©GeoBuddy NET/GATE/GSI Assignment: Atmosphere for CSIR-NET/JRF

Assignment
(Atmosphere and Climate science)

Maximum marks: 120 Time allowed: 60 minutes

Instructions:
 The assignment includes MCQs for CSIR-Earth, ocean atmosphere and planetary sciences.
 There are 60 questions all with four options and each question carry equal marks.
 Use of calculators and other electronic gadgets is not allowed.
 Negative marking @33% will be deducted from each wrong answer.

Q1. The percentage of atmospheric water content and the least abundant gas in the
Earth’s atmosphere among Carbon dioxide, Neon, Hydrogen & Argon respectively are?
a) 0.001%, Hydrogen
b) 0.003%, Carbon dioxide
c) 0.001%, Neon
d) 0.003%, Argon

Q2. List the following atmospheric gases in correct decreasing order:

(Ar, He, Ne, CH4, Kr, H2, CO2)
a) He-CO2-H2-CH4-Ar-Ne-Kr
b) Ar-Ne-CO2-CH4-He-Kr-H2
c) He-CO2-CH4-Ar-Ne-H2-Kr
d) Ar-CO2-Ne-He-CH4-Kr-H2

Q3. The gas NOT present in the primitive atmosphere was?

a) Ar b) He c) N2 d) H2O

Q4. Ozone concentration in the atmosphere is measured in which of the following units:
a) Lux b) Mole c) Dobson d) Dyne

Q5. D, E, and F layers comprise the whole of Ionosphere, however 02 layers disappear
during night, because they cannot exist without the direct solar radiation these layers
are:
a) D&F b) F&E c) D&E d) None of these

Q6. Choose the correct statement about atmosphere:

a) Becomes thicker and thicker with increasing altitude.
b) Becomes thinner & thinner with increasing altitude
c) Remains constant in thickness with increasing altitude
d) It is thinner at sea level then becomes thicker up to 10km altitude.

Q7. The “Karman line”-The boundary line between earth’s atmosphere and outer
space is at a height of approximately?

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a) 50km b) 100km c)150 km d)200 km

Q8. The layers of atmosphere that (i) contain most of the satellites orbiting earth,
(ii) That contains ozone layer (iii) that is roughly 80% of earth’s atmosphere is
respectively?

a) Troposphere, exosphere, thermosphere

b) Stratosphere, thermosphere, exosphere
c) Exosphere, stratosphere, mesosphere
d) Exosphere, stratosphere, troposphere

Q9. The average temperature of atmosphere at Earth’s surface and average

atmospheric pressure at sea level are respectively?
a) 10°C, 660mmHg
b) 25°C, 700mmHg
c) 25°C, 760mmHg
d) 14°C, 760mmHg

Q10. The density of air at sea level is about?

a) 1.0 kg/m3
b) 1.2 kg/m3
c) 1.8 kg/m3
d) 2.0 kg/m3

Q11. Choose the correct statement about refractive index of air:

a) It is equal to unity
b) Slightly less than unity
c) Slightly greater than unity
d) It is equal to Zero

Q12. The process by which the clouds remove NO2 from the stratosphere by converting
it to nitric acid in the PSC particles, which then are lost by sedimentation, is called:
a) Ozonolysis c) Denitrification
b) Ozonification d) Cataclasis

Q13. The Ozone hole occurs during the Antarctic__________.

a) Summer only c) Autumn only
b) Spring only d) Through all seasons

Q14. Which of the following two atmospheric layers have temperature profiles that
promote convection?
a) Troposphere & Mesosphere
b) Mesosphere & Ionosphere
c) Stratosphere & Troposphere
d) Troposphere & Ionosphere

Q15. While it is well recognised that planet earth is warming over the last 50 years,
there are also some surface cooling mechanisms. Which one of the following is such a
component mechanism?

