They are called Parallels since they are parallel to each other. They range from 0° at the equator to 90° north latitude at the North Pole, and 90° south latitude at the south pole
Latitude: Parallels
Arctic Circle is the parallel of latitude that runs 66° 33′ 39″ north of the Equator
The equivalent latitude in the southern hemisphere is called the Antarctic Circle
Tropic of cancer
It is the most northerly latitude at which the Sun can appear directly overhead at noon. (23° 26′ 22″ north of the Equator)
It is the most northerly latitude at which the Sun can appear directly overhead at noon.
This event occurs at the June solstice,
Longitudes
Lines of longitudes are known as Meridians
They are farthest apart at the equator and converge at the poles.There is no natural starting position for longitude. The artificial starting point for measuring longitude is the prime meridian which runs through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England
Location east of the prime meridian are described in degrees east longitude
Location west of the prime meridian is described in degrees west meridian
Longitudes range in degrees 0° at the prime meridian to 180° on the opposite side of the earth from the prime meridian
prime meridian to +180° eastward and −180° westward

How Do Geographers Describe Where Things are?
Map and Contemporary tools
Map
A map is a two-dimensional or flat-scale model of the earths surface, or a portion of it.
The science of mapmaking is called Cartography
Two important uses of Map
A map serves two purposes:
A tool for storing reference materials
A tool for communicating geographic information
Map Scale
Distances on a map to proportional distances on the ground
Types
VERBAL SCALE
FRACTIONAL SCALE
BAR SCALE
Verbal
A verbal scale just states what distance on a map is equal to what distance on the ground
Example :1 inch = 10 miles
They are mostly stated in different units.
Fractional scale
Fractional scales are written as fractions (1/62500) or as ratios (1:62500).Fractional scales do not have units.It is up to the map reader to provide his/her own units.
Bar Scale
A bar scale is just a line drawn on a map of known ground length. There are usually distances marks along the line
Scale types
Small scale map?
Large scale map
Contemporary tools
Remote Sensing
Geographic Information System
Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting earth or from other long-distance method
Geographic Information System GIS)
A computer-based system designed to collect, store, integrate, manipulate, analyze & display data in a spatially referenced environment.
5 Geographic Themes
Location
Place
Movement
Human/environmental relations
Region

Contemporary tools
Geographic Information System
Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting earth or from other long-distance method
Remote sensing
Remotely sensed images
Geographic Information System
(GIS)

A computer-based system designed to collect, store, integrate, manipulate, analyze & display data in a spatially referenced environment.

Earth’s sphere
Earth’s surface is a complex interface where four spheres meet, and to some degree overlap and interact.
Lithosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid portion of the Earth
Atmosphere
Contains the complex mixture of gasses to sustain life
Hydrosphere
Comprises water in all its form
biosphere
Comprise all part of earth where living organisms can exist: Comprise of variety of earthly life forms
The size and shape of the earth
Earth is an oblate spheroid rather than a true sphere. Earth shape is affected by two main facts: It bulges in midriff, because of pliability of Earth’s lithosphere; It has topographical irregularities. In context of Earth’s full dimensions, these variations are minute
Oblate spheroid
Difference of 43km
Earth’s natural reference points
North Pole
South Pole
Equatorial planes
Rotational Axis
The equatorial plane
It an imaginary plane that passes through earth halfway between the poles and perpendicular to the axis of rotation
1. Axis of rotation
It is an imaginary line that connects the points of the earth surface called North Pole and South Pole
The Geographic Grid
The Equator
Great Circles and Small Circles
Latitude
Longitude
The Equator
Great and Small Circles
Important Latitudes
Arctic and Antarctic Circle
Arctic circle is the parallel of latitude that runs 66° 33′ 39″ north of the Equator. The equivalent latitude in the southern hemisphere is called the Antarctic Circle

Tropic of cancer
It is the most northerly latitude at which the Sun can appear directly overhead at noon. (23° 26′ 22″ north of the Equator)
It is the most northerly latitude at which the Sun can appear directly overhead at noon.
This event occurs at the June solstice,
Nautical Miles
Each degree of latitude on the earth surface covers a north south distance of about 111km( 69miles)
Distance varies with latitudes because of the flattening of earth at the poles
Longitude: Meridians
local time; This is based on the position of the sun in the sky.
“Noon” for a given location is the moment in the day when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky.
Standard time By international agreement 24 standard time zones has been established
Time Zones
Greenwich Mean time is now referred to as the Universal time Coordinated (UTC)
Large countries may encompass several time zones because of the extent of their east west direction. EX
RUSSIA -11time zones,
US-Including Alaska and Hawaii spread over 6time zones
Telling time
In each time zone there is a controlling meridian along which clock time is the same as sun time (Thus the sun reaches its highest point at 12noon.
Time zones for US and Canada
What is the relationship between the earth and the Sun?

Our solar system
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/science/space-sci/solar-system/solar-system-sci.html

Earth-Sun Relations
Life on earth is dependent on solar energy
The relationship between the earth and the sun does not remain the same because of the movement of the earth
EARTH MOVEMENTS
Earth Movement
Daily Rotation on its axis
Annual Revolution around the sun
Daily Earth Rotation On Its Axis
Earth rotates from West to East in a counterclockwise direction
One rotation of the Earth takes about 24 hours and it equals a one day.

What are the effects of the earth’s daily rotation on its axis?
1.Coriolis Effect
Deflection in the flow path of both air and water current.
To the right in the Northern Hemisphere
To Left in the Southern Hemisphere
Coriolis Effect
2. Gravitation pull
Onshore and offshore rhythmic movement of ocean water
Rise and fall of water level ( tides)
3. Night and day
4. stars, sun, moon and planets appear to rise in the east
As the Earth rotates to the East, any object not attached to it will seem to drift to the West.
This is why the stars, Sun, Moon, and planets all rise in the East, and set in the West.
Earth’s Revolution
Earth’s revolution around the sun takes 365¼ days in a counterclockwise Direction
The path that the earth follows is elliptical – not circular.…because of that, the earth-sun distance is not constant.
Earth-sun distance
Closest at 147,166,480km ( 91,455,000miles) also known as Perihelion on or about January 3rd
Farthest at 152,171,500 (94,555,000miles) also known as Aphelion on or about July 4th
Basics of the earth positions
http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanimations/animations/01_EarthSun_E2.html

The Plane of the ecliptic
The plane of the ecliptic is a plane that cuts through the center of the Earth and the Sun in which the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Inclination of the earth
The Earth's axis is tilted 23 1/2 degrees from being perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic.
Polarity of Earth’s Axis
The axis of rotation remains pointing in the same direction as it revolves around the Sun, pointing toward the star Polaris
Parallelism…
The seasons
The combined effect of;
Rotation,
Revolution,
Inclination, and
Polarity result in the seasonal patterns experienced on earth
March of the Seasons
Seasons
The seasons are caused because the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis.
Summer happens to the hemisphere tilted towards the Sun, and
Winter happens to the hemisphere tilted away from the Sun
June solstice
This occur on or about June 21
The Ray of the sun at noon are striking perpendicular to the surface of tropic of cancer, 23.5°north of the equator
All point north of 66.5°north experience 24 continuous hours of daylight
The June solstice is called the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, Winter solstice in the southern Hemisphere
Thus the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere
September Equinox
This occurs on or about September 22. Here the vertical rays of the sun strikes at the equator. All locations on earth receive 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness
September equinox is called Autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and Vernal equinox in the southern Hemisphere
December Solstice
This occurs on or about December 21
Here the North pole is oriented directly away from the sun. The vertical rays of the sun. strikes 23.5°s, Tropic of Capricorn
This is called winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere
The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere
First day of summer in the southern Hemisphere
March Equinox
This occurs on or about March 20th
This is similar to the September equinox
It is called Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumnal equinox in the southern Hemisphere
Earth-sun relations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taHTA7S_JGk
Significance of seasonal Patterns
Day length, and angle at which the sun’s rays strike the earth surface are the principal determinant of amount of solar energy receives at any particular latitudes.
Geography Matters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyhSHDGg-cw
Global Temperature Controls
Altitude
Latitude
Land-Water Contrasts
Ocean Currents

ATMOSPHERE

2009-09-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION TO THE ATMOSPHERE

The Atmosphere
The atmosphere is a mixture of different gases, particles and aerosols collectively known as air which envelops the Earth. More than 98% of atmosphere lies within 26 kilometers [16 miles] of Earth’s surface).

Composition of the atmosphere
Chemical composition of the atmosphere is simple and uniform at elevation below 80km (50miles)
Gases
Particulates
Permanent Gases

The Gases
Air—synonymous with atmosphere, is a mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen and oxygen.
Basic composition of air:
Nitrogen—78%
Oxygen—21%
Argon—nearly 1%

Nitrogen
Added to the air by:
The decay and burning of organic matter;
volcanic eruptions ;
Chemical breakdown of certain rocks
Removed from the air:
Washed away in rain or snow
Oxygen
Added to the atmosphere by plants and vegetation

Variable Gases
Water vapor
It is the gas phase of water. Can be produced from the evaporation of liquid water or from the sublimation of ice.Water vapor is variable in location but not variable in time: Abundance in air overlying warm moist surface, Source of clouds and precipitation, has significant effect on weather and climate…..
------how?

Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is produced by all animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms during respiration and is used by plants during photosynthesis to make sugars which may either be consumed again in respiration or used as the raw material for plant growth.

Added to atmosphere by burning of fossil fuel. Helps to heat lower atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation.
Evenly distributed at lower atmosphere
Increased concentration due to increased burning of fossil fuel

Ozone
Ozone is a relatively unstable molecule (03) composed of 3 oxygen atoms . Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of animals. Ozone in the upper atmosphere filters potentially damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth's surface.

Upper and ground ozone layers

Health effect of ground level ozone
Eye irritation; headaches; coughing; impaired lung function; and eye, nose, and throat irritation.
Asthmatics and children are most at risk. Ground-level ozone can also damage trees, plants, and reduce visibility.

What causes ground level ozone
It is also a product of reactions between chemicals that are produced by burning coal, gasoline, other fuels, and the chemicals found in paints and hair sprays.

How can we reduce my contribution to ground-level ozone?
Avoid idling your motor vehicle excessively.
Conserve energy and recycle.
Keep your vehicle well tuned.
Limit driving; carpool, walk, ride a bicycle, and combine trips

Atmospheric variable gases on weather and climate
Only water vapor and carbon dioxide have a significant effect on weather and climate.
Water vapor determines the humidity of the atmosphere. It is the source of all clouds and precipitation, and is intimately involved in the storage, movement, and release of heat energy.
Carbon dioxide absorb infrared radiation, keeping the lower atmosphere warm.

Atmospheric Particulates
Solid and liquid particles found in the atmosphere; can be both visible to eye and invisible; come from both natural and human-made sources.
Impact on weather and climate
They are hygroscopic (they absorb water), and water vapor collects around them, which contributes to cloud formation;
They can either absorb or reflect sunlight, thus decreasing the amount of solar energy that reaches Earth’s surface.

