ABEN 3410: FIRST-TERM EXAM REVIEWER

1. HYDROMETEOROLOGY
This pertains to the study of water in the atmosphere and how it affects the land surface
and everything contained in it. Hydrometeorology studies the processes of the hydrological cycle
that occur in the atmosphere (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation) and in the ground
(rainfall interception, infiltration, and surface runoff) and their interactions. Hydrometeorology
studies the behavior of hydrologic elements, such as rivers, ponds, and dams.
2. Despite this fact, why is it that the tropics are not heating up and the poles are
not cooling down any further?
Even though tropical regions are not warming, the polar regions are not cooling further
because the earth's general circulation redistributes heat across the world and restores energy
balance. To maintain a balance between entering solar radiations and reflected outgoing
radiations, warm air from the equator is transported to the poles, while cold air flows towards
the equator.
3. Single-Cell Model
The first model we’ll examine is the single-cell model. With this model, we make the following
assumptions.

1. The earth is entirely covered with water. This is to remove any land-sea interactions.
2. There are no seasons and the sun is always shining directly over the equator. This
removes seasonal wind shifts.
3. There is no Coriolis force while the Earth rotates to spread heat along latitudinal lines,
this allows us to only be concerned with the pressure gradient force.

Three-Cell Model

The three-cell model

1. Separates each hemisphere into three independent but coupled circulation cells.

2. The cells exist every 30 degrees latitude and redistribute energy latitudinally.

3. The tropical cell is called the Hadley Cell- a convective cell formed through
heated air rising near the equator.

4. While the mid-latitude cell is termed the Ferrel cell- air converges at low altitudes to
ascend along the boundaries between the cool polar air and the warm subtropical air

5. The polar cell resides at high latitudes.

 4. Cite as many differences as you can between Northeast and Southwest
Monsoon.

SOUTHWEST MONSOON NORTHEAST MONSOON

Name: Habagat
Origin: West/southwest part of the world
Characteristics: Warm and humid
Effects: Cumulus clouds & heavy rains
Last from June to October
Low season
Name: Amihan
Origin: Eastern part of the world
Characteristics: cold and dry
Effects: Cirrus clouds, light rain, cold
weather
Last from October to March
Peak season

5. TRADE WINDS
Trade winds are caused by the strong warming and evaporation within the atmosphere around
the equator.

(1) Around the equator, the warm air rises rapidly, carrying a lot of moisture.
(2) The risen air moves sidewards towards the tropics and loses heat and further moisture.
(3) The air starts to sink around the tropics, and finally reaches the ground.
(4) There, it changes direction and flows back towards the equator, to restart the circulation
process.

CLIMATE VS. WEATHER

To begin the comparison and contrast, the climate is defined as statistical weather
information that explains the variation of weather at a specific location for a specified interval,
whereas weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere and its short-term (minutes to weeks)
variation. So weather differs from the climate in terms of the time period since the climate is
monitored over a lengthy period (30 years on average), whereas weather is measured over a
short period. The determining factor between these two is different because climate aggregates
weather statistics over 30-year periods, whereas weather is real-time measurements of air
pressure, temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, and other
variables. The commonalities between these two are that they are both tied to climatic states,
and any change in climate or weather has a significant impact on the residents of their
surrounding territory. In addition, these two indicate the atmospheric status of a certain region.