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a) Ice- albedo feedback

b) Water vapour-greenhouse effect feedback
c) Presence of optically thin cirrus cloud
d) Presence of optically thick stratocumulus

Q16. While earth radiates its maximum energy in the infrared portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum, what is the exact value in units of µm for ƛmax (Earth) and
ƛmax (Sun) as per Wien’s displacement law respectively?
a) 9.66 & 0.483
b) 10.8 & 0.555
c) 9.11 & 0.789
d) 10.9 & 0.456

Q17. Match the following optical phenomenon in Group I to corresponding optical cause
in Group-II:

Optical phenomenon Possible optical cause

a) Sundogs 1. Diffraction
b) Mirage 2. Refraction only
c) Corona 3. Dispersion, diffraction, Reflection, refraction
d) Rainbow 4. Dispersion, refraction
a) a-4, b-2, c-1, d-3 c) a-1,b-2, c-3, d-4
b) a-4, b-3, c-2, d-1 d) a-1, b-2, c-4, d-3

Q18. Consider the following statements:

I) Absolute humidity does not depend upon pressure
II) Mixing ratio does depend upon pressure
III) Mixing ratio does not depends upon volume of air parcel
IV) Absolute humidity depends upon volume of air parcel
Which among the above statement(s) is true?
a) I and II b) I and III c) only III d) only IV

Q19. Consider the following conditions:

If for a parcel of air the ELR is 12°C, WALR is 6°C, DALR is 10°C, Where all initials
have the usual meaning as Environmental, Wet and Dry adiabatic lapse rates
respectively. The parcel of air will undergo?
a) Absolute stability
b) Absolute instability
c) Conditional stability
d) None of these is correct

Q20. Which among the following is NOT the suitable method to enhance stability of an
air parcel?
a) General subsidence within an air column
b) Radiation cooling of earth’s surface after sunset
c) Radiation cooling from cloud tops
d) The cooling of an air mass from below as it traverses a cold surface.

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Q21. Towering cloud, sometimes spreading out on top to form an “anvil head” these
clouds are associated with heavy rainfall, thunder, lightning, hail, and tornadoes:
a) Cirrocumulus (Cc) b) Cirrostratus (Cs)
c) Altostratus (As) d) Cumulonimbus (Cb)

Q22. “Arctic sea smoke” is the type and example of which fog?
a) Evaporation fog b) Upslope fog
b) Advection fog d) Radiation fog

Q23. Tropical easterly Jet stream is the strongest during the?

a) Winter months over Northern India region
b) Summer months over Southern Indian region
c) Winter months over southern Indian region
d) Summer months over Northern Indian region

Q24. El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an?

a) Ocean process
b) Atmospheric process
c) Ocean-atmosphere coupled process
d) Ocean-atmosphere-land process

Q25. Some 11000 years from now, when the Earth will be at its perihelion, there will be?
a) Summer in the northern hemisphere during December
b) Summer in the southern hemisphere during December
c) Winter in the northern hemisphere during December
d) No change in climate from today in both northern and southern hemispheres

Q26. Atmosphere of planet Mars is almost entirely made up of CO2. But the surface
temperature of Mars is less than that of the Earth because?
a) CO2 does not act as a greenhouse gas in the absence of other gases
b) Of the absence of ozone
c) Of the absence of volcanic activity
d) Mars has a larger orbit than that of the earth

Q27. Let the radius of a cloud droplet be 10µm and that of the rain droplet be 1mm.
Then the no. of cloud droplets that need to coalesce to form one rain droplet is:
a) 10 b) 102 c)103 d) 106

Q28. The retrieval of temperature profiles of the atmosphere using satellite radiance
measurement is considered a difficult task. Which of the following statements related to
the difficulty of temperature retrieval is INCORRECT?
a) Temperature retrieval is an inverse problem
b) The associated weighing function is broad in nature
c) Surface contribution term is present in the radiative transfer equation
d) There is no one-to-one correspondence between the satellite radiance measurements
at different wavelengths and different vertical regions of the atmosphere

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Q29. Venus is closer to the sun than earth, and therefore solar energy incident on Venus
is higher than that on earth. However, the effective radiating temperature of
Venus is lower than that of the Earth, because:
a) The albedo of the Venus is much lower than that of Earth
b) The atmosphere of Venus has negligible CO2
c) the atmosphere of Venus has negligible N2
d) The albedo of Venus is much higher than that of Earth