Vertical Structure of the atmosphere
Troposphere
From the earth's surface to 11-12 km above, temperature decreases with height.
troposhere. The rate of change of air temperature with height is called the "lapse rate".
In the troposphere, the lapse rate is generally about 6.5 deg C per kilometer increase in altitude.

tropopause
The boundary between the troposphere, and the stratosphere
The height of the tropopause from the ground ranges from 8 km in high latitudes, to 18 km above the equator. The tropopause is a boundary layer defined by a sudden change in lapse rate.
stratosphere
The stratosphere is marked by a temperature inversion from about 11-12 km to 50 km above sea level. stratosphere is a region of little mixing
Many of the commercial jets fly in or near this layer

Why does temperature increase with altitude in the stratosphere?
Because the ozone (O3) layer mostly resides at this level in the atmosphere.
Ozone absorbs UV radiation from the sun which, in turn, increases the motion of the ozone molecules. The ozone molecules then collide with other molecules in the air, increasing its temperature.

Mesosphere
The mesosphere resides from about 50 km to 80-90 km above the earth's surface.
This area is where meteoroids burn up and leave a streak in the night sky
Low atmospheric pressure. There is not a layer of ozone to cause heating, so temperatures are colder as height increases.

Thermosphere
The thermosphere lies above about 90 km. The highest recognized thermal layer in the atmosphere, here temperature increases continually with height.The Theromsphere includes in both the Ionosphere and the Exosphere.

ionosphere
The Ionosphere reflects radio waves back to the earth. The ions and dust particles also create a fabulous light show known as the aurora borealis sometimes called the northern lights

Exospherre
The Exosphere is where we often term as space, it's that area that holds the satellites that allow us to communicate by way of TV and other means

Atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure is basically the weight of overlying air. Thus air pressure is normally highest at sea level and rapidly decreases with altitude.

2009-05-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Internal Processes
Internal processes are responsible for the gross shape of lithospheric landscape.

The Internal Processes
 Rigid Earth theory
 Plate Tectonics
 Vulcanism
 Folding and Faulting
 Earthquakes
Rigid earth

Continental crust
Oceanic and continental crusts
Asthenosphere
Isostatic Depression
Importance of Isostatic processes
Isostasy

Continental drifts
Pangaea
 The massive supercontinent that Alfred Wegener postulated to have existed about 250 million years ago.

Evidence of continental drifts
 Close affinities of geologic features on both sides of Atlantic Ocean.
 Continental margins of subequatorial portions of Africa and South America fit together.

Plate Tectonic
 It is a theory of geology that has been developed to explain the observed evidence for large scale motions of the Earth's lithosphere.
Evidence of plate tectonic

1. Sea floor spreading
 Paleomagnetism
 Plate boundary
2. Subduction
 Convection and plate tectonics
Sea floor spreading
 Seafloor spreading—theory proposing that oceanic ridges are formed by currents of deep-seated magma rising up from the mantle (often during volcanic eruptions), creating new crust on the ridges (the newest crust formed on the planet).

Theory of seafloor spreading –
two sets of evidence
Paleomagnetism
Core sampling
Earth magnetic field
Paleomagnetism
 Paleomagnetism is the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field preserved in various magnetic minerals through time.
 ----demonstrated that the Earth's magnetic field varies substantially in both orientation and intensity through time.

Sea floor spreading
Earth’s magnetic field

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPLjnqS8UeY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxQsLLOYC7Q&feature=related

Core sampling
 Sediment age and thickness increase with increasing distance from the ridges, indicating that sediments farthest from ridges are oldest.
Subduction
 Process proposed to explain trenches, making them the site where older crust descends into the interior of Earth, where it is presumably melted and recycled into the convective cycle that operates in Earth.
Subduction zone
 A subduction zone is an area on Earth where two tectonic plates meet and move towards one another, with one sliding underneath the other and moving down into the mantle, at rates typically measured in centimeters per year.
Subduction zone

Plate boundary
 Oceans have a continuous system of large ridges located some distance from continents, often midocean.
 Also, deep trenches occur at many places in the ocean floors, often around margins of ocean basins.
 Most of the action of plate tectonics takes place along these boundaries.

Only three types of contacts between plates are possible
 Divergent
 Convergent
 Laterial slide
Divergent Boundary
 Divergent boundary—type of plate association in which two plates are moving away from each other because of magma welling up from asthenosphere
 Usually represented by midocean ridges
 Divergence boundaries are said to be contructive because it adds materials to the crustal surface at such locations
 Most common in oceanic ridge, but also occurs within a continent, as in East African Rift Valley.
 The red sea is also an outcome of the spreading taking place within a continent

Convergent boundary
 Type of plate association in which two plates are colliding.
 Sometimes called destructive because they result in removal or compression of the surface crust
 Normal result is one plate being subducted, but showing crumpling at the edges where they meet (often resulting in massive and spectacular landforms).
Types
 Oceanic–continental convergence
 Oceanic–oceanic convergence
 Continental–continental convergence
Oceanic-continental convergence
 Denser oceanic lithosphere underrides continental lithosphere when the two collide
 The subducting slabs pulls on the rest of the plate. Here denser oceanic plate is subducted, and oceanic trench and coastal mountains are usually created

Examples
 Andes
 The Cascades in northwestern North America
 Accompanied by earthquakes, and volcanoes develop
Oceanic–oceanic convergence
 creates oceanic trench and volcanoes on ocean floor, which initiate volcanic island arc (e.g., Aleutians and Japan).
Continental-continental convergence
 Here no subduction occurs, so huge mountain ranges are built up (e.g., Alps and Himalayas).
 Volcanoes are rare, but shallow-focus earthquakes common.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRfEGvp6wDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?=Oa4vhwVP_JA&feature=PlayList&p=DDCC256E4FA7EA3F&index=0&playnext=1

Introduction to Landform study

2009-05-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Introduction to landform study
Inside the earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLiOFjemWQ&feature=related

Unknown interior
Humans have not penetrated more than one-thousandth of Earth radius.
Inferential knowledge of earth interior through monitoring shock waves transmitted through Earth from earthquakes or from human-made explosions.
Deduced that earth has a heavy inner core surrounded by three concentric layers of various composition and density.The deepest existing mine is only 3.8 kilometers.The deepest drill is only 12kilometers

The Unknown Interior
Crust
Mantle
Outer Core
Inner Core

Crust
Crust is the outermost solid layer of Earth,consist of broad mixture of rock types.
On average, crust three times as thick under continents as under ocean.
5-9 km deep beneath the ocean floor and
25-60 km beneath the continents

Moho
Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho)—the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle.

Mantle
that portion of Earth beneath the crust and surrounding the outer core,
depth of 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles).
Largest volume of all four shells.
Scientists believe three zones within mantle:
lithosphere,
asthenosphere,
mesosphere
Mantle- lithosphere
Lithosphere—the uppermost zone of mantle and the crust together.
Sometimes used as a general term for the entire solid Earth.)

Asthenosphere
Asthenosphere—plastic layer of the upper mantle that underlies the lithosphere.
Its rock is very hot and therefore weak and easily deformed.

Mantle-mesosphere
Mesosphere—the rigid part of the deep mantle.
Outer core
The (molten) liquid shell beneath the mantle that encloses Earth’s inner core.
Inner core
The supposedly solid, dense, innermost portion of Earth,
Consist largely of iron/nickel or iron/silicate.

Composition of the Earth
Minerals
Igneous Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
Metamorphic Rocks
Rock Classes
Minerals
Minerals
A naturally formed inorganic solid substance that has an unvarying chemical composition and characteristic crystal structure.Over 4400 minerals have been identified with new types identified almost every yearOnly a few are important constituents of the rocks of earth’s crust
Ex. Silicates, oxides, sulfides, halides.
Rocks
solid material composed of aggregated mineral particles (in lithosphere).
Less than 20 minerals account for more than 95% of the composition of all continental and oceanic crustal rocks
Where are rocks found????
Outcrops
Outcrop is a geological term referring to the appearance of bedrock or superficial deposits exposed at the surface of the Earth
Bedrock
Solid rocks buried beneath the earth surface
Regolith
Broken rocks that overlay bedrock
Magma and Lava
molten rocks in Earth’s interior.Quantity unknown.

Lava
Lava refers to molten rocks when it flows out on, or squeezed up onto, the surface

Classes of rocks
There are three major rock classes
Igneous rocks
Sedimentary
Metamorphic

Types of rocks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZwit_VHdrE

Igneous rocks
rock formed by solidification of molten magma.
Many kinds, but principal shared trait is crystalline structure.

Types of Igneous rocks
Plutonic (intrusive) rock
Volcanic ( Extrusive) Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Extrusive
molten rock ejected onto Earth’s surface, solidifying quickly in the open air.
Extrusive Igneous
Intrusive
rocks that cool and solidify beneath Earth’s surface (may be pushed up to surface or exposed through erosion).
Granite is most common and well known
Intrusive Igneous
Sedimentary Rocks
Sediment—small particles of rock debris or organic material deposited by water, wind, or ice.
rock formed of sediment that is consolidated by the combination of pressure and cementation.
During sedimentation, materials sorted roughly by size (the finer particles carried farther than heavier particles).
Strata
Strata (plural; stratum, singular)—distinct layers of sediment
Results in parallel structure (stratification), with layers varying in thickness and composition.
Categories of Sedimentary rocks
Categorized by how they formed:
mechanically,
chemically,
organically.

Mechanically accumulated..
Mechanically accumulated: fragments of preexisting rocks.
For example, shale and sandstone.

Shale
is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that is formed by the compression of muds
chemically accumulated..
precipitation of soluble materials or chemical reactions.
For example, calcium carbonate and limestone.

organically accumulated
remains of dead plants or animals.
For example, coal and limestone.

