Atmosphere — Part 1 MCQs with Explanations

Agents of fog formation do not include Diurnal temperatures of short ranges. Diurnal temperature range (DTR) is defined as the difference between daily maximum and minimum temperature, which describes the within-day temperature variability and reflects weather stability.

Pressure gradient force is most powerful in determining movement of wind including its velocity. Wind is the movement of air across the Earth's surface and is produced by differences in air pressure between one place to another.

Atmospheric humidity is measured by psychrometer. A psychrometer measures humidity by taking both a wet-bulb and a dry-bulb temperature reading.

The thermosphere is a layer of Earth's atmosphere. The thermosphere is directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. It extends from about 90 km (56 miles) to between 500 and 1,000 km (311 to 621 miles) above our planet. Based on the vertical temperature profile in the atmosphere, the thermosphere is the highest layer, located above the mesosphere.

The trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere need to cross the equator in order to reach the ITCZ. Thus, the trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere cross the equator but are deflected towards right under the Coriolis Effect.

The amount of insolation received on the earth’s surface is far less than that is radiated from the sun because of the small size of the earth and its distance from the sun. The amount of insolation received on the earth’s surface is not uniform everywhere. It varies according to the place and time. When the tropical regions receive maximum annual insolation, it gradually decreases towards the poles. Insolation is more in summers and less in winters.

The inner most layer of the earth is called the “Core or Barysphere”. It is otherwise known as NIFE, because of the presence of Nickel and Ferrous (iron).

Evening sun is not a shot as the mid-day sun because in the evening, radiations travel larger distance through atmosphere. Light from the sun, near the horizon, passes through thicker layers of air and covets a large distance in the earth's atmosphere before reaching our eyes. However, light from the sun overhead would travel realitively shorter distance.

As air temperature increases, air can hold more water molecules, and its relative humidity decreases.

The troposphere is the layer that we live in. The troposphere starts at ground level and extends about 12 km upwards. From about 12 km to 50 km upwards is the stratosphere. In this layer, the jet stream blows strong winds eastward. The mesosphere is the coldest region of Earth’s atmosphere. It’s somewhere close to -100° Celsius. The ionosphere is defined as the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is ionized by solar and cosmic radiation. It lies 75-1000 km (46-621 miles) above the Earth. The exosphere is the uppermost region of Earth's atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space.

As Earth travels from West to East, air moving from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere gets pushed to the right, causing hurricanes originating in the Northern hemisphere to spin in the counter-clockwise direction.

Countries favourably influenced by Westerlies are Western Europe, British Columbia and East of U.S.A., South-West Africa and South Chile and New Zealand.

Depression in the southern hemisphere is a mass of air whose isobars form an oval or circular shape. In the southern hemisphere, the circular movement of winds is in a clockwise direction. Depressions are rarely stationary and tend to follow definite tracks. They are most influential over the ocean spreads and they weaken over land areas.

The hot and dry winds that help in the ripening of grapes in the Alps region is Foehn. Foehn is a type of dry, warm, down-slope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range.

One kg per sq mtr is approximately the quantum of the pressure exerted by the atmosphere at sea level.

Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere. Air is composed of 78.03% nitrogen.

Nimbostratus clouds typically form at the ground level up to an altitude of about 6,000 feet in the sky. Clouds occurring at ground level are what scientists call fog.

The jet aircrafts fly very easily and smoothly in the lower stratosphere because There are no clouds or water vapour in the lower stratosphere and There are no vertical winds in the lower stratosphere.

Atmospheric instability is the most important factor in thunderstorm development. Surface heating brings about an element of instability in the warm and moist air lying close to the surface. That is why warm and moist air becomes unstable in spring and summer when it is heated from below. Air mass thunderstorms develop in this way.

The following that are correct in matching the layer of atmosphere and its characteristic are Troposphere : weather phenomena, Stratosphere : ozone layer and Ionosphere : radio waves reflected to earth's surface.

Jet Streams have high velocity wind, it blow from west to east and it blow in upper troposphere near the tropopause.

High-speed and dangerous dry winds that periodically kick up and blow from the mountains to the coast in Southern California are referred to as Santa Ana winds.

In the northern hemisphere, the convergence of the winds with Coriolis effect at low pressure center leads to cyclonic/anticlock-wise rotation in the cyclones.

The winds blowing throughout the year from one latitude to another in response to latitudinal differences in air pressure are called “planetary or prevailing winds”. The westerlies, anti-trades or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30° and 60° latitude.

The sequences of clouds in ascending order would one meet 500 metres and above the mean sea level are Stratus, Nimbus, Cirrostratus, Cirrus.