Q30. Over the Indian seas, low pressure systems do not intensify to cyclonic storms
during the SW-Monsoon for which of the following reasons?
a) Ocean surface no longer serves as the energy source for the cyclone
b) The existence of strong north-south pressure gradients
c) The strong onshore flow to the Indian sub-continent and its associated cloudiness
d) The presence of strong vertical wind shear of the horizontal wind

Q31. The scattering efficiency of a particle in the Rayleigh regime for the radiation of
wavelength ƛ1 is 16 times that for the wavelength of ƛ2. The relationship between ƛ1 and
ƛ2 is:

a) ƛ1= 4ƛ2 b)ƛ1=1/4 ƛ2 c)ƛ1 = 8ƛ2 d)ƛ1 =16ƛ2

Q32. The presence of clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere result in_________

a) Warming of the surface
b) Cooling of the surface
c) Warming or cooling of the surface depending on the altitude at which the cloud is
present
d) Warming or cooling of the surface depending on the optical thickness of the cloud
and the altitude at which it is present.

Q33. Coriolis force arises due to?

a) Revolution of the earth around the sun
b) Rotation of the earth around its own axis
c) Revolution of the earth-moon system around the sun
d) Gravitational attraction of the earth-moon system

Q34. During the El-Nino year the surface of Pacific Ocean becomes:
a) Warmer than normal in the west Pacific
b) Warmer than normal in the east Pacific
c) Warmer than normal everywhere
d) Cooler than normal everywhere

Q35. At a height (z) [above the sea level] equal to the scale height of the troposphere, the
ratio of the pressure (Pe) to the sea level pressure (Po) will be:
(Here, e is the Naperian base)
a) 2 b)1/e c) Po/e 4) Po e

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Q36. Temperature inversion is found in a region where atmosphere is:

a) Stable c) Unstable
b) Neutral d) Turbulent

Q37. Consider two planets “A” and “B” with the following characteristics. The
relationship between T1 and T2 is:
 Distance from the Sun Planet’s radius Incident solar flux density Equivalent
temperature
Planet D1 R1 F1 T1
A
Planet D1= D2 R2 =2R1 F2 T2
B

a) T1=2T2 b)T1 = 4T2

b) c) T1=1/4T2 d) T1= 9T2

Q38. Clouds are called warm clouds when their?

a) Tops are above freezing level
b) Bases are below freezing level
c) Tops are below the freezing level
d) Bases are above the freezing level

Q39. The Indian summer monsoon circulation is much more than a large scale version
of the land sea breeze because?
a) It lasts for an entire season unlike the land and sea breeze
b) The Indian subcontinent is complicated by orography
c) The Indian monsoon is additionally driven by the release of latent heat of
condensation in the atmosphere over land
d) The Indian sub-continent has seas on all three sides, to the west, to the east and to the
south

Q40. If the earth were to rotate faster than its present angular speed, then the Coriolis
parameter at the equator would be:
a) 1/s
b) 0/s
c) 2/s
d) 4/s

Q41. The tropical easterly jet stream (TEJs) is the strongest in:
a) Winter over the northern India at a height of 14km- 16km
b) Summer over northern India at a height of 6km- 8km
c) Summer over southern India at a height between 14 and 16km
d) Winter over southern India at a height between 6 and 8km

Q42. Heterogeneous nucleation is uncommon in the natural atmosphere because:

a) Super saturations are always more than 1%

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b) Super saturations are always less than 1%

c) Super saturation does not occur
d) Hygroscopic nuclei are present

Q43. Diffusional growth of ice crystals in the cloud is:

a) According to the Bowen’s theory of droplet growth
b) Due to accretion of ice crystals with super cooled water droplets
c) Because the saturation vapour pressure over the ice is greater than that over a water
surface
d) Because the saturation vapours pressure over ice is less than that over a water
surface.

