PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
STUDY GUIDE
EXAM 2

READ CHAPTERS 5,6,7

STUDY ALL VOCABULARY TERMS

ADDITIONAL HINTS:

• Know how to do relative humidity problems.
• Know how to do orographic uplift problems.
• Know the location of all wind and pressure belts.
• Know all measures of standard atmospheric pressure at sea level.
• Does air pressure increase or decrease with increased elevation.
• Understand the Coriolis Effect.
• Know which local winds follow a daily or seasonal pattern.
• What are prevailing winds?
• Know the characteristics of  cyclones and anticyclones in each hemisphere.
• Know the characteristics of cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds.
• Do isobars increase or decrease in value towards the center of an anticyclone?
• Would precipitation be higher on windward or leeward slopes of major mountain ranges?
• List the three ways to make the air rise, expand and cool.
• Is fog a form of condensation or precipitation?
• What is a squall line?
• Define a hurricane by wind speed.
• What direction do mid- latitude cyclones tend to move across North America?
• What is an occluded front?
• Understand the terms saturation and dew point.
• What causes westerly winds?
• At what time of the day would you expect to find the highest relative humidity?
• Can jet streams provide heat exchange in the atmosphere?
• Can lighting occur within the same cloud?
• What is a steep pressure gradient?
• Is a radiation fog most likely to form during an inversion?
• The closer the dew point temperature is to the actual temperature, the higher or the lower the relative humidity?
• What do isobars connect?
• What determines the capacity of the air to hold moisture?
• Do tropical cyclones form out of a single air mass?
• Understand the characteristics of warm fronts and cold fronts.
• You will have a matching portion related to a cross section of a mid-latitude cyclone.

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

(1) Present possible explanations why precipitation is so low in  the Great Basin of the U.S. (Nevada-Utah area).

(2) Present possible explanations why precipitation is so high in the Amazon Basin.