Metamorphic rocks
rock that was originally something else (igneous or sedimentary) but has been drastically changed by massive forces of heat and/or pressure working on it from within Earth.
Metamorphic Rocks
Process recrystallizes and rearranges mineral components.
Some predictability, such as limestone metamorphized becomes marble.
Sometimes metamorphosis so great, can’t determine nature of original rock.
Most common are schist and gneiss.
schist and gneiss
Rock cycle
describes the dynamic transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous.
The Rock Cycle
Distribution of Rock Classes
Critical Concepts
Basic Terms
Topography
Geomorphology
Landform
Relief
Uniformitarianism
“The present is the key to the past”
Geologic Time

2009-04-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Atmospheric Moisture
Most atmospheric moisture occurs in three physical states
Solid (snow, hail, sleet, ice)
Liquid (rain, droplet)
Gas (water vapor)
The Impact of Atmospheric Moisture on the Landscape
Atmospheric moisture influences landscape both in short term and long term.
Short term; flooding, snow and ice;
Long term, with precipitation integral to weathering and erosion, critical to vegetation.
Nature of water
Occupies 70% of the surface of the planet
Pure water has no color
No taste
No smell
Turns to solid at 0°C (32°F)
Boils at sea level at 100°C (212°F)

Water Molecules
Two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, bond to form water molecule
The hydrogen side of the water molecule has a positive charge
The oxygen side has negative charge

Properties of water
Water contracts only until it reaches 4°C (39°F) and expands to its freezing point of 0°C (32°F)
Because water expands as it approaches freezing, ice is less dense than liquid water
All lakes freeze from the top down
Water is adhesive
Water has capillarity effect
Water is a universal solvent
Phase change of water
Transitions between solid, liquid, and gaseous phases typically involve large amounts of energy.
The energies required to accomplish the phase changes is called the latent heat
There are three phases:
Evaporation
Condensation
Sublimation
Evaporation- the conversion of liquid water to its gaseous form ( water vapor)
Condensation- the conversion of water vapor to liquid water
sublimation- process whereby a substance converts either from gaseous state directly to solid state or solid face directly to gaseous state without even passing through the liquid state

Water vapor
Invisible gas that mixes freely with other gases of the atmosphere
It is restricted to the lower troposphere (1.5km) of earth’s surface
It is colorless
Odorless
Tasteless
How is water vapor added to the air?
When the rate of evaporation exceeds condensation-
Thus when there is net evaporation
This depend on three factors
Temperature( of both air and water)
Amount of water vapor already in the air
Motion of air

Temperature
Warm air and high water temperature promote evaporation
Molecules become more agitated when the air and water temperature increases.
The higher the temperature the higher the maximum vapor pressure
Vapor pressure
Vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by water vapor in the air
1. At any given temperature, there is a maximum vapor pressure that water vapor molecules can exert
Saturated air
The amount of water vapor that air can contain is limited, and when that limit is reached air is said to be saturated.The warmer the air, the more water vapor it can hold before becoming saturated.

Amount of water vapor already in the air
If the air overlying water surface is almost saturated with water vapor, the rate of evaporation is the same as the rate of condensation- there is little evaporation
Still verse Moving air
If the air is in motion,
windiness and/or turbulence helps promote evaporation by removing saturated air
a) Moving air disperses vapor molecules and thus makes air above water surface less saturated, so rate of evaporation can increase.
Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration—the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth's land surface to atmosphere
Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration occurs through two ways:
Transpiration—the process by which plant leaves give up their moisture to the atmosphere;
Evaporation from soil and plants
Potential evapotranspiration
This is the amount of evapotranspiration that would occur if the ground at the location in question were sopping wet all the time
Potential evapotranspiration rate and actual rate of precipitation play a key role in determining a region’s groundwater supply (or lack of it).
Hydrologic cycle
It is the continuous interchange of moisture between earth and the atmosphere
Essentials
Evaporation-Liquid water ( primarily from ocean) evaporates into the air
Condensation-changes into liquid
Precipitation-fall as rain, snow etc

Measures of Humidity
Humidity—the amount of water vapor in the air.
It can be measured and expressed in a number of ways
Absolute Humidity
Relative humidity
Specific humidity
These are different ways to express the water content in a parcel of air.
Absolute humidity
It is the amount of water vapor in a given volume of air
Expressed as the weight of water vapor in a given volume of air, usually as grams of water per cubic meter of air.
Absolute humidity is limited according to temperature.
a) The colder the air, the less vapor it can hold.
Concept of Absolute Humidity
If all the water in one cubic meter of air were condensed into a container, the container could be weighed to determine absolute humidity.
The amount of vapor in that cube of air is the absolute humidity of that cubic meter of air.
Specific Humidity
Specific humidity The mass of water vapor per unit mass of air, including the water vapor
(usually expressed as grams of water vapor per kilogram of air).
Specific humidity does not vary as the temperature or pressure of a body of air changes, as long as moisture is not added to or taken away from it
This stability of the specific humidity makes it useful as an identifying property of a moving air mass
Relative Humidity
Relative humidity is an expression of the amount of water vapor in the air in comparison with the total amount that could be there if the air were saturated.
This is a ratio that is expressed as a percentage.
Relative humidity describes how close the air is to saturation with water vapor
It changes if either the water vapor content or the water vapor capacity of the air changes
Capacity is the maximum amount of water vapor that can be in the air at a given temperature.
It can be determined through the use of a psychrometer
Relative Humidity and Temperature
Dew Point
The temperature at which saturation is reached is called the dew point temperature

Condensation
Process whereby water vapor is converted to liquid water
Essential conditions
The air must be saturated
There must be condensation nuclei or hydroscopic particles
For condensation to take place, air must be saturated.
Condensation cannot occur, however, even if the air is saturated, if there is not a surface on which it can take place.
Air becomes supersaturated if surface is not available
In upper atmosphere, surfaces are available through hygroscopic particles or condensation nuclei
Condensation Nuclei
They are airborne particles upon which water vapor can condense to produce cloud droplets. Examples:
They are tiny microscopic therefore invisible to the eye (about 0.2 – 10.0 microns)
They are particles light enough to remain suspended in the air.
They are formed from a variety of sources including dust, pollen, smoke, salt from ocean
Type of condensation nuclei
There are two broad categories of condensation nuclei:
Hygroscopic
Hydrophobic.

Hygroscopic nuclei
Hygroscopic nuclei are “water seeking” nuclei.
Water vapor condenses on hygroscopic surfaces readily even when the relative humidity is considerably lower than 100 percent.
Example Salt
Hydrophobic nuclei
Hydrophobic nuclei are water repelling. Water vapor will condense on hydrophobic surfaces only at relative humidity’s greater than 100 percent, and even then with great difficulty.
Examples are oil, and gasoline.

Adiabatic process
It is a process which occurs with no exchange of heat between a system and its environment.
When air rises, it pressure decreases, and so it expands and cools adiabatically
Adiabatic process
Large masses of air can be cooled to the dew point ONLY by expanding as they rise.
Because of this limitation, adiabatic cooling is the only prominent mechanism for development of clouds and production of rain
Dry adiabatic rate
The rate at which a parcel of unsaturated air cools as it rises;
This rate is relatively steady (6.5°F per 1000 feet) (10°C/km).
Air is not necessarily “dry,” just not saturated.
Descending air warms, and it does so at the dry adiabatic lapse rate.
Lifting condensation level
The altitude at which rising air cools sufficiently to reach 100% relative humidity at the dew point temperature, and condensation begins.
Saturated Adiabatic Rate
The diminished rate of cooling, which occurs when air rises above the lifting condensation level
It depends on temperature and pressure, but averages about
3.3°F per 1000 feet
(6°C/1000 meters)
Clouds
Clouds are collections of minute droplets of water or tiny crystals of ice
Not all clouds precipitate, but all precipitation comes from clouds
At any given time, about 50% of Earth is covered by clouds.

Formation of clouds
Ascending air expands, cools adiabatically and, if sufficiently moist, some of the water vapor condenses to form cloud droplets
Importance of clouds
Clouds play an important role in the global energy budget.
Receive insolation from above and terrestrial radiation from below.
a) They absorb, reflect, scatter, or reradiate this energy, and so influence radiant energy
Classification of clouds
Clouds are classified on the basis of two factors:
Forms
Altitude
Forms of clouds
There are three forms of clouds
Cirriform clouds
Cumuliform clouds
Stratiform clouds

Cirriform clouds
A cloud that is thin, wispy, and composed of ice crystals rather than water particles;
It is found at high elevations
Cumuliform clouds
A cloud that is massive and rounded,
With a flat base and limited horizontal extent, but often billowing upward to great heights.
Stratiform clouds
Clouds that appear as grayish sheets or layers that cover most or all of the sky, rarely being broken into individual cloud units.
Sub classification of clouds
These 3 cloud forms: Stratiform, cumuliform, cirriform are sub classified into 10 types based on shape
Three of these 10 are purely one form, while the other 7 are combinations of these three
Three pure forms of clouds
Cirrus cloud
Cumulus cloud
Stratus cloud—low clouds, usually below 6500 feet (2 km), which sometimes occur as individual clouds but more often appear as a general overcast.
Cirrus cloud—high cirriform clouds of feathery appearance
Cumulus cloud
Cumulus cloud—puffy white cloud that forms from rising columns of air.
Stratus cloud
Stratus cloud—low clouds, usually below 6500 feet (2 km),
Sometimes occur as individual clouds but more often appear as a general overcast.
Clouds based on Altitude
The ten cloud types are divided on into four families on the basis of altitude
High clouds-
Middle clouds-
Low clouds-
Vertical clouds
Examples
High clouds- above 20,000 feet:
cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus
Middle clouds-6500-20,000 feet
altocumulus, altostratus
Low clouds- below 6500: stratus, stratus cumulus, and nimbostratus
Vertical clouds-
cumulus, cumulonimbus (storm clouds)

Fog
There are no physical difference between clouds and fog
But there are differences in how each formed
Formation of fog
Fog is formed when moist air is cooled, not by expansion but by contact with a colder surface.
Types of fogs
Radiation fog
Advection fog,
Precipitation or frontal fog),
Upslope fog

Radiative fog
This type of fog forms at night under clear skies with calm winds when heat absorbed by the earth’s surface during the day is radiated into space
Advection fog
This develops when warm, moist air moves horizontally over cold surface, such as snow-covered ground or cold ocean current
Ex.Sea fogs are always advection fogs
Upslope Fog
Upslope fog forms when light winds push moist air up a hillside or mountainside to a level where the air becomes saturated and condensation occurs
Evaporation or Mixing Fog
This type of fog forms when sufficient water vapor is added to the air by evaporation and the moist air mixes with cooler, relatively drier air.
Precipitation
Precipitation comes only from clouds that have “nimb“ in their name; specifically, nimbostratus or cumulonimbus. When cloud particles become too heavy to remain suspended in the air, they fall to the earth as precipitation
Precipitation comes from clouds but not all clouds precipitate
Condensation alone is insufficient to produce rain drops
Processes
Two mechanisms are believed to be principally responsible for producing precipitation
Ice-crystal formation
Collision and coalescence of water droplets
Collision/coalescence
Most responsible for precipitation in the tropics and produces much precipitation in the middle latitudes
Collision/Coalescence
Ice-crystal formation
It is believed to account for the majority of precipitation outside of tropical regions.
Ice crystals and supercooled water droplets in cloud are in direct competition for water vapor not yet condensed.
Forms of Precipitation
Rain—the most common and widespread form of precipitation, consisting of drops of liquid water.
Snow-solid precipitation in the form of ice crystals, small pellets, or flakes, which is formed by the direct conversion of water vapor to ice
Forms of precipitation
Sleet—small raindrops that freeze during decent, reaching ground as small pellets of ice.
Glaze—rain that turns to ice the instant it collides with a solid object
Hail is a large frozen raindrop produced by intense thunderstorms.
hail
Atmospheric Lifting and Precipitation
There are four types of atmospheric lifting
Convective lifting
Orographic lifting
Frontal lifting
Convergent lifting
Convectional precipitation
Showery precipitation with large raindrops falling fast and hard
This occurs when unequal heating of different air surface areas warms one parcel of air and not the air around it.

Orographic precipitation
This is caused when topographic barriers force air to ascend upslope;
Orographic only occurs if the ascending air is cooled to the dew point.