If the reading is going down very fast then its an indication of storm (within 5-6 hours) otherwise a slow downfall of reading suggests a low pressure area is passing in a nearby region, and it may rain.

The actual amount of the water vapour present in the atmosphere is known as the absolute humidity. It is the weight of water vapour per unit volume of air and is expressed in terms of grams per cubic metre. The absolute humidity differs from place to place on the surface of the earth.

Option A: The sky is overcast with clouds This option is partly correct . Precipitation is more likely to occur when the sky is overcast with clouds, as clouds contain water droplets or ice crystals that can fall as precipitation when they become heavy enough. Option B: Temperature of moisture in air suddenly increases This option is not correct . An increase in temperature typically leads to the evaporation of moisture rather than precipitation. Option C: Temperature of moisture in air sharply decreases This option is partly correct . Precipitation often occurs when the temperature of moist air decreases, causing the air to reach its dew point and water vapor to condense into liquid or ice, forming precipitation. Option D: Winds begin to blow in a circular motion This option is not correct . The circular motion of winds is associated with weather phenomena like cyclones or hurricanes but is not the primary cause of precipitation. Therefore, the most accurate options related to precipitation are a combination of Option A (The sky is overcast with clouds) and Option C (Temperature of moisture in air sharply decreases) . Precipitation often occurs when the sky is cloudy and the temperature of moist air decreases, leading to condensation and the formation of precipitation.

Temperate cyclones bring along with them mild rainfall. Temperate Cyclones also called mid-latitudinal cyclones or extra tropical cyclones are formed due to interaction of air masses of different temperature.

The upper boundary of the layer, known as the tropopause, ranges in height from 5 miles (8 km) near the poles up to 11 miles (18 km) above the equator.

Nimbostratus clouds cover the sky in a dark gray layer. They can extend from the low and middle layers of the atmosphere and are thick enough to blot out the sun. Nimbostratus are the quintessential rain cloud.

Hail is produced by the rapid ascent of moist air. The hard pellets of ice having diameter of 5 mm or that fall from Cumulonimbus clouds, and are generally associated with thunderstorms is known as hail. They are formed by the rapid ascent of moist air; the water drops freeze, and the size of the pellets increases as more water Vapour freezes on to their surface.

The correct sequence of different layers of the atmosphere from the surface of the Earth upwards is Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere and Thermosphere. The troposphere is the layer that we live in. The troposphere starts at ground level and extends about 12 km upwards. From about 12 km to 50 km upwards is the stratosphere. In this layer, the jet stream blows strong winds eastward. The mesosphere is the coldest region of Earth’s atmosphere. It’s somewhere close to -100° Celsius. Themosphere is the thickest layer in the atmosphere is the thermosphere starting at about 80 km going upwards.

A cumulus cloud that exhibits significant vertical development (but is not yet a thunderstorm) is called cumulus congestus or towering cumulus. If enough atmospheric instability, moisture, and lift are present, then strong updrafts can develop in the cumulus cloud leading to a mature, deep cumulonimbus cloud, i.e., a thunderstorm producing heavy rain. In addition, cloud electrification occurs within cumulonimbus clouds due to many collisions between charged water droplet, graupel (ice-water mix), and ice crystal particles, resulting in lightning and thunder.

The heat source for our planet is the sun. Energy from the sun is transferred through space and through the earth's atmosphere to the earth's surface. Since this energy warms the earth's surface and atmosphere, some of it is or becomes heat energy.

Atmosphere contains particles and gases which do not escape to outer space because they are bounded by the force known gravity. Earth's gravity comes from all its mass. All its mass makes a combined gravitational pull on all the mass in your body. That's what gives you weight. And if you were on a planet with less mass than Earth, you would weigh less than you do here.

Some large lakes in temperate latitudes have a moderating influence upon the climate of adjacent land surfaces. Such an influence may develop when prevailing out-blowing winds cross the lake in winter.

The clouds extending from one side of horizon to other as 3 dark grey sheet having uniform base are called Stratus clouds. They are composed of thin layers of clouds covering a large area of the sky. This is simply mist or fog when it forms close to the ground.

The following characterises the Foehn are that It is warm, It is common in the valleys of the northern Alps and It blows in winter.

Advection is the horizontal transport or transfer of a quality such as heat and cold from one point to another. Advective transfers occur either in the oceans by currents of seawater or by large-scale movement in the atmosphere where humidity (atmospheric moisture) is another important property. In both cases a major example is the transport of cold air or water masses from the polar regions to lower latitudes.