EAS212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Ecliptic, Anticyclone, Sea Breeze

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
• Course: EAS212
• Professor: Paul Myers

Document Summary

Ea(cid:396)th"s seaso(cid:374)s: axis of rotation is tilted 23. 5 degrees with respect to the ecliptic. Ecliptic = pla(cid:374)e t(cid:396)a(cid:272)ed (cid:271)y ea(cid:396)th"s sola(cid:396) o(cid:396)(cid:271)it: seaso(cid:374)al (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ges a(cid:374)d ea(cid:396)th"s (cid:396)otatio(cid:374) u(cid:374)e(cid:395)ual sola(cid:396) heati(cid:374)g of ea(cid:396)th"s su(cid:396)fa(cid:272)e, tilt is responsible for a few things: Counter clockwise around a low in northern hemisphere. Clockwise around a low in southern hemisphere: anticyclonic flow. Clockwise around a high in northern hemisphere. Counter clockwise around a high in southern hemisphere. Sea and land breezes: differential solar heating = because land and water have different heat capacities, sea breeze from ocean to land. Large rotating mass of low pressure: strong winds, torrential rain, classified by the maximum sustained wind speeds, typhoons, cyclones. Hurricanes are very powerful, they use the stored energy of the warm and moist tropical oceans into crazy winds, raging seas, flooding, crazy rain. Comes from the heat-energy released by conversion of invisible water vapour water droplets.