Transcript Welcome to aos 101: weather and climate

TA: Courtney Obergfell
 TA
: Courtney Obergfell
 Discussion: Thursdays 2:25-3:15 PM,
Room 823 AOS
 Office: AOS Room 1311
 Email: [email protected]
 Office Hours: Mondays 1:30-2:45PM,
Tuesdays 2:45-3:45 PM, or by appointment
 Discussion Website:
http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~aos101co
 On
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Name
Email
Year
Intended Major
 On
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Front
Back
Why you signed up for a discussion section
Topics you’d like covered
 Attendance
 Hand
in HW
 Weather Discussion
 Review of last week – questions?
 New lecture topic
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Atmospheric Science: the comprehensive study
of the physics, chemistry, and dynamics of the
earth's atmosphere, from the earth's surface to
several hundred kilometers.

Oceanography: The scientific study of oceans,
the life that inhabits them, and their physical
characteristics, including the depth and extent
of ocean waters, their movement and chemical
makeup, and the topography and composition of
the ocean floors.
 Meteorology:
day-to-day weather, study of
weather systems (snowstorms, tornadoes,
etc.), forecasting
 Climatology:
study of long term trends,
large-scale phenomena (El Nino), climate
change
 Atm.
Chemistry: pollution, ozone layer
 Atm.
Physics: how clouds/rain forms, using
satellites to observe planet
 Oceanography:
ocean currents, carbon
cycle, effect on atmosphere
 Government:
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National Weather Service: issues forecasts, warnings,
fire weather, etc.
Research: develops forecast models, research
hurricanes, tornadoes, climate, develop satellites, etc.
Military
 Private
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industry:
commodity trading (agriculture, oil), energy
companies (oil, wind farms), insurance/risk
management, forecasting firms
(transportation, construction, radio stations,
etc.), air quality
 Academic:
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Teaching, research
 Broadcast:
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Television and radio forecasts
 Daily
concerns – What to wear, flight delays,
etc
 Agriculture and Food concerns
 Safety
 Insurance and property damage
 Future
January 28, 2010
 Observations
allow meteorologists to assess
the current state of the atmosphere
 Usually
taken at the same time using the
same standardization across the country to
be consistent
 Taken
by people or automated sensors
 Ships
 Buoys
 Commercial
Aircraft (ACARS)
 Satellite
 All
of this data goes into forecast models
 Temperature
 Dewpoint
 Barometric
Pressure
 Wind Speed and Direction
 Cloud Cover
 Present Weather
 Cloud Type
 Etc…
Both are measured with a thermometer which is
shielded from direct sunlight.
 Dewpoint is the temperature at which the water
vapor in the atmosphere condenses into liquid
water.
 Dewpoint is not the same as Relative Humidity.
 Scientists and most of the world uses the Kelvin
or Celsius scale, while the U.S. still uses the
Fahrenheit scale.

Tk  Tc  273.15
Tf  9  (Tc  32)
5
Tc  (Tf  32) * 5
9
Measured with
barometer
 Units of hectopascals
(hPa), millibars (mb) or
inches of mercury (in
Hg)
 Reported values are
adjusted to sea level -otherwise pressure
maps would simply
reflect topography
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 Anemometer
measures
speed
 Weather vane tells us wind
direction
 Speed measured in knots:
1 knot = 1.151 mph
 1 knot = 0.514 m/s
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 Weak
hurricane has winds
over 65 knots (75mph)!
http://www.spl.org/images/branch/BAL_art/anemometer.jpg
 Amount
and height
 Cloud type is done by sight only
 Balloons
with “radiosondes”
attached are released twice
per day at 92 stations in the
U.S. (~900 worldwide)
 Measures:
 temperature
 dewpoint
 wind speed and
 pressure
direction
as it rapidly rises throughout
the atmosphere
 Atmospheric
“soundings” are
created from these
observations.
 These help
meteorologists
understand the
vertical profiles of
temperature,
dewpoint, etc
A
very large amount of weather data can
be retrieved from a given weather station
Temperature – In U.S., expressed in degrees
Fahrenheit. Most other countries, in degrees
Celsius.
 Dewpoint – Expressed in same units as
temperature.
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Wind Direction – The line drawn represents the direction
from which the wind is blowing.
Wind Speed – Represented as barbs on the line. Wind
speed is measured in knots
 Short barb = 5 kts
 Long barb = 10 kts
 Triangle = 50 kts
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Surface Pressure – Adjusted to sea level. Units are in mb.
 If reported value is greater than 500, the initial 9 is
missing.
 Place it on the left and divide by 10. I.e.: 827 =
982.7mb
 If reported value is less than 500, the initial 10 is
missing.
 Place it on the left and divide by 10. I.e.: 027 =
1002.7mb.
 Pressure
Tendency – Change in pressure over
last three hours.
 Change
in pressure is represented by a value and
line indicating how the pressure was changing.
Total
cloud amount represents the
fraction of the sky covered
Visibility – How far we can see from the
observing point, expressed in units of miles.
 Present weather conditions – Symbols are used to
convey this information (rain, snow, ice, etc.).

 February
4 – Sam & Danielle
 February 11 – Jordan & Alaura
 February 18 – Daniel & Brady
 March 4 – Will & Alexandra
 March 11 – Nicole & Alex M.
 March 18 – Kaela, Becky, & Madison
 March 25- Shane & Teryn
 April 8 – Kelly
 April 15- Ye Jin & Changmin
 April 22 – Nick O. & Sarah
 April 29 – Megan & Melissa
 May 6 – Jackson