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Understanding Meteorology: A Comprehensive Quiz

This quiz tests your knowledge of meteorology, including atmospheric phenomena, historical figures, and remote sensing techniques.

1 What does the following picture show?  The westerlies and trade winds are part of the Earth's atmospheric circulation   Cloud classification by altitude of occurrence   The westerlies and trade winds are part of the Earth's atmospheric circulation   Forecast of surface pressures five days into the future for the north Pacific, North America, and north Atlantic ocean.

2 Those oscillations have time periods typically longer than a full annual seasonal cycle, such as ________, PDO, MJO, etc.

3 [27][28] In 1804, Sir John Leslie observes that a matte black surface radiates heat more effectively than a polished surface, suggesting the importance of ________.

4 What does the following picture show?  A hemispherical cup anemometer   Forecast of surface pressures five days into the future for the north Pacific, North America, and north Atlantic ocean.   Annual mean sea surface temperatures.   NOAA: Synoptic scale weather analysis.

5 In 1854, the United Kingdom government appointed ________ to the new office of Meteorological Statist to the Board of Trade with the role of gathering weather observations at sea.

6 [16] In 1662, Sir ________ invented the mechanical, self-emptying, tipping bucket rain gauge.

7 In the 1960s, the chaotic nature of the atmosphere was first observed and understood by ________, founding the field of chaos theory.

8 Meteorology, climatology, atmospheric physics, and ________ are sub-disciplines of the atmospheric sciences.

9 The common types of remote sensing are Radar, ________, and satellites (or photogrammetry).

10 Organizations such as the Ocean Prediction Center, Honolulu National Weather Service forecast office, United Kingdom ________, and JMA prepare high seas forecasts for the world's oceans.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Brocard points, the Brocard circle and the Brocard triangle are named after French geometer Henri Brocard, who spent most of his life studying meteorology with no notable original contributions to the subject.
  • the Chinese philosopher Wang Chong (27-97 AD) accurately described the water cycle in meteorology.
  • towns given specific meteorological warnings during storms are known as breakpoints.
  • after Caltech eliminated its meteorology department, which was founded and led by Irving P. Krick, most of the staff left to join Krick's private weather business.
  • weather lore is essentially folk meteorology and varies widely in its veracity.
  • Henrik Mohn is credited with founding meteorological research in Norway.
  • James W. Patterson, a Senator from New Hampshire, was a professor of mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology.
  • Metop-A is the first polar orbiting meteorological satellite launched by Europe, and is the second largest Earth observation satellite built in Europe, after ENVISAT.
  • Cold Sunday was a specific meteorological event which took place on January 17, 1982, when unprecedentedly cold air swept down from Canada, sending temperatures in the United States far below existing all-time record lows.