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Weather Maps. What are they used for? How do we make them?. Bob Howell - Manager Greenwood Weather Services Centre. Meteorological Service of Canada. The Job of the Meteorologist:. To understand the atmospheric processes responsible for the weather,
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Weather Maps What are they used for? How do we make them? Bob Howell - Manager Greenwood Weather Services Centre Meteorological Service of Canada
The Job of the Meteorologist: • To understand the atmospheric processes responsible for the weather, • To communicate that understanding in a manner tailored to the needs of “the client”
Weather Maps: • Help us organize and process information, • Help us communicate the weather situation • To accomplish both these requirements the weather map must therefore show not only the clouds, precipitation, temperatures etc, • but also the structures associated with the processes that create them.
Weather Map Format: • Pressure centres and patterns show air movements • Fronts depict air mass boundaries and help show heating and cooling processes
To Create a Weather Map: We need Data! • Conventional reports from surface stations
To Create a Weather Map: We need Data! • Upper air reports from weather balloons
To Create a Weather Map: We need Data! • Processed depictions of reported and forecast data
To Create a Weather Map: We need Data! • Satellite Images
To Create a Weather Map: We need Data! • Data from other sensors
Winnipeg 256K Greenwood Trenton 256K 512K 512K Halifax 512K CMC Dorval Data Flow • Data received via landline and Satellite feeds • Several Gigabytes flow per day: • Text • Charts / Maps • Radar • Satellite Images • Lightning Data • Binary data files
Useful URL’s http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/BadMeteorology.html http://www.cmc.ec.gc.ca/ http://weather.ec.gc.ca/ensemble/index_e.html http://www.ec.gc.ca/air/introduction_e.cfm http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/ozone.html http://www.epa.gov/airnow/canada/
Meteorologist Careers • Graduation with Degree or Diploma in Meteorology • (UBC, U of A, UQAM, Dalhousie) • ~8 months Operational Training • Hailfax, Montreal, Edmonton • Internship training at a Weather Centre • 2 months first level • 18 months more to certification • Relocation to another Centre
Meteorologist Careers • Graduation with Degree or Diploma in Meteorology • (UBC, U of A, UQAM, Dalhousie) • ~8 months Operational Training • Halifax, Montreal, Edmonton • Internship training at a Weather Centre • 2 months first level • 18 months more to certification • Relocation to another Centre
Approx 500 operational meteorologists working at centres in: • Vancouver, Kelowna, • Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, • Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Toronto, • Montreal, Quebec, Rimouski, • Fredericton, Dartmouth, Gander, • Comox, Trenton, Halifax, Greenwood
Useful URL’s http://emplois.gc.ca/jobs/p021039e.htm http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/jobs_emplois/index_e.cfm