GEOG 1001 Midterm 1 Study Questions
Exam will be on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 11a – 12:15p in Hale 270
Note: The questions on this document only serve as a study guide. This guide is in no way intended be
an example of the test, nor is it all inclusive of possible topics that may be covered on the test. It is only
a guide.
Define/identify:
longitude
latitude
axial parallelism
geography
insolation
subsolar point
circle of illumination
axial tilt
solstice
air pressure
thermopause
lapse rate
ozone
kinetic energy
tropopause
sensible heat
net radiation
refraction
reflection
albedo
conduction
convection
Wien’s Law
wavelength
frequency
Stefan-Boltzmann Law Kelvin
latent heat
sensible heat
specific heat
evaporation
thermal equator
isotherm
aphelion
perihelion
Antarctic/Arctic circle
Lambert’s cosine law
tropic of Cancer/Capricorn
urban heat island
Discussion and critical thinking:
Why is the sky blue?
Why do forest fires often result in brilliant red and orange sunsets?
What is the Earth’s position relative to the Sun during each season?
What is the difference between the Earth’s rotation and the Earth’s revolution?
What are the major components of the Earth’s modern atmosphere?
Draw and/or interpret a diagram of the Earth’s position relative to the sun for each of the major
seasons.
Draw and/or interpret a model of the Earth’s atmosphere based three criteria (composition,
temperature, and function).
Describe the effects of a temperature inversion over Denver.
Describe how Lambert’s cosine law helps explain why it is cold at high latitudes and warm at low
latitudes.
Why might it be more difficult to convince residents of the southern hemisphere (vs. residents of the
northern hemisphere) that the distance between the Earth and the Sun is not the cause of the seasons?
How and why does the radiation balance vary over different surfaces (e.g. snow vs. asphalt) or over
different locations on earth?
Describe the different forms of energy transfer.
How do an actual greenhouse and the Earth’s greenhouse effect differ? How are they similar?
Explain how an urban heat island is produced.
Explain how the Earth’s atmosphere shields and protects us from solar radiation (be specific – what
layers are responsible for which wavelengths).
From a radiation budget perspective, would you prefer to live on grass or Astroturf? Defend your answer
with regard to the radiation.
How might the bark beetle induced tree death affect snow melt? Hint: think about albedo.
Compare and contrast the annual temperature patterns of San Francisco, CA vs. Lincoln, NE
Sample Questions:
Which of the following is true of the number of hours of daylight?
a) The number of hours of daylight would vary with distance from the Equator if the Earth were
NOT tilted on its axis.
b) The number of hours of daylight varies the most along the equator.
c) The number of hours of daylight varies the least at higher latitudes.
d) The number of hours of daylight varies depending on the latitude of the observer.
e) None of the above are true.
Which of the following is true regarding locations at high elevations?
a) Higher elevations experience higher temperatures during the day because they are closer to the
sun.
b) Air pressure decreases with increasing elevation because of gravity.
c) Usually lower elevations experience lower average temperatures during both day and night.
d) Temperatures at night, and in the shadows, are greater at higher elevations.
e) None of the above
The radiation balance during the daytime is given as: Rn = ______?
a) S↓ - S↑
b) S↓ + S↑
c) S↓ * (1 – albedo)
d) L↓ + L↑
e) S↓ - S↑ + L↓ - L↑
Travelling from the ground up, based on the temperature structure, which atmospheric
layers would you travel through?
a) heterosphere, homosphere
b) homosphere, heterosphere
c) troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
d) thermosphere, troposphere, mesosphere, stratosphere
e) ionosphere, ozonosphere
You measure the surface temperature of an Aspen ski slope of -5 ̊C. The emissivity of the
snow surface is 0.98. What is the energy emitted by the ski slope (all units are W / m2)?
Recall that the energy emitted is given by Stefan- Boltzman’s Law:
L = εσT4
Where: ε is the emissivity
σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant 5.67 x 10-8 W / m2 / K4
T is the temperature in Kelvin
a) -579
b) 3.37 x 10-5
c) 10.8
d) 2.87 x 1010
e) 287
If the temperature in a given region would drop below freezing and falling snow would
cover the grass, the albedo would ___________ compared to the pre-snow condition. This
change in albedo would cause _________ insolation to be absorbed. If the snow began
melting, latent heat fluxes would
__________.
a) decrease; more; decrease
b) increase; more; decrease
c) decrease; less; increase
d) decrease; more; increase
e) increase; less; increase
Latent heat flux varies as a function of the gradient between surface and atmospheric
humidity as well as wind speed.
a) True
b) False
Argon is a greenhouse gas.
a) True
b) False