Geographical Terms in Climatology - Part 1

 

          Geographical Terms

Climatology

Part -1

Weather and Climate
Weather	Weather is the atmospheric condition of a short period. Weather changes time to time. Ex. The weather condition of a place varies from morning to afternoon.
Climate	Climate is the average atmospheric condition of a long period of a specific place. Ex. Average atmospheric condition of 30 years.
Air	Air is the mixture of gases. Air is composed of Carbon di oxide, Oxygen, Nitrogen etc.
Aerology	Systematic and scientific study of atmosphere is termed as Aerology.
Meteorology	Study of Atmosphere is termed as Meteorology.
Climatology	Study of Climate is called as Climatology
Aerography	Aerography is the study of properties of the atmosphere.
Atmosphere – Structure and Layers
Atmosphere	The air around the earth is called Atmosphere.
Composition of Atmosphere	Atmosphere is composed of mixture of gases. The air is composed of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon dioxide etc.
Structure of Atmosphere	The Atmosphere consists of five layers 1) Troposphere 2) Stratosphere 3) Mesosphere 4) Ionosphere 5) Exosphere.
Aerosols	The solid and liquid particles found in the atmosphere collectively known as Aerosols.
Troposphere	Troposphere is the lowest layer of Atmosphere. It is found between the surface of the earth and the stratosphere. It extends up to 8 km to 18 km from the surface of the earth. Weather Change is the major phenomenon here
Stratosphere	This atmospheric layer is found between the Troposphere and Mesosphere. It extends 30 km height beyond the Troposphere.
Mesosphere	This layer is found in the altitude between 50 and 80 km from the earth’s surface. The layer is free from disturbances and useful for air transport. The layer is rich in ozone.
Ionosphere	This layer is found in the altitude between 80 and 900 km from the earth’s surface. The layer is rich in ions and helpful for communications.
Exosphere	The layer beyond the Ionosphere is known as Exosphere. This layer is the way to space. this layer is called Upper Atmosphere.
Ozonosphere	This layer is found between 30 and 60 km height from the earth’s surface. It is rich in ozone. The layer is known as Chemosphere also.
Tropopause	Tropopause is the imaginary line, separates Troposphere and Stratosphere.
Stratopause	Stratopause is the imaginary line, separates Stratosphere and Mesosphere.
Mesopause	Mesopause is the imaginary line, separates Mesosphere and Exosphere.
Thermosphere	This layer extends from 80 to 640 km height from the earth’s surface. It is rich in ions. Here the temperature rapidly increases with increasing altitude. The layer consists of two layers namely Ionosphere and Exosphere.
Magnetosphere	The atmospheric layer beyond 500 km from the earth’s surface. The Magnetosphere influences the magnetic field of the earth.
Homosphere	Troposphere, Stratosphere and Mesosphere is together called Homosphere. Here the Atmosphere is uniform in composition.
Heterosphere	The layer beyond the Homosphere is termed as Heterosphere. The atmospheric composition is uneven here.
Van Allen Radiation Belt	This layer extends 1,600 to 13,000 km height from the earth’s surface. This sphere influences the magnetic field of the earth by energetic charged particles.
Atmosphere – Climatic Elements
Temperature	The amount or degree of Heat is called Temperature. Temperature is measured by Celsius or Fahrenheit units.
Pressure	The force on a spot by the weight of the air termed as Pressure. Pressure is measured by Barometer.
Isotherms	Isotherm is an imaginary line joins the places of equal temperature areas.
Isobars	An imaginary line joins the places of equal atmospheric pressure areas.
Isohyets	An imaginary line joins the places of equal amount of rainfall areas.
Isohels	An imaginary line joins the places of equal amount of sunshine areas.
Isonephs	An imaginary line joins the places of equal amount of cloudiness areas.
Beaufort Scale	The Beaufort Scale divides the speed of the wind by the numeric. Wind are named by numbers according to their speed from 1 to 17.
Altitude	Altitude is the height from the sea level measures usually by meter or feet.
Atmospheric Instruments
Thermometer	Thermometer is an instrument used to measure the atmospheric temperature.
Barometer	Barometer is an Instrument used to measure the atmospheric pressure.
Hygrometer	Hygrometer is an instrument used to measure the Relative Humidity of the atmosphere.
Altimeter	Altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude or height of an area from the mean sea level.
Wind vane or Weathervane or Weathercock	Wind Vane is an instrument user to measure the direction of the wind.
Rain Gauge	Rain Gauge is a simple instrument to measure the amount of rainfall.
Anemometer	Anemometer is an instrument used to measure the direction of the wind.
Evaporimeter	Evaporimeter is an instrument used to measure the rate and quantity of evaporation at the wet surface.
Sunshine Recorder	Sunshine Recorder is an instrument used to measure the duration of sunshine of the day.
