PPL Aviation Weather Services and Meteorology Flashcards
6 cards from real PPL practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 PPL Aviation Weather Services and Meteorology flashcards as text
What is structural icing and under what conditions does it most commonly occur?
Answer: Accumulation of ice on aircraft surfaces when flying through supercooled water droplets, typically in clouds between 0°C and -20°C
Structural icing forms when supercooled water droplets (liquid below 0°C) in clouds contact aircraft surfaces and freeze, degrading aerodynamics by reducing lift, increasing drag, and adding weight.
What is the tropopause?
Answer: The boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, where the temperature lapse rate abruptly changes
The tropopause is the boundary between the weather-producing troposphere and the stratosphere, identifiable by an abrupt change in the temperature lapse rate (temperature stops decreasing with altitude).
How does uneven surface heating cause convective weather?
Answer: Differential solar heating creates thermals of rising warm air that, given enough moisture, form cumulus clouds and eventually thunderstorms
The sun heats different surfaces unequally; warm air rises as thermals, cools at the dry adiabatic lapse rate, and upon reaching the dew point forms cumulus clouds that can grow into thunderstorms.
What is a Convective SIGMET (WST) issued for?
Answer: Hazardous convective weather including tornadoes, embedded thunderstorms, severe turbulence, and severe icing associated with thunderstorms
Convective SIGMETs (WST) are issued for tornadoes, embedded thunderstorms, lines of thunderstorms, areas of severe or extreme turbulence, and severe icing associated with thunderstorm activity.
What does a Standard Briefing from Flight Service include?
Answer: Adverse conditions, synopsis, current conditions, forecasts, winds aloft, NOTAMs, and ATC delays
A Standard Briefing provides a comprehensive picture including adverse conditions, synoptic weather, current observations, en route and destination forecasts, winds aloft, NOTAMs, and known ATC delays.
What is clear air turbulence (CAT) and what makes it particularly hazardous?
Answer: Turbulence in cloudless air near the jet stream with no visual warning to the crew
Clear air turbulence occurs in cloudless sky, typically associated with jet stream wind shear, providing no visual cue or warning before the aircraft enters the turbulent region.