1. Chapter 5 Atmospheric Water and Weather
Elemental Geosystems 5e
Robert W. Christopherson
Charles E. Thomsen

3. Water and Atmospheric Moisture
Water on Earth: Location and  Properties  
Humidity  
Atmospheric Stability  
Clouds and Fog  
Air Masses  
Atmospheric Lifting Mechanisms  
Midlatitude Cyclonic Systems  
Violent Weather  

4. Water on Earth Quantity Equilibrium
Distribution of Earth’s Water Today  
Unique Properties of Water
Heat Properties
Ice
Water
Water vapor
Heat properties of water in nature

5. Land and Water Hemispheres
Figure 5.2

6. Ocean and Freshwater Distribution
Figure 5.3

7. Three States of Water
Figure 5.4

8. Water’s Heat Energy Characteristics
Figure 5.6

9. Humidity Relative Humidity Expressions of Humidity Vapor pressure
Specific humidity
Instruments for measurement

10. Relative Humidity
Figure 5.7

11. Humidity Patterns
Figure 5.10

12. Maximum Specific Humidity
Figure 5.12

13. Humidity Instruments
Figure 5.13

14. Atmospheric Stability
Adiabatic Processes  
Dry adiabatic rate (DAR)
Moist adiabatic rate (MAR)
Stable and unstable atmospheric conditions

15. Buoyancy
Figure 5.14

16. Adiabatic Processes
Figure 5.15

17. Atmospheric Temperatures and Stability
Figure 5.16

18. Clouds and Fog Cloud Types and Identification Fog Advection fog
Radiation fog

19. Cloud Types and Identification
Figure 5.18

20. Cumulonimbus Development
Figure 5.19

21. Advection Fog
Figure 5.20

22. Evaporation Fog
Figure 5.21

23. Valley Fog
Figure 5.25
Figure 5.22

24. Radiation Fog
Figure 5.23

25. Air Masses
Figure 5.24

27. Atmospheric Lifting Mechanisms
Convectional Lifting  
Orographic Lifting  
Frontal Lifting
Cold fronts
Warm fronts

28. Atmospheric Lifting Mechanisms
Figure 5.27

29. FIGURE 7. 6 The distribution of ice and water
in a cumulonimbus cloud.

30. FIGURE 7.9 The ice-crystal (Bergeron) process.
(1) The greater number of water vapor molecules around the liquid
droplet causes water molecules to diffuse from the liquid droplet
toward the ice crystal. (2) The ice crystal absorbs the water vapor and
grows larger, while (3) the water droplet grows smaller.

31. FIGURE 7. 21 An accumulation of rime forms on tree branches
as supercooled fog droplets freeze on contact in the below-freezing air.

32. FIGURE 7. 22 A heavy coating of freezing rain (glaze) covers Syracuse,
New York, during January, 1998, causing tree limbs to break and
power lines to sag.

33. FIGURE 7. 4 Collision and coalescence. (a) In a warm cloud
composed only of small cloud droplets of uniform size, the droplets are
less likely to collide as they all fall very slowly at about the same speed.
Those droplets that do collide, frequently do not coalesce because of the
strong surface tension that holds together each tiny droplet. (b) In a
cloud composed of different size droplets, larger droplets fall faster than
smaller droplets. Although some tiny droplets are swept aside, some
collect on the larger droplet’s forward edge, while others (captured in
the wake of the larger droplet) coalesce on the droplet’s backside.

34. FIGURE 7. 28 This giant hailstone — the largest ever reported in
the United States with a diameter of 17.8 cm (7 in.) — fell on Aurora,
Nebraska, during June, 2003.

35. Lake Effect Snowbelts
Figure 5.26

36. Local Heating and Convection
Figure 5.28

37. Convection over Florida
Figure 5.29

38. Orographic Precipitation
Figure 5.30

39. Cold Front
Figure 5.31a

40. Cold Front and Squall Line
Figure 5.31b

41. Warm Front
Figure 5.32

42. Midlatitude Cyclonic Systems
Life Cycle of a Midlatitude Cyclone
Storm tracks
Open stage
Occluded stage

43. Midlatitude Cyclone
Figure 5.33

44. Average and Actual Storm Tracks
Figure 5.34

45. Midlatitude Cyclone
Figure 5.35

46. Weather Forecasting
Figure

47. Violent Weather Thunderstorms Derechos Tornadoes Tropical Cyclones
Atmospheric turbulence
Lightning and thunder
Hail
Derechos 
Tornadoes  
Tornado measurement and science
Tropical Cyclones
Hurricanes and typhoons  
Physical structure
A final word

48. Thunderstorms
Figure 5.36

49. Thunderstorms
Figure 5.37

50. Twister!
Figure 5.38

51. Tornadoes
Figure 5.39

53. Tropical Cyclones
Figure 5.40

54. Brazilian Hurricane
Figure 5.40

55. 2005 Hurricane Season
Figure 5.41

56. Profile of a Hurricane
Figure 5.42

57. Elemental Geosystems 5e
End of Chapter 5
Elemental Geosystems 5e
Robert W. Christopherson
Charles E. Thomsen