BENHA UNIVERSITY

SHOUBRA FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

EXAM - 2nd TERM
SURVEYING DEPARTMENT
23-6-2011
METEOROLOGY
DURATION : 3 HOURS

FIRST YEAR
FINAL
Date:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Answer all the following six questions :

1- Complete the following sentences :
a- Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of
the atmosphere for a future time and a given location .
b-The composition of the atmosphere is made up of three primary gases which are
nitrogen, oxygen and argon and other trace gases such as methane and hydrogen .
c- When reporting air pressure, meteorologists adjust the pressure readings for sea level
so that interpretations of the data are standard.
d- Mesosphere layer although it has the same percentage of O 2 as the stratosphere layer
we cannot breath there because air is very thin and contain far few O2 molecule
e-Flood occurs because when a surface becomes less permeable, an increasing amount of
water remains on the surface, creating a greater potential for flooding.

2- Give reasons
a- A family of compounds known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) are capable of disrupting
the cycle of the ozone layer Because of their characteristics that they non-reactive nature,
CFC's are able to rise undisturbed into the atmosphere. They are not destroyed by reactions or
removed by precipitation in the troposphere layer of the atmosphere, and migrate over several
years, eventually reaching as high as the stratosphere.
b- The temperature of the air contained in stratosphere layer of Earth increase with an
increase in the height because this layer contain ozone layer which absorbs the ultra violt
radiation and then emit it in the form of warm heat .
c- Ionosphere facilitating radio communication because it reflects radio waves back to the
Earth, thus facilitating radio communication.

d- The area of high pressure is often accompanied by fair weather because in high pressure
area ,as air slowly descends, its temperature rises and be able to hold more water and the
warmth of the air prevents water from condensing to form clouds and therefore areas of high
pressure are often accompanied by fair weather.

e- Clouds may cause cool or warm because

a-During the day
If skies are cloudy, some of the sun's rays are reflected off the cloud droplets back into space.
Therefore, less of the sun's energy is able to reach the earth's surface, which causes the earth to
heat up more slowly. This leads to cooler temperatures.
b-At night
If skies are clear, heat emitted from the earth's surface freely escapes into space, resulting in
colder temperatures .
If clouds are present, some of the heat emitted from the earth's surface is trapped by the clouds
and reemitted back towards the earth. As a result, temperatures decrease more slowly than if the
skies were clear .

3- What is meant by :
a- Direct radiation is solar radiation received by the Earths surface and/or atmosphere that has
not been altered by atmospheric scattering.
b- 100% albedo is total reflection of solar radiation .
c- Photon is The smallest (quantum) unit of light/electromagnetic energy. Photons are
generally regarded as particles with zero mass and no electric charge. Each photon contains
a certain amount (or bundle) of energy, and all electromagnetic radiation consists of these
photons.
d- Ozone is made of three oxygen atoms (

).

The oxygen we find in our atmosphere is made up of two oxygen atoms (

stable .
is less stable than
oxygen atom.

) where it is more

, because it wants to return to the diatomic state by giving up an

When enough ozone molecules are present, it forms a pale blue gas.

Ozone has the same chemical structure whether it is found in the stratosphere or the
In the troposphere, the ground-level or "bad" ozone is an air pollutant that damages human
troposphere. health, vegetation, and many common materials. It is a key ingredient of urban
smog.
In the stratosphere, we find the "good" ozone that protects life on earth from the harmful effects
of the sun's ultraviolet rays.
e-permeability is the rate at which water flows through the soil .

4- a What are the three ways of describing Electromagnetic waves, each with a different
set of physical units ?

We have three ways of describing electromagnetic wave each with a different set of physical
units
1- Frequency
A property of a wave that describes how many wave patterns or cycles pass by in a period
of time. Frequency is measured in cycles per second (which is called a Hertz),
2- Wave length
The distance between adjacent peaks in a series of periodic waves. wavelength is measured
in meters,
3- Energy is measured in electron volts
Electron volt
The change of potential energy experienced by an electron moving from a place where the
potential has a value of V to a place where it has a value of (V+1 volt).

4- b What are the three main ingredients that must be present in order for clouds to form ?