Frontal precipitation
This occurs when air is cooled to the dew point after unlike air masses meet, creating a zone of discontinuity (front) that forces the warmer air to rise over the cooler air (frontal lifting).
Frontal Lifting
Convergent lifting
Occurs when air parcels converge and the crowding forces uplift, which enhances instability.
This precipitation is particularly characteristic of low latitudes.
This is the least common form of lifting
End

atmospheric pressure part one

2009-04-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

Atmospheric Pressure and Wind
Pressure and wind are the major elements of weather and climate
What is atmospheric pressure?
The force exerted by gas molecules in the atmosphere.

Nature of atmospheric pressure
Affects Earth’s surface as well as any other body on Earth.
Omnidirectional force—exerted equally in all directions.
At sea level atmospheric pressure is about 14.7pounds per square inch
Force drops with increasing altitude because actual number of gas molecules also drops

Impact of pressure and wind on the landscape
Humans not as sensitive to air pressure as they are to other three climate elements (heat, air movement, and humidity).

Air pressure acts and responds to other three climate elements, but most intimately with wind.

Air movement
Spatial variations in pressure create air movements
Pressure,
Density,
Temperature
Variations in any one—pressure, density, and temperature of atmosphere—affect the other two. Relationship is very complex, so difficult to make exact predictions of how change in one changes the others.

How pressure varies with density
Density is how heavy something is for its size
Something that's very heavy and small has a high density.

Measurement of density
Density is Mass divided by Volume.
It's usually measured in kilograms per cubic meter.
To work out the density of something, divide mass (how much it "weighs”), by volume (how much space it takes up

Density and pressure
Density of gas changes easily because gas expands as far as the environmental pressure will allow.The density of a gas is proportional to the pressure on it
The denser the gas, the greater the pressure it exerts.

Mapping pressure with Isobars
Barometer—instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure.
Isobars are lines of constant pressure
Mapping with Isobars
If the number now is between 0 and 55.9, add a leading 10, i.e. 1012.6If the number is between 56.0 and 99.9, add a leading 9.

High and low pressure areas
High” and “low” pressures are relative conditions, with the distinction depending on the pressure of the adjoining areas
.

High pressure area
Winds around a High blow in a clockwise direction away from the center. (“The clock is high.”) Highs usually have fair weather.

Low pressure
Winds around a Low blow in a counter-clockwise and inward. (“The counter is low.”) Low pressure systems often have stormy or unsettled weather.

Pressure gradient
The horizontal rate of pressure change, representing the “steepness” of the pressure slope; has a direct effect on the speed of wind.

The Nature of Wind
Wind—horizontal movements of air
Vertical motions of wind
Updrafts and downdrafts—small-scale vertical motions.
Ascents and subsidences—large-scale vertical motions

Directions of movement
Depends on the interaction of three factors:
pressure gradient
friction
Coriolis effect (Earth’s rotation)

Pressure Gradient
Coriolis Effect
The deflection of free moving objects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.
To the left in the Southern Hemisphere, in response to the rotation of Earth.

Friction
Geostrophic wind
A wind that moves parallel to the isobars as a result of the balance between the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis effect.

Cyclones and Anticyclones
Cyclone—low-pressure cell.
Anticyclone—high-pressure cell.

Cyclones and Anticyclones
TO BE CONTINUED

Atmospheric pressure part 2

2009-03-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Cyclones and Anticyclones
Cyclone—low-pressure cell.
Anticyclone—high-pressure cell.

Cyclones and Anticyclones
Circulation patterns
Eight circulation patterns are possible because of the interaction of the pressure gradient, Coriolis effect, and friction.
Four involve anticyclones.
Four involve cyclones

Circulation Patterns
Circulation Patterns
Wind Speed
Is determined by pressure gradient.
The steeper its slope, the faster the wind.
Most persistent winds are usually in coastal areas or high mountains
Wind Speed
Vertical Variations in Pressure and Wind
Atmospheric pressure usually decreases rapidly with height.
Wind speed usually increases with height; winds tend to move faster above friction layer.

General Circulationof the Atmosphere
Rotation of Earth and its variable surfaces is key in creating a complex circulation pattern for atmosphere
Only the tropical regions have a complete vertical cell.

General Circulationof the Atmosphere
Hadley Cells
Components of General Circulation
Jet Streams
HADLEY CELL
Assume that
earth is uniformly covered with water
sun is directly over equator
no rotation
you will end up with a single-cell pattern called Hadley cell…

Hadley cells
warm air rises at the equator, cold air sinks at the poles
Hadley cells
This is a complete vertical circulation cells in which warm air rises to elevations of about 50,000 feet (15 km), where it cools and moves poleward, then subsides.
The cell’s air rises at the equator and descends at about 30° of latitude (either north or south, depending on cell).

Hadley Cells
Hadley cells
The general circulation of the atmosphere has seven surface component
Subtropical latitude
Subtropical latitudes serve as the “source’ of the major surface winds of the planet.

Subtropical latitude
They are latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south.
under a ridge of high pressure called the Subtropical ridge
It is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm.
Subtropical latitude
Components of General Circulation
Subtropical Highs
Trade Winds
Intertropical Convergence Zone
The Westerlies
Polar Highs
Polar Easterlies
Subpolar Lows
Subtropical Highs
Subtropical highs— (STHs) large semi permanent high-pressure (anticyclone) cells centered at about 30° latitude over the oceans;
Have average diameters of 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) and are usually elongated east–west.
Develop from the descending air of the Hadley cells.

Subtropical Highs
Horse latitudes
Areas in the subtropical highs characterized by warm, tropical sunshine and an absence of wind;
This is created because weather within an STH is nearly always clear, warm, and calm.
Where?
STHs also coincide with most of the world’s major deserts.

Landforms in the area
The consistently warm, dry conditions of the horse latitudes also contribute to the existence of temperate deserts
Trade winds
Winds are named for the direction they blow from
Trade winds’ origin depends on which hemisphere they are in
Trade winds
the major wind system of the tropics, issuing from the equatorward sides of the subtropical highs and diverging toward the west and toward the equator.
Trade winds
Most reliable of all winds, being extremely consistent in both direction and speed.
Northern and Southern hemisphere trade winds
In Northern Hemisphere, trade winds originate in northeast, so are sometimes called northeast trades.
In Southern Hemisphere, originate in southeast, so are sometimes called southeast trades.
Characteristics of trade winds
They do not release moisture unless forced by a topographic barrier or pressure disturbance.
Windward slopes in trade winds, as in Hawaii, are some of the wettest places on Earth
Intertropical convergence zone
is a belt of low pressure surrounding the Earth at the equator.
Also called equatorial front, intertropical front, and doldrums
ITCZ
It is formed by the vertical ascent of warm, moist air from the latitudes above and below the equator
regions in the intertropical convergence zone receive precipitation over 200 days in a year.
Doldrum
The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage for those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone,
a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm
The Westerlies
are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles.
Westerlies
Jet streams
Two cores of high-speed winds at high altitudes in the westerlies:
Polar front jet stream
Subtropical front jet stream
Jet Streams
Polar Highs
A high-pressure cell situated over either polar region.
Because it forms over an extensive, high-elevation, very cold continent, Antarctic high differs greatly from Arctic high.
Polar Easterlies
a global wind system that occupies most of the area between the polar highs and about 60° of latitude.
The winds move generally from east to west and are typically cold and dry.
Monsoon
monsoon
a seasonal reversal of winds; a general onshore movement in summer and a general offshore flow in winter, with a very distinctive seasonal precipitation regime.
South Asian Monsoon
MonsoonsMonsoon Areas of the World
Localized wind systems
Sea and Land Breeze
Land breeze
Land breeze—local wind blowing from land to water, usually at night (and normally considerably weaker flow than that of sea breeze).
Sea breeze
Sea breeze—local wind blowing from sea toward the land, usually during the day.

Sea and Land Breezes
Valley and Mountain Breezes
Valley and mountain breeze
Mountain air cools quickly at night, allowing cooler air to drain down the slope in the evening.
Conversely, valley air heats more rapidly during the day, allowing warm air to move upslope during the day.
Valley breeze—an upslope flow, during day.
Mountain breeze—a downslope flow, during night.

Valley Breezes
Mountain Breezes
Foehn/Chinook Winds
Chinook—a localized downslope wind of relatively dry and warm air, which is further warmed adiabatically as it moves down the leeward slope of the Rocky Mountains.

Chinook Winds

2009-03-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

A computer system that stores, organizes, retrieves, analyzes, and displays geographic data is
A) GIS.
B) GPS.
C) Remote sensing.
D) USGS.

The first person to use the word geography was
A) Aristotle.
B) Eratosthenes.
C) Strabo.
D) Thales of Miletus

__________________ goes from a set of specific observations to general
A. Inducative reasoning
B. Deductive reasoning
C. Literature review
D. Hypothesis

A prediction about a specific case based on the general premises is ____________
A. Deductive reasoning
B. Deductive reasoning
C. Literature Review
D. Hypothesis

All conformal projections have meridians and parallels crossing each other at right angles, just as they do on the globe.
A. true
B. False

The scale of a map can never be constant all over the entire map.
A. True
B. False

On Mercator projection, Greenland's size relative to the United States is greatly exaggerated
A. True
B. false

The original purpose of the Mercator projection was for navigation.
A. True
B. False

“Equivalency" in map projections means having no scale changes over the entire map
A. True
B. False

Maps are inherently inaccurate because of their attempt to depict the curved Earth on a flat surface.
A. True
B. False

2009-03-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

Portraying the Earth
The Nature of map
A two-dimensional representation of the earth and the spatial distribution of selected phenomena

Defining map…
It is a scaled drawing of a portion of a landscape representing the area at a reduced scale and showing only selected data.
Basic attributes of maps
Ability so show distance, direction, size, and shape in their horizontal spatial relationship

Shows distribution of one or more phenomena
Maps and Map Projections
How Maps Can Mislead Us
A Globe
Is the only truly accurate representation of the earth
A flat surface
It is easy to portray a flat surface on a flat piece of paper

But there is no way to accurately portray a 3-dimensional round surface on a flat piece of paper

Therefore all maps are distorted
Distortion will occur in at least one of these three map components:
Size (area)
Shape
Distance

Major dilemma
Impossible for cartographers to portray on a map, the accurate size and shape of objects of the earth surface, without a compromise.
The questions is; Which to sacrifice shape or Size?

