Transcript Lecture 1: definitions and intro

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
• Aristotle 340B.C. Meteorologica
• Meteoros “things high in the air”
• This document was an attempt to summarize
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everything known about atmospheric
phenomena
Philosophical and speculative… ‘reasoned
discussion’
In the world according to Aristotle meteorology
is NOT an observational science!
Milestones in meteorology…
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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)
Qualifications to Teach
Meteorology
• Agricultural meteorology
• Aviation Meteorology / Family Tradition
• Daddy, Uncles all aviators…(I was never allowed to call
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thunderstorms ‘thunderheads’… they were CumuloNimbus)
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
Qualifications contd….
• Major Professor, Climatologist… ‘Field Problem’
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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
The Science of Geography ...
How does ‘meteorology’ fit into
the discipline?
First we have to define
‘geography’…
How big is the Universe?
Hubble Deep Field View
• http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/rele
ases/2004/07/image/a
• The Hubble Telescope was pointed at a ‘dark’
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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/powersof
10/
The Great galaxy in Andromeda… a spiral galaxy similar to our own
Our sun is but one single middle sized and middle aged star
hanging out along the edge of an average sized galaxy
Our Sun, the source of life on Earth is but one of millions….
X-ray image
from Dec. 2002
Our Earth is planet # 3 in a system of Nine Planets
Comparative orbits of the local solar system.
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a broad
band of material, the asteroid belt.
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.
Comparatively, we are dealing with a very small part of a very
big system…..
The
atmosphere
behaves like
a fluid, with
currents and
eddies.
Weather is a
product of
these
atmospheric
movements.
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.
The lower atmosphere is where life is possible and where weather
occurs.
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.
Vegetation of the conterminous United States as shown in a false
color infra-red (healthy vegetation is shown in shades of red)
AVHRR composite.
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”
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.”
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
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.
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.
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.
Why What is Where?
and
Who Cares?
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…
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…
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
‘Extreme’ weather events....
• Normal, but worthy of special study....tornadoes,
blizzards, heat waves, cyclones etc....
Impacts of Weather 2/5
Figure 1.15
Impacts of Weather 3/5
Figure 1.16
Impacts of Weather 4/5
Figure 1.17
Impacts of Weather 5/5
Figure 1.18