There must be three main ingredients present in order for clouds to form
:

1- Moisture - There must be sufficient water vapor in the air to build a

cloud.
2- Cooling air - The air temperature must decrease enough for water
vapor to
condense.
3- Condensation nuclei - Tiny particles, invisible to the human eye, such
as dust, dirt, and pollutants, provide surfaces on which water
molecules can gather and condense into water droplets.
If the conditions are right, then a cloud will form
5- Wind is the result of a limited number of accelerated and decelerating forces, and that
the action of these forces are controlled by specific fundamental natural laws .
a- What are these forces ?
b- In detail explain the effect of these forces on the direction and the speed of the wind .

Driving Forces are :

1- Pressure gradient
Pressure gradient force is the primary force influencing the formation of wind from local to global
scales.
This force is determined by the spatial pattern of atmospheric pressure at any given moment in
time.
Figure below illustrates two different pressure gradient scenarios and their relative effect on wind
speed.
The two diagrams display the relative relationship between pressure gradient and wind speed.
This relationship is linear and positive.
As a result, quadrupling the pressure gradient increases wind speed by a factor of four.
This is what we would expect according to Newton's second law of motion, assuming the mass of
the wind is unchanged.

Figure : Effect of pressure gradient on wind speed.

2- Coriolis force
The rotation of the Earth creates another force, termed Coriolis force, which acts upon wind and
other objects in motion in very predictable ways.
According to Newton's first law of motion, air will remain moving in a straight line unless it is
influenced by an unbalancing force.
The consequence of Coriolis force opposing pressure gradient acceleration is that the moving air
changes direction.
Instead of wind blowing directly from high to low pressure, the rotation of the Earth causes wind
to be deflected off course.
In the Northern Hemisphere, wind is deflected to the right of its path, while in the Southern
Hemisphere it is deflected to the left.
The magnitude of the Coriolis force varies with the velocity and the latitude of the object
Coriolis force is absent at the equator, and its strength increases as one approaches either pole.
Furthermore, an increase in wind speed also results in a stronger Coriolis force, and thus in
greater deflection of the wind.
Coriolis force only acts on air when it has been sent into motion by pressure gradient force.
Finally, Coriolis force only influences wind direction and never wind speed.

3- Centripetal acceleration
Centripetal acceleration is the third force that can act on moving air.
It is a force that can influence the direction of wind.

Centripetal acceleration creates a force directed at right angles to the flow of the wind and inwards
towards the centers of rotation It acts only on air that is flowing around centers of circulation.
(e.g., low and high pressure centers).
This force produces a circular pattern of flow around centers of high and low pressure.
Centripetal acceleration is much more important for circulations smaller than the mid-latitude
cyclone.

4- frictional deceleration.
The last force that can influence moving air is frictional deceleration.
Friction can exert an influence on wind only after the air is in motion.
Frictional drag acts in a direction opposite to the path of motion causing the moving air to
decelerate.
Frictional effects are limited to the lower one kilometer above the Earth's surface.

6- Differentiate between geostationary operational environmental satellites

(GOES ) and polar orbiting satellite (POES ) with respect to :

a- their orbits

b-their height

c- their coverage area

GOES satellites orbit the earth above the equator at the same speed as the earth rotates so
they can transmit a continuous picture of the region below.
They hover over a single point above the earth at an altitude of about 36,000 kilometers .
To maintain constant height and momentum , a geostationary satellite must be located over the
equator .Scientists determine this position by using Newton ,s law of gravity . The same force that
makes apples fall from trees on earth is the force that keeps the satellite in its orbit .

Polar orbiting satellites travel in a circular orbit moving from pole to pole .
These satellites collect data in a swath beneath them as the earth rotates on its axis . In this way,
a polar orbiting satellite can see the entire planet twice in a 24 hour period .

The basic operational mode deploys two polar orbiting satellites continuously ,one passing north
to south (descending) and the other passing south to north (ascending) , circling the earth every
12 hours .
Polar Orbiting Satellites are inserted into sun-synchronous orbits which place the spacecraft in a
relatively constant relationship to the sun so that the ascending node will remain at a constant
solar time, permitting images and data to be received by direct broadcast at the same time each
day .
Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) are significantly closer to earth than GOES,
orbiting at altitude of only 879 kilometers so it only takes one hour and 42 minutes to complete a full
orbit .
This proximity results in high resolution images and atmospheric profiles .