Equivalence verses Conformality
These are the two properties of map projections

Equivalent
A map that is equivalent is accurate in size or area
Also known as Equal Area projection
It is NOT going to be accurate in shape
Peter’s map is equivalent
Conformal
A map that is conformal is accurate in shape

It will NOT be accurate in size (area)
Mercator map is conformal
A world map cannot be both equivalent and conformal

Equivalence and conformality are mutually exclusive properties
Making Maps
Mapmakers have devised many different methods for making maps of the world

Projections
The different methods are called “projections”

The term projection refers to projecting the 3-dimensional globe onto a flat surface

Major challenges
How to transfer data from a spherical surface to a flat piece of paper without distortions

Common Map Projections
Cylindrical
Conical
Planar or polar
Cylindrical Projections
Commonly used for world maps
Distort size (area) more in areas farthest away from the equator
Most prominent in northern latitudes since most of the northern hemisphere’s land mass is far from the equator
Mercator is the most common cylindrical projection
Cylindrical
Conical Projections
Most often used to portray continents in the mid latitudes
North America
Europe
South America

Not useful for a world map
Conical
Polar Projections
Can only show one hemisphere

Most often used to portray the Arctic Ocean in the northern hemisphere or Antarctica in the southern hemisphere

A semi-polar projection is useful in portraying the former Soviet Union
Planar or Polar (Azimuth)
Tangency
Each projection is accurate at the point(s) of tangency only
Cylindrical: equator (line)
Conic: mid latitude (line)
Planar: one pole only (point)

The further away from the point(s) of tangency, the more distortion
tangency

Tangency…
The distortions increase as the distance from the central point of the projection increases.

Other Projections
Various ways to minimize distortion in one aspect while keeping accuracy in the other aspect have been invented

Mollewide
Robinson
Goode’s Homolosine (interrupted)
Distortion Compared
Maps projections
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI36MWAH54s&feature=related

Map scale
Map scale gives the relationship between the length measured on the map and the corresponding actual distance on the ground
Scale can never be represented with perfect accuracy……
Why??????
Nature of map scales
Scales can never be constant (same) over the entire map
Small area may have a nearly perfect scale with less variation
Large area may have a scale variations
Scale Types
Three types of scales
Graphic map scale
Fractional map scale
verbal map scale

Verbal scale Map scale
1 inch equals 16 miles
Thus 1-inch on the map represents 16 miles on the surface of the Earth.
This is the easiest scale to understand because it generally uses familiar units.

Graphic or bar scale
B. Graphic or Bar Scale:
_____________________________________
_____16________0________16_________32_ miles
The Bar Scale is particularly important when enlarging or reducing maps by photocopy techniques because it changes with the map. If the Bar Scale is included in the photocopy, you will have an indication of the new scale.
Fractional map scale
1:1,000,000 (this is the same as 1/1,000,000)
The RF says that 1 of any measurement on the map equals 1 million of the same measurement on the original surface;
commonly used in the Map Collection.
A good quality map should have both the RF and Bar Scales.

Examples of Map Scales
Legend
The legend is the key to reading the map
Defines the colors and symbols used on the map
The map scale will be found there
Ratio
1:10,000
Fractional
1/10,000
Words
“One inch equals ten-thousand inches”
Graphic – looks like a ruler

Large Scale vs. Small Scale
A large scale map portrays a small part of earth’s surface
City
Campus
Classroom

Anything with the second number of the scale ratio less than 60,000 is considered a large scale map

A small scale map portrays a large portion of earth’s surface
World map – the smallest scale of all
1:13,000,000 is the scale of our wall map

Anything with the second number larger than 60,000 is considered a small scale map
Extremely small scale maps,
like world maps, have the
most distortion
Large scale maps, like a map of the college campus, have little or no distortion
Types of Maps
Maps are generally made for a specific purpose
Road Map
Shows roads, towns, cities, and other data useful for transportation

Probably the most familiar to the average person

But there are many other types of maps!
Political
Show man-made divisions, such as the borders of states or countries

Physical
Show physical characteristics, like mountains, lakes, and rivers
Often show elevation by color coding
Topographic
Show landforms and elevations in detail

Often use isolines, lines that connect places with equal value, in this case “feet above sea level”
Thematic
Physical
Climate
Ocean Currents
Biomes

Cultural
Population
Ethnicity
Income

Map of World Population
Automated Cartography

Computer technology has provided several great benefits to cartography:
Improved speed and data-handling ability;
Reduced time involved in map production;
Ability for cartographer to examine alternative map layouts.
Cartographic devices
Isolines : any line that joins points of equal value of something

Contour line—joins points of equal elevation;
Isobar—joins points of equal atmospheric pressure;
Isogonic line—joins points of equal magnetic declination;
Isohyet—joins points of equal quantities of precipitation;
Isotherm—joins points of equal temperature.

Basic characteristic of Isolines
They are always closed lines, having no ends;
They represent gradations in quantities, so only touch or cross one another in very rare and unusual circumstances.
Isolines close together indicate a steep gradient
The Global Positioning system-
GPS
It is a satellite-based systems for determining accurate positions on or near Earth’s surface

Global Positional System
It was developed by the Department of Defense in the 1970s and 1980s to provide a reliable and accurate positioning system for mobile military platforms operating around the world.
How it operates
It is Based on a network of 24 high-Altitude satellite configured so that a minimum of four are in view of any position on earth
the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed/direction, and time.

GPS
Each satellite continually transmits both identification and positioning which can be picked by receivers on earth
Remote sensing
It is any measurement or acquisition of information by a recording device that is not in direct contact with the object under study
Remote sensing
Types: Passive and Active
Passive system : here the satellite works by sensing the natural radiation emitted or reflected from an object.
Active system: the satellite has its own source of electromagnetic radiation.
EX.
Radar- it is able to penetrate atmospheric moisture
Sonar: This permits underwater imaging

USES
makes it possible to collect data on dangerous or inaccessible areas
Replaces costly and slow collection on the ground, ensuring in the process that areas or objects are not disturbed.
Aerial Photographs
It is one taken from an elevated platform such as a balloon, airplane or rocket
Depending on camera angle there are two classification of aerial photographs
Oblique
Vertical
Oblique aerial photograph
Here the camera angle is less than 90˚
The features are seen from a more or less familiar point of view
Vertical Aerial photographs
Pictures are taken with the optical axis of the camera approximately perpendicular to the surface of the earth
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
An Automated systems for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data

Soils

2008-08-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lithosphere
It is the solid outermost shell of a rocky planet.Soil is the most important aspect of the lithosphere
What is Soil?
A zone of plant growth.The upper portion of lithosphere characterized by its ability to produce and store plant nutrients.Average depth is about 15 centimeters (6 inches).
Soil
It is made up of:
Inorganic minerals (eroded rocks),
Organic materials (decomposing leaves) and living organisms (as diverse as earthworms and bacteria).
Regolith
Regolith—a layer of broken and partly decomposed rock particles that covers bedrock; its upper part is soil.
Soil development
Begins with the process of physical and chemical disintegration of rocks exposed to the atmosphere and the action of water percolating down from the surface
-This process is known as weathering
Soil-Forming Factors
Five factors are involved in forming soil:
Geology
Climate
Topography
Biology
Time
Geologic- parent material
Parent material is the primary material from which the soil is formed;
Ex. unconsolidated deposits such as river alluvium, volcanic ash, and organic matter (such as accumulations in swamps)
This influence diminishes with time, as other factors become increasingly important.
Climatic factors
Most influential factor.Temperature and moisture are most significant.Heat, rain, ice, snow, wind, sunshine, and other environmental forces, break down parent material and affect how fast or slow soil formation processes go.High temperatures and abundant moistures accelerate chemical and biological processes in soil.
Topography
Soils at the bottom of a hill will get more water than soils on the slopes
soils on the slopes that directly face the sun will be drier than soils on slopes that do not.
The Biological Factor
Organic matter only small fraction of soil volume, but of utmost importance.
Gives life to soil. From living and dead plants and animals. Vegetation provides passageways for drainage and aeration.
Microorganism
Microorganisms generate estimated 75% of soil’s metabolic activity.Create humus—decomposed organic matter of utmost important to agriculture.Loosens soil structure, lessens density, and promotes root development. Provides reservoirs for plant nutrients and soil water.
Pedoturbation—mixing of soil provided by animals, which counteracts tendency of other soil-forming processes to heighten the vertical differences among soil layers.
Chronological factors
Most soil develops with geologic slowness: changes imperceptible within human lifespan.
Nonrenewable resource:Can be degraded through erosion or depletion of nutrients in just a few years.
Soil component
Four neutral components of soil:
Inorganic,
Organics,
Air,
Water.
Inorganic materials
Bulk of soil is mineral matter.Half of average soil is small, granular mineral matter called sand and silt.Mineral composition depends on parent material.Quartz (silica, SiO2) most common.
Smallest particles in the soil are clay.Clay provides an important reservoir for plant nutrients and soil water.Only clay particles take part in the intricate chemical activities that occur in soil. clay is negatively charged, so attracts positively charged nutrients known as cation
Organic matter
The organic matter in soil derives from plants and animals.Varies from alive to dead, partially decomposed to completely decomposed.In a forest, for example, leaf litter and woody material falls to the forest floor. When it decays to the point it is no longer recognizable it is called soil organic matter.When the organic matter has broken down into a stable humic substances that resist further decomposition it is called humus.Litter—the collection of dead plant parts that accumulate at the surface of the soil.
Soil Air
Nearly half the volume of soil is made up of pore spaces.Pores spaces Allow water and air to penetrate.Soil air is saturated with moisture, rich in carbon dioxide, and poor in oxygen
soil water
Water performs number of important functions:Dissolves essential nutrients for plant roots;
Helps complete necessary chemical reactions;Assists microorganisms producing humus;
Mixes soil particles.Movement of water into the soil is controlled by gravity, capillary action, and soil porosity.
Four forms of soil moisture
Gravitational water ( free water)
Capillary water
Hydroscopic water
Combine water
Gravitational water (free water)
It is the excess moisture in the soil that percolates within 24 - 48 hours after irrigation or precipitation.Temporary in nature, not effective in supplying plants.Gravitational water accomplishes two functions;
Eluviation
Illuviation
Eluviations is the process by which gravitational water picks up fine particles of soil from the upper layers and carries them downward.
Illuviation—the process by which fine particles of soil from the upper layers are deposited at a lower level
Capillary water (cohesion)
Water that remains after gravitational water has drained away.It is the principal source of moisture for a plant's roots
Hygroscopic Water
water that is chemically bound to soil particles, therefore it is unavailable to plants.Hygroscopic water is essentially non-mobile and can only be removed from the soil through heating
Combine water
Combined water is water that is held in chemical combination with various soil minerals; unavailable unless chemical is altered.

Soil-water budget
An accounting that demonstrates the variation of the soil–water balance over a period of time.
Influenced by;
Temperature
Humidity
Warm weather causes increased evapotranspiration, which diminishes soil-water supply
Cool weather slows evapotranspiration allowing more moisture to be retained in the soil
Field capacity and wilting point
Amount of moisture available for plant use is the difference between field capacity and wilting point. It is the amount of soil moisture or water content held in soil after excess water has drained away and the rate of downward movement has materially decreased
Wilting point
The minimum soil moisture at which a plant wilts and can no longer recover when placed in a saturated atmosphere for 12 hours

Soil Properties
Color
Texture
Structure
Moisture
Soil Chemistry
Colloids
Cation Exchange
Acidity/Alkalinity
color
Most conspicuous property, and can provide clues to nature and capabilities
Can also mislead.175 gradations of color.Standard colors are in shades of
Black- usually humus
Brown
Red- most common in tropical and subtropical
Yellow
Grey-indicate poor drainage
white
Soil texture
Soil texture refers to the relative proportion of sand, silt and clay size particles in a sample of soil, these are known as separates.
Soil separates
Clay size particles are the smallest being less than .002 mm in size
Silt is a medium size particle falling between .002 and .05 mm in size.
The largest particle is sand with diameters between .05 for fine sand to 2.0 mm for very coarse sand
structure
Soil structure refers to the shape, size and degree of development of the aggregation of the primary soil particles.The aggregation of these particles are known as Peds
spheroidal,
plate-like,
block-like,
prism-like.
Structure is key in determining soil’s porosity and permeability.

