(15 points) 1. If you are standing atop Mount Everest at 8848 m, about what fraction of mass of atmosphere is below you?
(20 points) 2. If the atmosphere warmed up by 5°C, would the atmosphere pressure at 5 km above sea level increase or decrease, and by approximately how much?
(15 points) 3. Calculate the 1000-500mb thicknesses for isothermal conditions with temperatures of 273 K and 250 K, respectively. Draw a schematic diagram to show how the thicknesses change from the tropics to the polar regions.
(50 points) 4. Plot the annual climate (temperature in °F and precipitation in inches) for Austin, as on Slide 24 of GPC_2.ppt. Your data should come from http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/kimmel/GRG301K/TXnorm.19712000.pdf. There are two locations for Austin, Austin City (Camp Mabry) and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. You need to do the annual climate plot for both locations. Compare and explain their similarities and differences.
___________________________________Undergrads: please stop here. Graduate students: please continue the following exercises._________________________________
(50) points) 4. Consider a hydrostatic atmosphere with constant lapse rate.
a) derive an expression for the variation of height with pressure, z(p), in terms of the surface pressure p0, surface temperature T0, and lapse rate Γ. This equation forms the basis for the calibration of aircraft pressure altimeters. Where T0=288K, P0=1013.5 hPa, and Γ=6.5°C km-1(U.S Standard Atmosphere).
b) An aircraft flying at pressure of 850 mb is preparing to land. Calculate the height above the surface (assume the surface is at sea level) that the aircraft is flying, using the altimeter correction for the standard atmosphere.
c) On February 3, 1989, sea-level pressure reached a North America record of 1078 hPa. Surface temperature reached a minimum value of 217 K. The vertical temperature profile in the lower atmosphere was nearly isothermal. For an aircraft flying at a pressure of 850 mb above surface that is at sea level, estimate the error in the altimeter reading that would be made under these conditions. (note: The U.S . Federal Aviation Administration banned night and instrument flight in Fairbanks, AK, because altimeters could not be accurately calibrated to give altitude readings.)