What is the driving force of atmospheric circulation?
The only driver of atmospheric circulation is sunlight. Under the constraints of gravity, Archimedes' thrust and Coriolis' force due to the Earth's rotation, temperature differences between the equator and the poles cause air to circulate all around the Earth.
What are the driving forces of ocean circulation?
Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors:
- The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast. …
- Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean's surface. …
- Thermohaline circulation.
Feb 26, 2021
What is the main driver of atmospheric circulation quizlet?
The driving force for the atmospheric circulation is the global distribution of energy. A. The angle at which the Sun's rays strikes the Earth changes from the equator to the poles.
What are atmospheric forces?
Air will tend to move from high pressure to low pressure. Coriolis force- the force that results from Earth's rotation. Friction- the drag exerted on the air by the earth's surface (e.g., plants, trees, buildings, mountains, etc.). Centrifugal force- the tendency for a body to resist a change in direction.
What is the driving force for deep ocean currents?
These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water's density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.
What is the primary driving force of surface ocean currents?
Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction, Coriolis forces from the Earth's rotation, and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.
What is the driving force of Hadley circulation?
Mechanism. The driving force of atmospheric circulation is the uneven distribution of solar heating across the earth, which is greatest near the equator and least at the poles. The atmospheric circulation transports energy polewards, thus reducing the equator-to-pole temperature gradient.
What is the main driving force of the global distribution of temperatures?
Directly or indirectly, the sun provides energy for living organisms, and it drives our planet's weather and climate patterns. Because Earth is spherical, energy from the sun does not reach all areas with equal strength.
What forces play the important role in atmospheric circulation?
Atmospheric circulation is the movement of air at all levels of the atmosphere over all parts of the planet. The driving force behind atmospheric circulation is solar energy, which heats the atmosphere with different intensities at the equator, the middle latitudes, and the poles.
What drives the motions of the Earth’s atmosphere system?
Atmospheric motions are generated by geographic variations in heating of the surface caused by meridional gradients of insolation, albedo variations, and other factors. These gradients in energy input produce gradients in energy content that is available to generate atmospheric motions.
Why is the ocean a driving force for weather and climate?
The ocean contains most of the world's water and is very effective at absorbing and storing energy absorbed from sunlight. The exchange of heat between the ocean and the atmosphere drives the water cycle and influences climate.
What are Hadley and Ferrel cells?
Hadley cells, Ferrel (mid-latitude) cells, and Polar cells characterize current atmospheric dynamics. Hadley Cells are the low-latitude overturning circulations that have air rising at the equator and air sinking at roughly 30° latitude.
How does the global atmospheric circulation model work?
The global atmospheric circulation model is based around cells. These cells are regions where the air moves from low pressure to high pressure. There are three cells in each hemisphere. Either side of the equator is the Hadley cell, with the Ferrell cell next and then the Polar cell at the top and bottom of the planet.
What is the driver for global wind and ocean circulation?
The sun is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulations. It heat the earth unevenly causing convection currents in the air and ocean.
What is the driving force of both weather and climate?
Directly or indirectly, the sun provides energy for living organisms, and it drives our planet's weather and climate patterns. Because Earth is spherical, energy from the sun does not reach all areas with equal strength.
How are the ocean and atmosphere linked?
The two systems are complexly linked to one another and are responsible for Earth's weather and climate. The oceans help to regulate temperature in the lower part of the atmosphere. The atmosphere is in large part responsible for the circulation of ocean water through waves and currents.
What is the driving force for the Hadley cell circulation pattern?
Mechanism. The driving force of atmospheric circulation is the uneven distribution of solar heating across the earth, which is greatest near the equator and least at the poles.
What are easterlies and westerlies?
Polar easterlies are dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the east. They emanate from the polar highs, areas of high pressure around the North and South Poles. Polar easterlies flow to low-pressure areas in sub-polar regions. Westerlies. Westerlies are prevailing winds that blow from the west at midlatitudes.
What is the impact of atmospheric and ocean circulation on the Earth’s climate?
The oceans influence climate by absorbing solar radiation and releasing heat needed to drive the atmospheric circulation, by releasing aerosols that influence cloud cover, by emitting most of the water that falls on land as rain, by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for years to millions of …
What is the driver for global wind and ocean circulation quizlet?
Global winds are caused by the uneven heating of earth's surface and the Coriolis.
What is the primary driver of winds?
The rising and sinking of air masses in the earth's atmosphere create winds. Rising warm, moist air at the equator travels northward and southward, cooling as it moves towards the poles.
Are ocean currents a driving force of our climate?
3:166:00NASA | The Ocean: A Driving Force for Weather and Climate – YouTubeYouTube
How does the ocean impact the atmosphere?
Ocean water is constantly evaporating, increasing the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air to form rain and storms that are then carried by trade winds, often vast distances. In fact, almost all rain that falls on land starts off in the ocean.
Which ocean current drives the thermohaline circulation?
Aided by a nudge from the warm Gulf Stream surface current, this water makes its way once again to the extreme North Atlantic, where the cycle begins again. This global circulation pattern mixes the waters of the world's oceans, turning the ocean reservoirs into a single, vast, interconnected system.
What is atmospheric circulation like in the polar cells?
Ferrel cell – A mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell for weather named by Ferrel in the 19th century. In this cell the air flows poleward and eastward near the surface and equatorward and westward at higher levels. Polar cell – Air rises, diverges, and travels toward the poles.
What causes the Coriolis effect?
Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This deflection is called the Coriolis effect.
What is wind class 7?
In simple terms, the wind is nothing but moving air. The air movement is always from high pressure to low-pressure areas.
What is the meaning of polar wind?
The polar wind or plasma fountain is a permanent outflow of plasma from the polar regions of Earth's magnetosphere, caused by the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's atmosphere.
What factors affect atmospheric circulation?
There are 5 major factors affecting global air circulation : – uneven heating of earth's surface, seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation, rotating of earth on its axis, properties of air and water and long term variation in the amount of solar energy striking the earth.
How does atmospheric and oceanic circulation determine air temperature?
Most of the sunlight absorbed by water on Earth's surface gets stored in our oceans as heat, which increases the ocean's temperature. Heat from the atmosphere is also absorbed by the ocean. This heat is then transported by ocean circulation patterns and re-radiated from the oceans influencing regional air temperatures.