Soil Profile
A vertical section of the soil from the ground surface downwards to where the soil meets the underlying rock.Soil Horizon—a distinctly recognizable layer of soil, distinguished from another by differing characteristics and forming a vertical zonation of the soil.
O Horizon
The “O” stands for Organic with this surface layer being dominated by the presence of large amounts of organic material in varying stages of decomposition
Horizon A
The “A” Horizon is the top layer of the soil horizon
May be darker in color and contain more organic material
the zone in which most biological activity occurs
Seeds germinate here
E Horizon
“E” being short for eluviated
These are present only in older, well-developed soils
Horizon that has been leached of its mineral and/or organic content, leaving a pale layer largely composed of silicates
B horizon
Horizons are commonly referred to as ‘subsoil’,
consist of mineral layers which may contain concentrations of clay or minerals such as iron or aluminum, or organic material.
C Horizon
C Horizons are simply named so because they come ‘after’ A and B within the soil profile
Contain unconsolidated parent material (regolith) beyond the reach of plants
R Horizon
R horizons denote the layer of partially-weathered bedrock at the base of the soil profile

True Soil
Solum—the true soil that includes only the top four horizons.Water plays critical role in development of profile.Time also important.Formation of B horizon normally indicates mature soil.
Pedogenic regime
The particular soil forming process that operates in a certain climate. Some of the main processes are:
Laterization
salinization,
podzolization,
calcification,
Gleization.
Laterization
The dominant areas where temperatures are relatively high throughout the year.
Rapid weathering of parent material,Dissolution of nearly all minerals,
Speedy decomposition of organic matter.Latosol—the general term applied to soils produced by laterization.
Characteristics of latosol
Can be up to tens of feet deep.
These soils don’t make good agriculture soils.Mining these soils for iron and aluminum oxides can be profitable.
Podzolization
The dominant Pedogenic regime in areas where winters are long and cold (most common in Midlatitude and high-latitude locales.slow chemical weathering and rapid mechanical weathering from frost action,Soils are shallow and acidic
Podzols
Soil fertility generally low; susceptible to accelerated erosion if vegetation is disturbed.
Gleization
Restricted to waterlogged areas in cool climate.Slow decomposition, inhibited by lack of oxygen in waterlogged environment, resulting in dark, highly organic soil too acidic and oxygen poor for anything but water-tolerant vegetation.Gley soils
Calcification
Calcification occurs in warm, semi-arid environments, usually under grassland vegetation
Drier prairies of North America, steppes of Eurasia, and savannas and steppes of subtropics).
The B horizon of the soil is enriched with calcium carbonate
salination
Areas where principal soil moisture movement is upward because of a moisture deficit; evaporating water leaves behind various salts in or on soil. Saline soils are common in desert and steppe climates.These salts are toxic to most plants and soil organisms, so can support very little life.
Soil Classification
Soil Taxonomy—classification system used in United States; organized on basis of observable soil characteristics.Two basic types of diagnostic horizons used to distinguish soil orders:
Subsurface horizon
Epipedon
Subsurface horizon—essentially the A horizon or the combined O/A horizon.
Epipedon

Transient Amospheric flows and disturbances

2008-08-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

Transient Atmospheric Flows and Disturbances
Key topics
Air Masses
Fronts
Atmospheric Disturbances
Midlatitude Cyclones
Hurricanes
Tornadoes

What is Air mass?
An air mass is a large (usually thousands of miles across) volume of air that has horizontally uniform properties in terms of temperature, atmospheric pressure, and water vapor content.
Properties of Air mass
Air masses acquire their properties from spending days to weeks over the same part of the Earth.There are three requirements for air mass formation
Requirement of Air Mass
Must be large (horizontal and vertical).
Horizontal dimension must have uniform properties (temperature, humidity, and stability
Must be distinct from surrounding air, and when it moves, must retain that distinction (not be torn apart).
Origin
Formation of Air Mass occurs if air remains over a uniform land or sea surface long enough to acquire uniform properties.
Source Regions of Air mass
Must be extensive
Physically uniform
Stationary or anti-cyclonic
Ideal Source Regions of Air Mass
Ocean surfaces
Extensive flat land areas with uniform covering of snow, forest or desert

Classification of Air Mass
Air masses are classified according to their temperature and moisture content
Because source region determines properties of air masses, it is the basis for classifying them
The temperature characteristics of an air mass are defined by the terms;
Arctic, (coldest)
Polar
Tropical (warmest)
The moisture content of an air mass are defined by the terms;
Maritime-(moist)
Continental.
Examples
Maritime tropical air mass would be warm and moist,
Continental arctic would be cold and dry.

Air Masses Affecting North America
****refer to your text book for map****

Movement and Modification
Some air masses remain in source region indefinitely.
Movement prompts structural change
Thermal modification—heating or cooling from below
Dynamic modification—uplift, subsidence, convergence, turbulence;
Moisture modification—addition or subtraction of moisture

North American Air Masses
Physical geography of U.S. landscape plays a critical role in air-mass interaction
North American Air Masses
No east–west mountains to block polar and tropical air flows
North–south mountain ranges in west modify the movement, therefore influenced by Pacific air masses

Front
When unlike air masses meet, they do not meet readily they form a boundary called front
Characteristic of a Front
It’s narrow but three-dimensional
Several kilometers wide (even tens of kilometers wide).
Functions as a barrier between two air masses, preventing their mingling except in this narrow transition zone.Fronts lean, which allows air masses to be uplifted and adiabatic cooling to take place. Fronts move in association with the direction of the more active air mass, which displaces the less active
Types of Fronts
Stationary front
Cold Front
Warm front
Occluded front

Stationary front
A front that is not moving
The common “boundary” between two air masses in a situation in which neither air mass displaces the other.
Cold front
A front formed by advancing cold air
Warm front
A warm front is the transition zone in the atmosphere where an advancing warm subtropical, moist air mass replaces a retreating cold, dry polar air mass.
Occluded fronts
These are produced when a fast moving cold front catches and overtakes a slower moving warm front.
Two types
A cold type occluded front
A warm type occluded front

Cold type occluded front
Occurs when the air behind the front is colder than the air ahead of the front.
Warm type occluded front
When the air behind the front is warmer than the air ahead of the front a warm type occluded front is produced
Atmospheric Disturbances
Two types of disturbances:
stormy
calm.
Both types have common characteristics:
They are migratory and transient
Relatively brief duration
Produce characteristic and relatively predictable weather

Major Disturbances
Midlatitude Cyclones and Anticyclones
Hurricanes
Minor Disturbances
Easterly Waves

Tropical cyclones (known as Hurricanes when they intensify)
Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

MAJOR ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE
Mid latitude disturbance
This is the latitude where polar and tropical air masses meet and come into conflict
This is where most fronts occur. Here weather is most dynamic and changeable from season to season and from day to day

Two major disturbances in mid latitudes
Mid latitude cyclones
Mid latitude anticyclones

Mid latitude cyclones
Large, migratory low pressure system.They are called Depressions in Europe. Lows, wave cyclones, or extra tropical cyclones in the United States. Midlatitude cyclones are associated with air-mass convergence and conflicts in regions between 35 degrees and 70 degrees latitude
The continental United States is located in this latitude belt, these cyclones impact the weather in the U.S.
Characteristics of mid latitude cyclone
A mature mid latitude cyclone has a diameter of 1600km.Very vast cell of low pressure air
They have a converging counter clockwise circulation pattern in the Northern Hemisphere
Mid latitude cyclones move throughout their existence. Its origin to its maturity typically takes 3 to 6 days, then another 3 to 6 days to dissipate.
Development of cyclones
A developing cyclone is typically accompanied by a warm front pushing northward and a cold front pulling southward,

Mid latitude Anticyclone
Referred to as high (H).This an extensive high pressure cell.This is larger than a Mid latitude cyclone.Moves west to east with the westerlies.Travels at same rate, or little slower, than mid latitude cyclone.

Major tropical disturbances: Hurricanes
Tropical cyclone
A storm most significantly affecting the tropics and subtropics.
Intense, revolving, rain-drenched, migratory and vdestructive. They are also called:
Hurricanes in North and Central America
Typhoons in western North Pacific
Baguios in Philippines
Tropical cyclones in Indian Ocean and Australia

Characteristics of hurricanes
Eye—the nonstormy center of a tropical cyclone,
It has a diameter of 16 to 40 kilometers (10 to 25 miles).
In the eye, there are no updrafts, but instead a downdraft that inhibits cloud formation.
Eye wall—peripheral zone at the edge of the eye where winds reach their highest speed and where updrafts are most prominent
Eyewall replacement
the process in which a new wall of storms surrounds the wall of storms circling the hurricane’s eye. When this occurs, the inner wall disintegrates so the new wall replaces it. This process tends to weaken the storm
**********Watch the documentary on Hurricane Katrina*****

updated notes chapter 4

2008-04-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
For the physical geographer only three areas of the spectrum are important
Visible light
Ultraviolet
Infrared
Visible light
Wavelengths between
0.4 and 0.7 micrometers
Makes up only a narrow band (3%)
About 47% of the total energy coming from the sun arrives on earth as visible light

Ultraviolet Radiation
Ultraviolet waves—0.01 to 0.4 micrometers;
too short to be seen by human eye;
Harmful to living organisms if the shortest ones reached Earth’s surface, but absorbs by the ozone layer

Infrared
Infrared waves—0.7 to 1,000 micrometers;
too long to be seen by human eye;
emitted by hot objects and sometimes called heat rays;
Earth radiation is entirely infrared (sometimes called thermal infrared),

Basic Processes of Heating and Cooling
Heat energy moves from one place to another in three ways:
Radiation
Conduction
Convection

Radiation
Process by which electromagnetic energy emits from an object;
All objects radiate electromagnetic energy
The hotter the object, the more intense the radiation and the shorter the wavelength).
Cooler bodies radiates long waves
Blackbody- is an object that emits the maximum amount of radiation possible, at every wavelength, for its temperature

Absorption
The ability of an object to assimilate energy from the electromagnetic waves that strike it.
Different objects vary in their capabilities to absorb radiant energy (and thus increase in temperature).Color plays a key role in an object’s absorption ability;
Dark colors absorbs more energy

Reflection
The ability of an object to repel waves without altering either the object or the waves

Scattering
The process by which light waves change in direction, but not in wavelength. Occurs in the atmosphere when particulate matter and gas molecules deflect wavelength and redirect them.
Short wavelengths are more scattered than longwaves.With scattering, there is no energy transformation, but a change in the spatial distribution of the energy

Types of scattering
Rayleigh scattering,
Mie scattering,
non-selective scattering.