Q44. Mid-latitude cyclones are formed when

a) A warm front overtakes a cold front
b) A cold front overtakes a warm front
c) A cold air mass replaces a warm air mass
d) A warm air mass replaces a cold air mass

Q45. The deserts in India and the southern African continent are due to:
a) Their location in the rain shadow regions caused by mountain barriers
b) Large scale subsidence and divergent winds
c) Their location in interior continents distant from the oceans
d) High albedo resulting from the desertification and climate change

Q46. Wind velocity is measured at 3 second intervals. Mean velocity over 3 minute
duration is obtained by averaging?
a) Wind speed and directions separately
b) Wind speeds and directions only when wind speeds are greater than zero
c) Wind speeds and directions only when wind directions do not vary
d) Components of the wind vector

Q47. The orbital radius of Venus around the Sun is about 2/3 of the orbital radius of the
Earth around the Sun. what is the ratio of the solar constants on two planets?
a) 2.25
b) 0.67
c) 1.5
d) 1.0

Q48. Suppose that Earth is rotated from east to west instead of west to east which of the
following is likely to change?
a) Distribution of high and low pressure belts
b) Magnitude of Coriolis force
c) Direction of Coriolis deflection
d) Seasonal migration of ITCZ

Q49. Largest single contributor to the planetary albedo of the Earth is:
a) Clouds c) Oceans
b) Snow d) Volcanic dust in Stratosphere

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Q50.The quantity of carbon in carbon reservoirs of the Earth other than the atmosphere
is because:
a) Oceans are not a carbon sink
b) Carbon exists as a gaseous compound in the atmosphere
c) Once emitted to the atmosphere, there is no uptake of CO2 by other Earth system
components
d) CO2 is a reactant in several atmospheric chemical reactions

Q51. Which is the most abundant element in the solar system?

a) Hydrogen b) Iron c) Oxygen d) Silicon

Q52. Out of the following gases which one has the highest contribution towards the
greenhouse effect on the Earth?
a) CO2 b)CO c) CH4 d) H2O

Q53. Amongst the different gases in the atmosphere, which one of the following pairs does
NOT contribute to heating of the atmosphere?
a) CO2 & H2O b) N2 & O2 c) H2O & CH4 d) H2O & O3

Q54. The three main factors that conspire to form ozone hole are
a) Tropospheric cloud, CFCs and sunlight
b) Polar stratospheric cloud, H2O and CO2
c) CFCs, H2O and CO2
d) Polar stratospheric cloud, CFCs and sunlight

Q55. The major atmospheric constituents that are homogeneously distributed in the lower
atmosphere are
a) N2, O2, N2O b) N2, O2, H2
c) N2, O2, CO2 d) N2, O2, Ar

Q56. Why are N2 and O2, abundant in the atmosphere, not greenhouse gases, while less
abundant CO2, CH4 and H2O are greenhouse gases?
a) Diatomic molecules absorb less in the infra-red, because of only one vibrational degree of
freedom
b) Polyatomic molecules are good emitters of radiation because of multiple vibrational modes
c) Diatomic molecules are poor emitters of radiation because of limited vibrational modes
d) Diatomic molecules absorb more of visible than infrared radiation because of their limited
vibrational mode

Q57. Nitrogen exists in the ocean in many forms and two of these are NO3- and NH3+. The
oxidation states of N in both ions respectively are?
a) 5 & 3 b) 3 & 4
c) 3 & 3 d) 5 & 4

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Q58. Which is an apparent force?

a) Gravitational force b) Centrifugal force
c) Pressure Gradient d) viscous force

Q59. Suppose that the Earth’s atmosphere were made of H2, what would be the scale
height of such an atmosphere?
a) 8 km b) 120 km c) 100 km d) 75 km

Q60. If the atmosphere surrounding the Earth disappears suddenly, which one of the
following will NOT occur on the Earth?
a) Earth tides
b) Tsunamis
c) Plate motions
d) Magnetic storms

Answer Keys:
Disclamer! While ultimate care has been taken to publish the answer keys here, however
the candidate is asked to verify answers (if any), the candidates feels the answer is
incorrect, do check the authentic sources.

1-c 6-b 11-c 16-d 21-d 26-d 31-b 36-a 41-c 46-d

2-d 7-b 12-c 17-a 22-a 27-b 32-d 37-b 42-b 47-a

3-a 8-d 13-b 18-c 23-b 28-c 33-b 38-c 43-d 48-c

4-c 9-d 14-a 19-b 24-c 29-d 34-b 39-c 44-b 49-a

5-c 10-b 15-d 20-c 25-a 30-d 35-b 40-b 45-b 50-b

51-a 52-d 53-b 54-c 55-d 56-c 57-d 58-b 59-d 60-d

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