ATOC 1050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Fluid Parcel, Dew Point, Air1

• School: CU-Boulder
• Department: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
• Course: ATOC 1050
• Professor: Melissa Nigro

Document Summary

Hydrologic cycle: a gigantic system powered by energy from the sun in which the atmosphere provides the vital link between the oceans and the continents. Water balance: the amount of water on the earth remains constant, water cannot be created or destroyed, precipitation=evaporation, same for the entire atmosphere but different for different areas. Water comes in 3 forms: solid-ice, low kinetic energy, molecules are in a tight, orderly network, rigid and non-compressible. Liquid-water: moderate kinetic energy, molecules can slide past one another, fluid and non-compressible, gas-water vapor, high kinetic energy, free of molecular attractions, compressible. Water vapor is the most important gas in the atmosphere for meteorological processes. The amount of water vapor in the air can change from place to place and time to time. Humidity: the general term used to describe the amount of water vapor in the air.