Rayleigh scattering,
Rayleigh scattering mainly consists of scattering from atmospheric gases
This occurs when the particles causing the scattering are smaller in size than the wavelengths of radiation in contact with them.As the wavelength decreases, the amount of scattering increases
Why is the sky blue?
Violets and blues in the visible part of the spectrum are shorter in wavelength than the oranges and reds. Shorter waves like violets and blues are more readily scattered by the gases in the atmosphere, so they are more likely to be redirected.

Impact of Rayleigh scattering
The sky appears blue
The sun appears reddish at sunrise and sunset because the path of light through atmosphere is longer, so most of the blue light is scattered out before the light waves reach Earth’s surface

Mie scattering
Caused by pollen, dust, smoke, water droplets, and other particles in the lower portion of the atmosphere.Particles causing the scattering are larger than the wavelengths of radiation in contact with them. Mie scattering responsible for the white appearance of the clouds.
Non-selective scattering.It occurs in the lower portion of the atmosphere when the particles are much larger than the incident radiation.This type of scattering is not wavelength dependent
It is the primary cause of haze.

Transmission
the process by which electromagnetic waves pass completely through a medium;
ability of objects to transmit these waves varies greatly according to their makeup;
Transmission depends on the wavelengths themselves

Shortwave radiation—radiation with wavelength less than around 4 micrometers;
Almost all solar radiation is shortwave.
Long wave are Radiation with wavelength more than around 4 micrometers;
all terrestrial radiation is long wave.

Conduction
The movement of energy from one molecule to another without changes in the relative positions of the molecules.It enables the transfer of heat between different parts of a stationary body, or from one object to a second object when the two are in contact. metals are excellent conductors in comparison to earthy materials like ceramics.

Convection
The transfer of heat by a moving substance (opposite of conduction).
Molecules actually move from one place to another, rather than just vibrating from agitation.
The principal action in convection is vertical, though there is some horizontal movement

Advection
when a convecting liquid or gas moves horizontally as opposed to vertically as in convection.

Adiabatic cooling and warming
When air rises or descends, its pressure changes, which in turn changes its temperature, without needing an external source. Instead, the temperature depends on the extent of molecular collisions.
Adiabatic cooling
cooling by expansion in rising air; rising air expands because there is less air above it, so less pressure exerted on it. The molecules spread over a greater volume of space, which requires more energy. So the molecules slow down and don’t collide as much.

Adiabatic warming
warming by contraction in descending air; Descending air contracts because there is more pressure being exerted on it, thus compressing the molecules in the air and making them collide more frequently.

Latent heat
energy stored or released when a substance changes state;This can result in temperature changes in atmosphere.

Heating of the Atmosphere
There is a long run balance between the total amount of insulation received by Earth and the total amount of terrestrial radiation returned to space.
Net gains
There is a net gain of 14 units every year in terms of earth’s annual heat balance,
…Due to long wave radiation being trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases.

Earth’s Energy budget
Seasonal and latitudinal variations
Earth does not evenly distribute heat through time and space; instead, there are variations in its radiation budget that relate to latitudinal and seasonal variations in how much energy is received by Earth.

Latitudinal Differences
There is unequal heating of different latitudinal zones for four basic reasons,
Angle of incidence,
Day length,
Atmospheric obstruction,
Latitudinal radiation balance:

Spatial/Seasonal VariationsLatitudinal Differences
Angle of incidence
Primary determinant of the intensity of solar radiation received on Earth.
Heating is more effective the closer to 90°, because the more perpendicular the ray, the smaller the surface area being heated by a given amount of insolation.

Day length
the longer the day, the more insolation can be received and the more heat can be absorbed.
Middle and high latitudes have pronounced seasonal variations in day length, while tropical areas have little variation.

Atmospheric obstruction
Atmospheric obstruction—clouds, particulate matter, and gas molecules absorb, reflect, or scatter insolation.
How much effect they have depends on path length, the distance a ray must travel.

Land and Water Contrasts
Heating: generally, in comparison to water, land heats and cools faster and to a greater degree.
Why?
Water specific heat
Specific heat—the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1°C.
Water’s specific heat is about five times as great as that of land, so it takes about five more times the energy to raise its temperature.

Transmission
Water is a better transmitter than land (because it’s transparent, while land is opaque).
Heat diffuses over a much greater volume (and deeper) in water and reaches considerably lower maximum temperatures than on land.

Land and Water Contrasts Heating Characteristics
mobility
Water’s mobility disperses heat both broadly and deeply; on land, heat can be dispersed only by conduction, and land is a very poor conductor.
Moisture and evaporation
water has more moisture, so more potential for evaporation and losing heat; cooling effect of evaporation slows down any heat buildup on water surface

Temperature Patterns
Vertical Temperature Patterns
Lapse Rate
Temperature Inversions
Global Temperature Patterns
Temperature Controls
Global Temperature Controls
Altitude
Latitude
Land-Water Contrasts
Ocean Currents

Picasa Web Albums - Sammy - ghanna

2008-03-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

Picasa Web Albums - Sammy - ghanna

INSULATION AND TEMPERATURE

2008-03-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Insolation and temperature

How does the atmosphere get heated?
Key terms
Temperature and heat
Insolation

Temperature
Temperature is a measure of how hot or cold something is.
Measuring temperature
Temperature is measured with thermometers
Thermometers may be calibrated to a variety of temperature scales.
Temperature scales
Fahrenheit
Celsius
Kelvin

Fahrenheit
Commonly used in the United States, Belize, Jamaica
Reference points are sea level freezing and boiling points
Freezing point= 32°F
Boiling point = 212°F

Celsius
Used in most countries
Acceptable international system of measurement
The scale maintains a 100-degree range between boiling and freezing point

Kelvin scale
Used for scientific purposes
It measures absolute temperate .Meaning the scale begins at absolute zero, as the lowest possible temperature.There are no negative values

Conversion
To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit
F= ( degree Celsius X 1.8)+32

Convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius
C= ( degree fahrenheit-32)÷1.8

Degree Celsius= degrees kelvin-273°
Degree Kelvin= degree Celsius +273

Heat
Refers to the energy that transfers from one substance or object to the other because of a difference in temperature

Solar Energy
The sun is the only significant source of energy for the earth’s atmosphere
Other sources of energy
Radioactive decay of minerals from inside Earth
Ocean floors through hydrothermal vents.
These are insignificant to influence the atmosphere

Insolation
Insolation is a measure of solar radiation incident on a surface. It is the amount of solar energy received over a given area in a given time. The insolation into a surface is largest when the surface directly faces the Sun.

Electromagnetic Radiation
The energy the sun emits is in the form of electromagnetic radiation.
o It does not require a medium to pass through
o The flow of energy is in the form of waves
o The waves travel from the sun in straight lines at the speed of light
o Speed of light 300,000 km( 186,000 miles) per second
o It takes 8 minutes for sun’s radiation to reach the earth surface -a distance of 93,000,000 miles
o Classified on the basis of wavelength
o All the wavelengths comprise what is called Electromagnetic spectrum

Electromagnetic spectrum
Wave length are measured by distance of crest of one wave to crest of the next.
Electromagnetic spectrum consists of waves of various lengths; only three areas of the spectrum are important to study of physical geography:

Visible light
Ultra violet radiation
Infrared

Electromagnetic spectrum
Ultraviolet waves
Ultraviolet waves—0.01 to 0.4 micrometers;
too short to be seen by human eye; could cause considerable damage to living organisms if the shortest ones reached Earth’s surface, but atmosphere filters out.

Visible light
Visible light—0.4 to 0.7 micrometers;
makes up only 3% of all electromagnetic spectrum, but large portion of solar energy.

Infrared waves
Infrared waves—0.7 to 1,000 micrometers;
too long to be seen by human eye; emitted by hot objects and sometimes called heat rays;
Earth radiation is entirely infrared (sometimes called thermal infrared), but only small fraction of solar radiation.

Basic Processes in Heating and Cooling the Atmosphere
To understand how energy travels from the Sun to Earth, it’s best to examine how heat energy moves. Heat energy moves from one place to another in three ways:

Basic Processes of Heating and Cooling
Radiation
Absorption
Reflection
Scattering
Transmission
Conduction
Convection
Adiabatic Heating and Cooling

Radiation or emission
Process by which electromagnetic energy is emitted from an object
All objects radiates electromagnetic energy
Hotter bodies are more potential radiators than cooler bodies
Sun emits more radiation than the earth
Hot bodies radiate short waves
All radiation from the sun are in short waves
Earth radiation-longer wavelength
A body that emits the maximum amount of radiation at all wavelengths is called Blackbody radiators
Ex sun, earth

Absorption
The ability of an object to assimilate energy from the electromagnetic waves that strike it.
dark-colored surfaces more efficiently absorb the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum than light-colored surfaces.

Reflection
The ability of an object to repel waves without altering either the object or the waves.

Scattering
The process by which light waves change in direction, but not in wavelength.
Occurs in the atmosphere when particulate matter and gas molecules deflect wavelength and redirect them. Short waves are more scattered than long waves by atmospheric gases

Why is the sky blue
Violets and blues in the visible part of the spectrum are shorter in wavelength than the oranges and reds. Shorter waves like violets and blues are more readily scattered by the gases in the atmosphere, so they are more likely to be redirected. Known as Rayleigh scattering

Transmission
The process by which electromagnetic waves pass completely through a medium; ability of objects to transmit these waves varies greatly according to their makeup; also, transmission depends on the wavelengths themselves. nly a small fraction of solar energy reaches the earth’s surface

Shortwave radiation
Radiation with wavelength less than around 4 micrometers; almost all solar radiation is shortwave.

Long wave radiation
Radiation with wavelength more than around 4 micrometers; all terrestrial radiation is longwave.

Green House effect
The warming up of the atmosphere is more similar to what occurs in a closed automobile parked in the sunlight. n the atmosphere, atmospheric gases, known as greenhouse gases, allow the incoming solar shortwave radiation, to reach the earth which are absorbed by Earth’s surface.
They do not transmit the outgoing longwave terrestrial radiation, but instead absorb it, then reradiate the terrestrial radiation back toward the surface.

Important Greenhouse Gases
The most important greenhouse gases are
water vapor,
carbon dioxide,

Conducting
The movement of heat molecule to another without changes in their relative positions is called conduction. This involves vibratory movement and collision of molecules.

Convection
Process in which heat is transferred from one point to another by predominantly vertical circulation of a fluid such as air or water. Here the molecules physically move away from the heat surface

Advection
When the dominant direction of the heat transfer in a moving fluid is horizontal

Adiabatic Cooling and warming
Adiabatic heating and cooling are processes that commonly occur due to a change in the pressure of a gas.

Expansion-Adiabatic cooling
Adiabatic cooling occurs when the pressure of a substance is decreased, such as when it expands into a larger volume.

