FlightDesk Aero / Question bank / PPL · Meteorology
PPL(A) · EASA 050
Meteorology
Answer each question, then read why: the explanation, the formula, a diagram and the solution step by step.
Chapters
- 050-01 The atmosphere · 4
- 050-02 Wind · 2
- 050-03 Thermodynamics · 0
- 050-04 Clouds and fog · 2
- 050-05 Precipitation · 0
- 050-06 Air masses and fronts · 0
- 050-07 Pressure systems · 0
- 050-08 Climatology · 0
- 050-09 Flight hazards · 0
- 050-10 Meteorological information · 0
Question 1 of 8
The ISA temperature at an altitude
In the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA), what is the temperature at 7 000 ft?
Explanation
The ISA starts at +15 °C at mean sea level, and up to the tropopause its temperature falls by 1.98 °C per 1 000 ft, which exams round to 2 °C. Take the drop over the altitude away from +15 °C. In the formula, T_ISA is the ISA temperature in °C and h the altitude in feet.
Step by step
- At sea level the ISA temperature is +15 °C.
- Drop over 7 000 ft: 7 × 2 = 14 °C.
- 15 − 14 = +1 °C.
Why not the other answers
- −6 °C uses 3 °C per 1 000 ft. That is the dry adiabatic lapse rate, the cooling of a parcel of unsaturated air as it rises, not the ISA lapse rate of 2 °C per 1 000 ft.
- +29 °C adds the drop instead of taking it away. In the troposphere the temperature falls as you climb.
- −14 °C is only the drop. It leaves out the +15 °C the ISA starts with at sea level.
Tip. Quick check: the ISA passes 0 °C at about 7 500 ft, so anything higher is below zero in the standard atmosphere.
Question 2 of 8
Deviation from ISA at a flight level
At FL080 the outside air temperature is −13 °C. What is the deviation from ISA?
Explanation
A flight level is an altitude in the standard atmosphere, so first work out the ISA temperature at that level. The deviation is the actual temperature minus the ISA temperature: a negative deviation means the air is colder than standard, a positive one that it is warmer. In the formulas, T_actual is the measured outside air temperature (OAT in the diagram), T_ISA the ISA temperature at that level and h its altitude in feet (FL × 100).
Step by step
- FL080 is 8 000 ft in the standard atmosphere.
- ISA temperature there: 15 − 2 × 8 = −1 °C.
- Deviation: −13 − (−1) = −12 °C, so ISA −12 °C.
Why not the other answers
- ISA +12 °C subtracts the wrong way round, ISA minus actual. The deviation is always actual minus ISA: air warmer than standard gives a positive number, colder air a negative one.
- ISA −4 °C works out the ISA temperature with 3 °C per 1 000 ft (−9 °C). The ISA falls by 2 °C per 1 000 ft; 3 °C is the dry adiabatic lapse rate.
- ISA −28 °C compares with +15 °C, the ISA temperature at sea level, not the one at FL080.
Tip. It matters for the altimeter: in air colder than ISA you are lower than the altimeter shows, in warmer air higher. From hot to cold, look out below.
Question 3 of 8
Pressure altitude of an aerodrome
An aerodrome has an elevation of 1 250 ft and the QNH is 998 hPa. Using 30 ft per hPa, what is the pressure altitude of the aerodrome?
Explanation
Pressure altitude (PA) is height measured from the level where the pressure is 1013 hPa, as in the standard atmosphere. When the QNH is lower than 1013 hPa, that level lies below sea level, so the pressure altitude is higher than the elevation; when the QNH is higher, it is lower.
Step by step
- Difference from standard: 1013 − 998 = +15 hPa.
- In feet: +15 × 30 = +450 ft.
- Pressure altitude: 1 250 + (+450) = 1 700 ft.
Why not the other answers
- 800 ft applies the correction the wrong way. A QNH below 1013 hPa puts the 1013 hPa level below sea level and makes the pressure altitude higher than the elevation; a QNH above 1013 hPa puts it above sea level and makes the pressure altitude lower.
- 450 ft is only the size of the correction. It still has to be applied to the aerodrome elevation.
- 1 265 ft adds the hectopascals as if they were feet. Near the ground each hPa is about 30 ft.
Tip. On the ground you can read it directly: set 1013 on the altimeter subscale (the Kollsman window) and the altimeter shows the pressure altitude.
Question 4 of 8
Flying from high to low pressure
You set QNH 1020 hPa before take-off and fly at an indicated 3 000 ft towards an area where the QNH is 1005 hPa. You do not reset the altimeter. Ignoring temperature and using 30 ft per hPa, what is your altitude above sea level there?
Explanation
The altimeter holds you on the pressure level that is 3 000 ft above the 1020 hPa setting. Where the sea-level pressure is lower, every pressure level sits lower too, so you descend with it while the altimeter still shows 3 000 ft. From high to low, look out below. In the formula, h_ind is the indicated altitude and h_true the true altitude, in feet; QNH_set is the value on the subscale and QNH_local the QNH where you are.
Step by step
- Pressure difference: 1020 − 1005 = 15 hPa.
- In feet: 15 × 30 = 450 ft, the amount the altimeter over-reads.
- 3 000 − 450 = 2 550 ft above sea level.
Why not the other answers
- 3 450 ft puts the error the wrong way. Flying into lower pressure, the altimeter over-reads: you are lower than it shows.
- 3 000 ft assumes the altimeter still shows your altitude. It only does with the local QNH set; with 1020 hPa left on the subscale it reads 450 ft too high.
