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Meteorology

Meteorology. Introduction…. 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. Meteorology.

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Meteorology

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  1. Meteorology Introduction…

  2. 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.

  3. 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!

  4. 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)

  5. 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

  6. 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 GCM’s (General Circulation Models) • Weather Geek

  7. The Science of Geography ... How does ‘meteorology’ fit into the discipline? First we have to define ‘geography’…

  8. 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/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

  9. The Great galaxy in Andromeda… a spiral galaxy similar to our own

  10. Our sun is but one single middle sized and middle aged star hanging out along the edge of an average sized galaxy

  11. Our Sun, the source of life on Earth is but one of millions…. X-ray image from Dec. 2002

  12. Our Earth is planet # 3 in a system of Nine Planets

  13. Comparative orbits of the local solar system. Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a broad band of material, the asteroid belt.

  14. 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.

  15. Comparatively, we are dealing with a very small part of a very big system…..

  16. The atmosphere behaves like a fluid, with currents and eddies. Weather is a product of these atmospheric movements.

  17. 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.

  18. The lower atmosphere is where life is possible and where weather occurs.

  19. 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.

  20. Vegetation of the conterminous United States as shown in a false color infra-red (healthy vegetation is shown in shades of red) AVHRR composite.

  21. 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”

  22. 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.”

  23. 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

  24. 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.

  25. 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

  26. 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 doesn’t 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.

  27. Why What is Where?andWho Cares?

  28. 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…

  29. 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…

  30. 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

  31. ‘Extreme’ weather events.... • Normal, but worthy of special study....tornadoes, blizzards, heat waves, cyclones etc....

  32. Impacts of Weather 2/5 Figure 1.15

  33. Impacts of Weather 3/5 Figure 1.16

  34. Impacts of Weather 4/5 Figure 1.17

  35. Impacts of Weather 5/5 Figure 1.18

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