Solarimeter	Solarimeter is an instrument used to measure the amount of solar radiation.
Theodolite	Theodolite is a surveying instrument used to measure the angular distances.
Atmosphere – Elements
Evaporation	Evaporation is the process of conversion of liquid into vapour.
Condensation	Condensation is the process of conversion of vapour into liquid.
Sublimation	Sublimation is the process of direct conversion of liquid into vapour.
Conduction	Conduction is the process of heat transfer without any movement of substances.
Convection	Convection is the process of heat transfer with the substances of air, liquid, vapor etc.
Radiation	Radiation is the process of transferring heat by electromagnetic waves.
Scattering	The reradiated solar energy into the atmosphere is termed as Scattering.
Insolation	The incoming solar radiation of the earth is termed as Insolation.
Advection	The movement of airmass parallel to the surface of the earth.
Terrestrial Radiation	The process of heat emitted  from the surface of the earth is termed as Terrestrial Radiation.
Inversion of temperature	The reversal of the normal temperature in the atmospheric layer of Troposphere.
Albedo of the earth	The ratio of Solar Energy falls on non luminous surface of the earth to the reflection amount of Solar Energy from it.
Lapse Rate	The temperature vary with the altitude is termed as Lapse Rate.
Normal Lapse Rate	The temperature vary with the altitude is termed as Lapse Rate. The Normal Lapse Rate is 6.5⁰ Celsius.
Adiabatic Lapse Rate	The changing rate of temperature in atmosphere with increasing altitude.
Latent Heat	Latent Heat is the amount of Heat Energy transferred into the atmosphere due to the conversion of a substance from one form to another form.
Heat Balance	The relation between the absorbed and redirected solar energy by the vegetation and atmosphere.
Heat Budget	The sun emits energy in the form of Radiation. 35% of the radiation is reflected back by the atmospheric particles to the space. 14% of the solar radiation is absorbed by the atmospheric particles. 51% of solar radiation is received by the earth. Heat Budget of the earth is 51%.
Diurnal Range of Temperature	The difference between the Maximum and Minimum Temperature of a day.
Temperature Anomaly	The difference between mean temperature of a place mean temperature of the latitude of the place.
Thermal Current	The vertical movement of the air due to the difference in insolation radiation.
Thermal Equator or Heat Equator	Thermal Equator is an imaginary line joining the highest mean temperature of the places.
Solar Constant	The rate of solar energy reaches on the surface of the earth is termed as Solar Constant.
Air Pollution	Mixing of impure and harmful elements with the air is called air pollution.
Heat Wave	Heat wave is the abnormal higher temperature of an area due to high rate of evaporation by above average temperature in summer.
Cold Wave	Cold wave is the rapid fall of temperature during winter.
Saturation level or Saturation Point	The air can hold maximum amount of water vapour in a particular temperature and pressure in the atmosphere. This is called Saturation level of the air.
Dew Point	The atmospheric temperature needs to condense the water droplets into dew is termed as Dew Point.
Green House  Gas	The gas which absorbs and emits radiant energy in the atmosphere is termed as Green House Gas. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. are the Green House Gases.
Heat Island	The temperature of an urbanized area is higher than the surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The isothermal lines look like islands in climatic map of the urban areas.
Mid Night Sun	The sunlight is visible around the Arctic regions during the summer nights. Norway is called the Land of Midnight Sun.
Dawn	Dawn is the visible light rays in the sky before the sunrise of a day.
Twilight	Twilight is the visible light rays in the sky after the sunset of a day.
Ultra Violet Radiation	The sun emits ultra violet rays. The ozone layer absorbs the ultra violet rays. A particular amount of ultra violet rays reach on the surface of the Earth.
Ozone Depletion	The ozone layer is weakened by the air pollution due to human activities. The destruction of ozone layer is called Ozone Depletion.
Coriolis Force	The rotation of the earth deflects moving objects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
Ferrel’s Law	The wind deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and deflected to the left in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis Effect.
Water Vapour	Water from the earth’s surface evaporates by heat. The evaporated matter present in the air in gaseous form called Water Vapour.
Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights	The Northern light is visible at night around the regions of higher latitudes in Northern Hemisphere.
Aurora Australis or Southern Lights	The Southern light is visible at night around the regions oh higher latitudes in Southern Hemisphere.