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| MESOSCALE QUIZ |
The following 20 question quiz asks multiple choice questions based on basic mesoscale meteorology
An answer key is provided at the bottom of this webpage.
1. The mesoscale front that is found along coastlines during the afternoon due to differential heating between land and sea is the:
a. Sea breeze
b. Outflow
c. Land breeze
d. Vegetation boundary
2. Which of the following is mesoscale in size and time:
a. Mid-latitude cyclone
b. Jet stream
c. Thunderstorm
d. Squall line
3. Instability can generally increase due to:
a. Surface cold front passage
b. Daytime heating
c. Boundary layer inversion intensification
d. Dry punch into boundary layer
4. The forecast models have the most difficult time resolving this feature:
a. Mid-latitude cyclones
b. Mountains
c. The jet stream
d. Mid-latitude anti-cyclones
5. In this layer of the troposphere friction is a significant force. In this layer winds tend to be gusty especially at higher wind speeds and convective mixing is common.
a. Boundary layer
b. Free atmosphere
c. Tropopause
d. Elevated warm layer
6. Surface boundaries that experience a density discontinuity in a thunderstorm situation tend to:
a. Enhanced uplift and wind shear in the thunderstorm environment
b. Reduce uplift and wind shear in the thunderstorm environment
7. A region of high velocity wind in the lower troposphere due to a strong thermal gradient near the cold front boundary is termed the:
a. Jet streak
b. Subtropical jet
c. Monsoonal jet
d. Low level jet
8. The warm air advection pattern associated with a baroclinic shortwave tends to occur in the ______ in relation to the shortwave axis.
a. Upstream area
b. Downstream area
9. All Mesoscale Convective Complexes are Mesoscale Convective Systems.
a. True
b. False
10. The temperature will often be warmer behind the dryline as compared to ahead of the dryline in the afternoon due to:
a. Less cloud cover to reflect solar radiation
b. Drier land resulting in more sensible heating from the sun
c. Adiabatic warming from a downsloping wind
d. All of the above
11. A region experiencing strong positive vorticity advection will likely also experience ______________ since rising air cools adiabatically.
a. Height rises
b. Height falls
12. A region experiencing strong low level warm air advection will likely also experience ____________ since warmer air has a larger volume than the same mass of colder air.
a. Height rises
b. Height falls
13. The surface wind experienced in the boundary layer is a result of these three forces:
a. Coriolis, centrifugal, gravity
b. Pressure gradient force, gravity, Coriolis
c. Coriolis, Pressure gradient force, friction
d. Centrifugal, Coriolis, pressure gradient force
14. The term "meso" means:
a. Big
b. Middle
c. Small
15. An increase of boundary layer dewpoints can occur from:
a. Moisture advection from a warm body of water
b. Evaporation of precipitation aloft and from the surface
c. Transpiration from plants and evaporation from wet soils
d. All of the above
16. In which case could higher elevation regions be warmer than lower elevation regions:
a. Inversion produced by shallow cold air within lower troposphere
b. Cold front banking against higher elevation regions
c. Higher elevation regions shadowing lower elevation regions
d. Cold air drainage toward lower elevations
e. All of the above
17. The side of a mountain range that has upslope wind and is more likely to have clouds and precipitation is the ____________ side.
a. Windward
b. Leeward
18. This is a high speed segment of wind within the Polar jet stream produced by a region of enhanced temperature gradient in the troposphere.
a. Low level jet
b. Eddy
c. Jet streak (jet surge, jetlet)
d. Vorticity maximum
19. Strong mesoscale upward forcing will occur where:
a. Low level winds diverge
b. Two low level convergence boundaries intersect
c. Frontolysis occurs
d. The temperature and moisture gradient are reduced
20. On hot sunny days, the temperature over a lake surface tends to be cooler than over a land surface. Why?
a. Water has a higher heat capacity than land
b. Heat can mix through a larger depth within water than it can on land
c. Evaporation over the water surface absorbs latent heat and thus cools the air
d. Often sunlight will reflect more from a water surface as compared to a land surface
e. All of the above
KEY
1. A
2. D
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. A
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. D
11. B
12. A
13. C
14. B
15. D
16. E
17. A
18. C
19. B
20. E