Meteorology

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Meteorology

• Introduction

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Meteorology

• The difference between meteorology and
  climatology....
• Time.....
• Weather (Meteorology) is the study of the state
  of the atmosphere ant a given time and place.
• Climate (Climatology) is based on accumulated
  observations over time.

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Meteorology

• Aristotle 340B.C. Meteorologica
• Meteoros things high in the air
• This document was an attempt to summarize
  everything known about atmospheric phenomena
• Philosophical and speculative reasoned
  discussion
• In the world according to Aristotle meteorology
  is NOT an observational science!

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Milestones in meteorology

• Aristotle. And rationalism
• SCIENCE in the 16th century
• Global exploration / communications
• Isobar maps 1869
• 1920 theory of air masses / fronts
• WWII global data,global need, unlimited
  resources
• Computers / Modeling
• RADAR
• MetSats (Meteorological Satellites)

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Qualifications to Teach Meteorology

• Agricultural meteorology
• Aviation Meteorology / Family Tradition
• Daddy, Uncles all aviators(I was never allowed
  to call thunderstorms thunderheads they were
  Cumulo-Nimbus)
• 9 official hours flight instruction (2X
  additional UN-official hours)
• MANY hours right seat on aerial photography
  missions
• Uncle a REAL Meteorologist Labrador, Bermuda,
  NORAD. glorified sequence readers
• Teaching Assistant Undergraduate Climatology at
  OSU
• Graduate Class in Climatology

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Qualifications contd.

• Major Professor, Climatologist Field Problem
  climate forcing of landslide event
• 5 Years Global Climate Change Research
• Doctoral research C budget estimations for FSU
• Post-Doc with member of IPCC (Inter-governmental
  Panel on Climate Change)
• Tropical forest biomass modeling
• Familiarity with construction, parameterization
  and evaluation of GCMs (General Circulation
  Models)
• Weather Geek

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The Science of Geography ...

• How does meteorology fit into the discipline?
• First we have to define geography

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How big is the Universe?Hubble Deep Field View

• http//hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/
  releases/2004/07/image/a
• The Hubble Telescope was pointed at a dark part
  of the sky
• Located in the constellation Fornax, the region
  is so empty that only a handful of stars within
  the Milky Way galaxy can be seen in the image.
• http//micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopt
  icsu/powersof10/

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The Great galaxy in Andromeda a spiral galaxy
similar to our own
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Our sun is but one single middle sized and middle
aged star hanging out along the edge of an
average sized galaxy
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Our Sun, the source of life on Earth is but one
of millions.
X-ray image from Dec. 2002
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Our Earth is planet 3 in a system of Nine
Planets
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Comparative orbits of the local solar system.
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a broad
band of material, the asteroid belt.
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Images of the inner planets relative sizes are
shown. The image of Venus is from a RADAR mapping
mission as the Venusian surface cannot be seen
through the thick atmosphere.
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Comparatively, we are dealing with a very small
part of a very big system..
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The atmosphere behaves like a fluid, with
currents and eddies. Weather is a product of
these atmospheric movements.
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The Atmosphere of the Earth is only about 20
miles thick. Were the Planet the size of a peach
the lower atmosphere (3 miles) would be thinner
than the fuzz of that peach. The Earth's
atmosphere is 77 nitrogen, 21 oxygen, with
traces of argon, carbon dioxide and water.
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The lower atmosphere is where life is possible
and where weather occurs.
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Hydrosphere 71 Percent of the Earth's surface is
covered with water. Earth is the only planet on
which water can exist in liquid form on the
surface.
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Vegetation of the conterminous United States as
shown in a false color infra-red (healthy
vegetation is shown in shades of red) AVHRR
composite.
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So here we have our Earth, fundamentally the only
planet we have explored GEOGRAPHY Is the
science of describing this planet
literally, Writing about Earth
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Geography

• From the Greek Language
• geo Earth
• graphia description or depiction
• Eratosthenes, a 3rd century B.C. Greek Scholar
  and chief librarian at the famous Library of
  Alexandria was perhaps the first person to use
  the term Geography.

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What is Geography?

• A science that deals with the natural features
  of the earth and the climate, products and
  inhabitants. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
  Springfield Merriam-Webster, 1997. 318

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DEFINITIONS
The world and all that is in it. Spatial
perspective on people, places and
environment. Geography is a social science that
focuses on the spatial distribution of human and
physical phenomena. The science and art of
understanding the spatial relations among people,
place, and environment. Geography is the study of
pattern and processes associated with the Earth.
The focus of the geographer is on spatial
patterns and how phenomena that share common
space interact spatially.
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DEFINITIONS contd.
The world and all that is in it. Spatial
perspective on people, places and
environment. Geography is a social science that
focuses on the spatial distribution of human and
physical phenomena. The science and art of
understanding the spatial relations among people,
place, and environment. Geography is the study of
pattern and processes associated with the Earth.
The focus of the geographer is on spatial
patterns and how phenomena that share common
space interact spatially.
X
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DEFINITION
Geography is the study of people, places and
environments. But more than that, it is a way of
looking at the world and asking why it works ( or
doesnt work ) and the way it does work. It is
more than where, but why there. It is looking at
issues from a spatial perspective and inquiring
about them.
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Why What is Where?andWho Cares?
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The driving force for weather and oceanic
currents is a thermal imbalance it is hot (due
to near vertical insolation) between the tropics
and cold due to reduced insolation (high angle,
or in the shadows) this thermal imbalance drives
all weather, which is simply seeking a balance
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Little or no solar NRG is received at the poles
Heat Builds near the equator
Little or no solar NRG is received at the poles
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Meteorology

• We will investigate
• the causes of weather
• The driving forces behind weather events
• The impacts of weather on human society
• How weather patterns occur
• The tools used to measure and predict weather
• How to forecast the weather

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Extreme weather events....

• Normal, but worthy of special study....tornadoes,
  blizzards, heat waves, cyclones etc....

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Impacts of Weather 2/5
Figure 1.15
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Impacts of Weather 3/5
Figure 1.16
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Impacts of Weather 4/5
Figure 1.17
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Impacts of Weather 5/5
Figure 1.18
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