- 2 985 ft takes the 15 hPa as feet. Each hPa is about 30 ft.
Tip. Set the new QNH as soon as you get it from the flight information service or ATC. Over high ground this error can take away your whole terrain clearance.
Question 5 of 8
The base of cumulus cloud from the dew point
On a sunny afternoon the surface temperature is 22 °C and the dew point is 13 °C. At about what height above the ground will the cumulus clouds form?
Explanation
Warm air rising from the ground cools at the dry adiabatic lapse rate, 3 °C per 1 000 ft, while its dew point falls by only about 0.5 °C per 1 000 ft. The gap between them closes by 2.5 °C every 1 000 ft, so each degree of spread at the surface gives about 400 ft of climb before the air is saturated and cloud forms. In the formula, T is the surface temperature and T_d (Td in the diagram) the dew point, in °C, and h_base the cloud base in feet above the ground.
Step by step
- Spread at the surface: 22 − 13 = 9 °C.
- The spread closes at 3 − 0.5 = 2.5 °C per 1 000 ft, that is 1 °C every 400 ft.
- 9 × 400 = 3 600 ft above the ground.
Why not the other answers
- 1 125 ft uses 125 per degree, the metric rule (about 125 m of climb per °C of spread), and reads the result as feet. In feet it is about 400 ft per °C.
- 8 800 ft multiplies the temperature, not the spread between the temperature and the dew point.
- 4 500 ft cools the rising air at the ISA 2 °C per 1 000 ft and keeps the dew point fixed. A rising parcel of unsaturated air cools at the dry adiabatic 3 °C per 1 000 ft, and its dew point falls too.
Tip. This works for cloud formed by surface heating. The result is above the ground, not above sea level: add the elevation of the field to compare it with an altitude. Some exam sources (the UK CAA) use spread ÷ 3 × 1 000 ft, which ignores the fall of the dew point and gives a slightly lower base; both are rules of thumb.
Question 6 of 8
The wind at 2 000 ft from the surface wind
Over flat land in the northern hemisphere the surface wind is 240° / 12 kt. What is the most likely wind at 2 000 ft, above the friction layer?
Explanation
Friction with the ground slows the wind near the surface, and a slower wind is turned less by the Coriolis effect, so it blows across the isobars towards the low pressure. Over land the surface wind is backed by about 30° and blows at about half the speed of the wind above the friction layer. Going up to 2 000 ft, the wind therefore veers by about 30° and doubles.
Step by step
- Direction: 240° + 30° = 270°, a veer (clockwise).
- Speed: 12 kt × 2 = 24 kt.
- Wind at 2 000 ft ≈ 270° / 24 kt.
Why not the other answers
- 210° turns the wind the wrong way. Climbing out of the friction layer in the northern hemisphere the wind veers, clockwise; it backs as you descend towards the surface.
- 250° / 18 kt are the values over the sea, where the surface is smoother: a turn of about 10° and a surface wind of about two thirds of the wind above.
- 12 kt keeps the surface speed. Friction also slows the wind: over land the surface wind is only about half of the wind above the friction layer.
Tip. The same rule works on the way down: on the approach the wind backs and weakens as you descend, so expect the drift to change in the last 2 000 ft.
Question 7 of 8
The conditions for radiation fog
Which conditions are most likely to produce radiation fog over an airfield?
Explanation
Radiation fog forms when the ground loses its heat at night and cools the air in contact with it below its dew point. Three things must come together: a clear sky so the heat can escape, moist air so a little cooling reaches the dew point, and a light wind that keeps the tiny droplets in the air and spreads the cooling through the lowest layer.
Step by step
- Clear sky: the ground radiates its heat away and cools the air above it.
- Moist air: a small spread between temperature and dew point.
- Light wind of 2 to 8 kt: with no wind you get dew on the ground instead, with a strong wind the air is mixed with warmer air from above.
Why not the other answers
- Cloud keeps the heat in: under an overcast sky the ground does not cool enough. With no wind at all, the moisture would settle on the ground as dew rather than form fog.
- A wind of 15 to 20 kt mixes the cooled air near the ground with warmer air from above, so radiation fog does not form; at most you get low stratus.
- Warm, moist air moving over a colder surface gives advection fog. It can form by day or night, with a stronger wind, and is common along coasts.
Tip. Radiation fog is most likely in autumn and winter under a high pressure system, and is often thickest just after sunrise. It clears as the sun warms the ground, sometimes lifting first into low stratus.
Question 8 of 8
Buys Ballot's law: where is the low?
In the northern hemisphere you stand with your back to the wind. Where is the area of low pressure?
Explanation
Air starts to move from high towards low pressure, but the Coriolis effect turns it to the right in the northern hemisphere until it blows along the isobars. With your back to that wind, the high pressure is on your right and the low pressure on your left. This is Buys Ballot's law.
Step by step
- The pressure difference pushes the air from high towards low pressure.
- In the northern hemisphere the Coriolis effect turns it to the right, until it blows along the isobars.
- Back to the wind: high pressure on the right, low pressure on the left.
Why not the other answers
- On your right is the answer for the southern hemisphere, where the Coriolis effect turns the wind to the left.
- In front of you would be right only if the air flowed straight from high to low pressure. Above the friction layer the Coriolis effect turns it until it blows along the isobars.
- Behind you would mean the wind blows from low towards high pressure, against the force that drives it.
Tip. Near the ground friction turns the wind about 30° towards the low over land, so with your back to the surface wind the low is on your left and a little in front.
Original questions written by FlightDesk Aero and aligned with the EASA syllabus. They are not questions from the official EASA exam bank.