Compression-Adiabatic warming
Adiabatic warming occurs when the pressure of a gas is increased.
This occurs in the Earth's atmosphere when an air mass descends
Latent Heat

HUMAN INDUCED POLLUTION

2008-03-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Human Induced Pollution
The ozone layer
Ozone is a form of oxygen molecule consisting of three atoms of oxygen (03)
It is created in the upper atmosphere by the action of ultra violet solar radiation on diatomic oxygen molecules

Sun’s Ultra Violet Radiation
It is divided into three bands (from longest to shortest band)
UVA
UVB
UVC

Ultra violet radiation
Ozone layer
The highest levels of ozone in the atmosphere are in the stratosphere, in a region also known as the ozone layer between about 10 km and 50 km above the surface

Stratospheric ozone
About 90% of all atmospheric ozone is found in the stratosphere
Here, it forms a shield by absorbing most of the potentially dangerous ultra violet radiation form the sun

Ozone
Ozone can be "good" or "bad" for people's health and for the environment, depending on its location in the atmosphere.Bad and Good Ozone

Ozone In The Troposphere
In the troposphere, the air closest to the Earth's surface, ground-level is a pollutant
It is a significant health risk, especially for children with asthma.
It also damages crops, trees and other vegetation.
It is a main ingredient of urban smog.
Prolonged exposure to UV radiation is linked to skin cancer
Suppresses the human immune system
Diminish the yield of many crops
This same wavelength is the source of Vitamin D which is essential for human health.

Ozone in the Stratosphere
The stratosphere, or "good" ozone layer extends upward from about 6 to 30 miles and protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Production of Ozone
Ozone in the stratosphere is mostly produced from ultraviolet rays reacting with oxygen:
It is also produced near earth’s surface in the troposphere through human activities ranging from combustion to photocopying

Thinning of the stratospheric ozone
This was observed in the 1970s
Hole in the Ozone layer
Due primarily to the release of human-produced chemicals
Examples
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
Halons ( substance used in some fire extinguishers)

Characteristics and Uses of CFC
Odorless
Nonflammable
Non corrosive
Non reactive
Uses:
Refrigeration and air conditionings
In foam and plastic manufacturing
Aerosol sprays

Montreal protocol
These discoveries prompted the adoption of an international treaty called the Montreal Protocol, which was designed to phase out the production of and use of ozone-depleting substances.
Air pollution
Smoke from wildfires
Ash from Volcanic eruption
Windblown dust
Pollen from plants
smoke
Smoke recognized as a notable pollutant for centuries
Ex. Burning of coal-prohibited in London in 1300
Internal combustion engines and industrial settlement
Polluted cities
Chicago 11th most-polluted city in the United States
Los Angeles takes the prize for the filthiest
A total of 16 out of the top 20 most polluted cities are in China.
#1 on the list is Linfen City in Shanxi Province, China.

Sulfur Compounds
Natural in origin- released from Volcanoes or hydrothermal vents such as the Yellowstone National Park
Human induced-Burning of fossil fuel such as coal and petroleum also another source
Impact- acid rains
Photochemical smog
Photochemical smog is a mixture of pollutants which includes particulates, nitrogen oxides, ozone, etc
It causes painful eyes.

Formation
The condition needed for the formation of the smog are present in modern cities.
They include sunlight, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulates which act as catalyst.
Ozone is a major component of photochemical smog

Effect
It can cause headaches, eye, nose and throat irritations. It may cause the lung function impaired, coughing and wheezing.
It can cause rubbers and fabrics to deteriorate.
It can damage plants, leading to the loss of crops.

Weather and Climate
Weather
The term weather refers to the short-run atmospheric conditions that exist for a given time in a specific area.
The sum of weather
Temperature
Humidity
Cloudiness
Precipitation
Pressure
Wind
Storm etc
Climate
Is the aggregate of day-to day weather conditions over a long period, normally at least three decades

Elements of weather and climate
Most important variable of weather and climate are;
Temperature
Moisture content
Pressure
Wind
Control of weather and climate
Latitude
Distribution of land and water
General circulation of the atmosphere
General circulation of the oceans
Altitude
Topographic barriers
Storms

PORTRAYING THE EARTH-MAP

2008-03-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Portraying the earth
The Nature of map
A two-dimensional representation of the earth and the spatial distribution of selected phenomena. It is a scaled drawing of a portion of a landscape representing the area at a reduced scale and showing only selected data.
Basic attributes of maps
Ability so show distance, direction, size, and shape in their horizontal spatial relationship
Shows distribution of one or more phenomena
Map limitations
No map is perfectly accurate.
Why?
Inaccuracy of map
Impossible to portray the curved surface of earth on a flat piece of paper without distortions
Two big problems
How much of earth is being shown on a map? For example map of the world..

Map scale
Map scale gives the relationship between the length measured on the map and the corresponding actual distance on the ground. Scale can never be represented with perfect accuracy……
Why??????
Nature of map scales
Scales can never be constant (same) over the entire map. Small area may have a nearly perfect scale with less variation. Large area may have a scale variations
Scale Types
Three types of scales
Graphic map scale
Fractional map scale
verbal map scale

Verbal scale Map scale
1 inch equals 16 miles
Thus 1-inch on the map represents 16 miles on the surface of the Earth.
This is the easiest scale to understand because it generally uses familiar units.

Graphic or bar scale
B. Graphic or Bar Scale:
__________________________________________16________0________16_________32_ miles.The Bar Scale is particularly important when enlarging or reducing maps by photocopy techniques because it changes with the map. If the Bar Scale is included in the photocopy, you will have an indication of the new scale.

Fractional map scale
1:1,000,000 (this is the same as 1/1,000,000)
The RF says that 1 of any measurement on the map equals 1 million of the same measurement on the original surface; commonly used in the Map Collection. A good quality map should have both the RF and Bar Scales.

Examples of Map Scales
Large and Small scale Maps
These are comparative rather than absolute.
Thus scales are large or small in comparison with other scales
Large scale maps.A map that portrays only a small portion of the earth surface but portrays it in considerable details.Thus it has a large representative fraction.1/10,000 is a larger value than 1/1000,000
Small-scale maps
A map that portrays a large portion of the earth surface but portrays it in less details
It has a small representation fraction. 1/10,000,000

Map Essentials
Title
Date
Legend
Scale
Direction
Location
Data source
Projection type
Map Projections
Map projection
It is a system whereby the spherical surface of the earth is transformed to display it on a flat surface
Major challenges
How to transfer data from a spherical surface to a flat piece of paper without distortions

Map projection……
It appears that it is impossible to project the Earth on a flat piece of paper without any locational distortions, therefore without any scale distortions. The distortions increase as the distance from the central point of the projection increases.

Major dilemma
Impossible for cartographers to portray on a map, the accurate size and shape of objects of the earth surface, without a compromise. The questions is; Which to sacrifice shape or Size?

Equivalence verses Conformality
These are the two properties of map projections

Equivalence
Also known as Equal Area projection. Here, the size ratio of any area on the map to the corresponding area on the ground is the same all over the map. Thus it correctly represents areas sizes of the sphere on the map.

Advantage
It avoids misleading impression of sizes; thus there are equal areal relationships all over
Useful in large scale map

Disadvantage
Shapes are sacrificed to maintain proper relationships
Cannot be used in small scale maps without distortion of shapes
Displays disfigured shapes on world maps

Conformality
Here proper angular relationships are maintained so that the shape of something on the map is the same as its shape on Earth. Represents angles and shapes correctly at infinitely small locations. Shapes and angles are only slightly distorted, as the region becomes larger. At any point the scale is the same in every direction. meridians and parallels intersect at right angles
(e.g. Mercator projection).

Advantages
True shape of objects are represented
Useful for large scale map
All meridians and parallels cross each other at right-angle
Disadvantages
True size of objects are misrepresented

Conformality and equivalency
Except for maps of very small area (large Scale map), these two projections cannot be maintained on the same projection.

Families of Map Projections
Cylindrical
Conic
Plane
Interrupted
Mercator
Mercator projection
It is a navigational chart designed to facilitate oceanic navigation
lines of latitude and longitude intersect at right angles and thus the direction of travel - the rhumb line - is consistent.The distortion increases as you move north and south from the equator. On Mercator's map Antarctica appears to be a huge continent. Greenland appears to be just as large as South America. Although Greenland is merely one-eighth the size of South America.

Cylindrical projections
Wrapping the globe with a cylinder of paper in such a way that the paper touches the globe at the equator.Cylindrical projections characteristics. Rectangular grids
No size distortion at the circle of tangency (equator)
Size distortion increases progressively with increasing distance from the circle of tangency
Ex Mercator projections

Conic projection
Cone wrapped tangent to or intersecting, a portion of the globe.Circle of tangency coincide with a parallel. Distortion is least at the parallel and increases as one moves from it. Best suited for regions of east-west orientation in mid latitudes.Ex United States, Europe or China.
Well adapted for mapping relatively small areas such as a state or country
Plane Projection
Called Azimuthal or Zenithal projection.Wrapping a flat piece of paper that is tangent to the globe at some point.Point of tangent usually at the north or south pole.

Automated Cartography
Computer technology has provided several great benefits to cartography: Improved speed and data-handling ability;Reduced time involved in map production; Ability for cartographer to examine alternative map layouts.

Cartographic devices
Isolines : any line that joins points of equal value of something

Contour line—joins points of equal elevation;
Isobar—joins points of equal atmospheric pressure;
Isogonic line—joins points of equal magnetic declination;
Isohyet—joins points of equal quantities of precipitation;
Isotherm—joins points of equal temperature.

Basic characteristic of Isolines
They are always closed lines, having no ends;
They represent gradations in quantities, so only touch or cross one another in very rare and unusual circumstances. Isolines close together indicate a steep gradient
The Global Positioning system- GPS. It is a satellite-based systems for determining accurate positions on or near Earth’s surface

Global Positional System
It was developed by the Department of Defense in the 1970s and 1980s to provide a reliable and accurate positioning system for mobile military platforms operating around the world.
How it operates
It is Based on a network of 24 high-Altitude satellite configured so that a minimum of four are in view of any position on earth. the system enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed/direction, and time. Each satellite continually transmits both identification and positioning which can be picked by receivers on earth

Remote sensing
It is any measurement or acquisition of information by a recording device that is not in direct contact with the object under study
Type of sensors
Passive and Active
Passive system : here the satellite works by sensing the natural radiation emitted or reflected from an object.
Active system: the satellite has its own source of electromagnetic radiation.
EX.
Radar- it is able to penetrate atmospheric moisture
Sonar: This permits underwater imaging

USES
makes it possible to collect data on dangerous or inaccessible areas
Replaces costly and slow collection on the ground, ensuring in the process that areas or objects are not disturbed.
Aerial Photographs
It is one taken from an elevated platform such as a balloon, airplane or rocket
Depending on camera angle there are two classification of aerial photographs
Oblique
Vertical
Oblique aerial photograph
Here the camera angle is less than 90˚
The features are seen from a more or less familiar point of view
Vertical Aerial photographs
Pictures are taken with the optical axis of the camera approximately perpendicular to the surface of the earth
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
An Automated systems for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data