After reading Chapter 7, you should be able to:
- Describe the origin of the Earth's waters, define the quantity of water that exists today, and list the locations of Earth's fresh water supply.
- Describe the heat properties of water, and identify the traits of its three phases: solid, liquid, and gas.
- Define humidity and the expressions of the relative humidity concept, and explain dew-point temperature and saturated conditions in the atmosphere.
- Define atmospheric stability and relate it to a parcel of air that is ascending or descending
- Illustrate three atmospheric conditions--unstable, conditionally unstable, and stable--with a simple graph that relates the environmental lapse rate to the dry adiabatic rate (DAR) and the moist adiabatic rate (MAR).
- Identify the requirements for cloud formation, and explain the major cloud classes and types, including fog.
