ATM 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Jet Stream, Water Cycle, Polar Front
6 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Convergence at the surface leads to upward motion. Temperature influences pressure at certain levels of the atmosphere! The polar jet stream is the most prevalent. It occurs along a major frontal zone, the polar front: the jet stream moves faster in winter, during the winter occasionally it moves north-south. Water is an unique molecule as it"s quite polar, thus the intermolecular bonds (hydrogen bonds) are strong. To boil water (liquid to gas), these hydrogen bonds have to be broken, which takes a bit of energy. This is one reason why water has a high specific heat. Most molecules with low molecular weights like water exist only in gas form at earth"s temperatures. Usually the solid phase (of an element or species) is denser than the liquid phase, which is denser than the gas phase. Water can exist in all 3 phases in the atmosphere and phase changes happen frequently.
