UNI101Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Coriolis Force, Hadley Cell, Vapor Pressure
16 Feb 2013
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Eeqquuiilliibbrriiuumm wwaatteerr vvaappoouurr pprreessssuurree is the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere when the tendency of liquid water to evaporate and the tendency of water vapour to condense is balanced. Thus, warm air can hold more water vapour than cold increases with temperature. Water vapour is measured as how much it contributes to the total pressure of the atmosphere (approx. This relationship btn temp. and the ewvp controls patterns of evaporation and precipitation. With air currents, they establish the distributions of wet and dry envmts. The ewvp increases as air heats up, evaporation quickens (double per 10 c rise) Warming effect of sun in greatest near the equator. Air in the tropics begins to rise in an upward-moving convection current. When it reaches the upper layer of the atmosphere (10-15 km), it spreads to higher latitudes north and south. The air is replaced by surface-level air moving in from subtropical latitudes.
