Transcript Lecture #1: Overview of Atmospheric

Atmospheric Instrumentation: An Overview
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Weather and Climate Observations:
• Early civilizations (e.g., Egypt, Maya, Vikings, Chinese, Polynesia) were known to monitor
local weather/climate patterns and pass this information from one generation to the next
through stories, art, religion, and architecture
• Influenced agricultural (food)
• Influenced movement and migration (nautical travel)
• Influenced site selection for town/cities (access / stability)
• Aristotle (Greek – 350 BC) is considered the “founder” of meteorology
• Wrote Meteorologica where he described the hydrological cycle
• Book served as the primary reference for centuries
• Pomponius Mela (Roman – 25 AD) formalized a climate zone system
• Varahamihira (India – 500 AD) wrote Brihatsamhita - first formal description of the
seasonal cycle and the formation of clouds/rain
• Al-Dinawari (Muslim – 900 AD) wrote Book of Plants - first formal description of
the application of meteorology to agriculture
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Surface Observations:
• Basic instrumentation was first developed
• Standardized rain gauge (Korea – 1441 AD)
• Anemometer (Italy – 1450 AD)
• Thermometer (Italy – 1607 AD)
• Barometer (Italy – 1643 AD)
• Hygrometer (France – 1783 AD)
• Regular meteorological surface observation networks were developed
• Italy – 1654 AD
• United States – 1849 AD
• England – 1854 AD
• India – 1875 AD
• Scandinavia – 1881 AD
• Japan – 1883 AD
• Standardization was introduced → could share observations from multiple networks
• Temperature → Fahrenheit vs. Celcius
• Pressure → millibar vs. pascal
• Surface station design and sheltering
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Surface Observations:
• Weather instruments were expensive → Owned by a select few
→ Wealthy organizations (government / religious)
→ Wealthy individuals (ship captains / doctors)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Surface Observations and the Current Climate Record:
• A few weather observers kept good records →
→
→
→
Atmospheric Instrumentation
Recorded observations regularly (daily)
Noted any changes in instrumentation
Observation logs survived the years
Basis of current long-term climate record
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Upper Air Observations:
• Beginning in the mid-1700’s scientists began using a number of techniques to acquire
meteorological observations above the surface → Kites (1749)
→ Manned hot air balloons (1783)
→ Unmanned instrumented balloons (1902)
→ Radiosonde (1930)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Radar Observations:
1904
Christian Hulsmeyer developed a device that could remotely detect ships beyond
the human visual range – the first “radar” device
1917
Nikola Tesla outlined how a “radar” device could be used for tracking ships by
transmitting pulses at regular intervals
1930s
Pulsing “radar” developed by British, German, French, and U.S. militaries for
defense – the Allies thought the Germans were developing “death rays”
1940s
Science of radar meteorology was born during World War II
1940
A “radio detection and ranging” (radar) device was developed by the U.S. Navy
1941
A 10-cm (S-Band) defense radar along the southern coast of England – the same
radar used to track German fighters / bombers – was used to track a thunderstorm
with large hail over a distance of 7 miles.
1943
First operational weather radar – Panama Canal Zone
1957
First operational weather radar network in U.S. (66 WSR-57 radars)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: A Brief History
Early Satellite Observations:
1957
Soviet Union launches Sputnik-1 into low-Earth orbit – first man-made satellite
1960
Unites States launches TIROS-1 – the first weather satellite - collected visible
(daytime only) imagery of clouds and tested basic instrumentation techniques
1964
Nimbus-1 launched – first satellite to collect infrared (IR) imagery (nighttime)
1965
TIROS-9 launched – first sun-synchronous near polar-orbiting satellite that
could provide complete global coverage over the course of one day.
1966
ATS-1 launched – first geostationary satellite that could provide full-disc visible
images every 20 minutes
1969
Nimbus-3 launched – first satellite to have an IR spectrometer (24-hr temperature
profiles / soundings) and solar/infrared interferometers (Earth’s radiation budget)
1970
NOAA-1 launched – first “modern” polar-orbiting satellite (19 total)
1975
GOES-1 launched – first “modern” geostationary satellite (15 total)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Meteorological Instrumentation: Current Uses
Observed Parameter
Pressure
Temperature
Humidity
Clouds
Precipitation
Wind Speed / Direction
Radiation
Surface
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Upper-Air
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Severe Weather
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Air Quality
Aircraft Safety
Winter Weather
Climate Change
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Data assimilation into
numerical weather
and climate models
X
X
X
X
Atmospheric Instrumentation
Radar
Satellite
X
X
X
X
X
X
M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Surface System
Wind Speed / Direction
(cup anemometer)
(wind vane)
Precipitation
Amount
(heated)
(tipping bucket)
Temperature
Humidity
(aspirated)
Cloud Height
(ceilometer)
Lightning
Pressure
NOAA
ASOS
Station
(operational)
Visibility
Precipitation
Type
Electronics
(Transmitter)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Surface System
Precipitation
Amount
(tipping bucket)
Wind Speed / Direction
(cup anemometer)
(wind vane)
Solar and UV Radiation
(radiometers)
Electronics
(Transmitter)
Davis
Vantage
Pro-2
Station
(research)
Temperature
Humidity
(aspirated)
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Example of a Modern Upper-Air System
Vaisala Sounding System
and
RS-92 Sonde
Temperature
Sensor
Humidity
Sensor
Balloon Inflation Area
Receiving
Antenna
Helium
Tanks
GPS
Antenna
Pressure
Sensor
(inside case)
Transmitting
Antenna
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
Examples of Modern Radar Systems
NOAA
NEXRAD
S-band
10.5 cm
Doppler
NOAA-WP3D X-band / 3.2 cm
Doppler
NCAR
Doppler
on Wheels
X-band
3.2 cm
Doppler
0
5
-15
Atmospheric Instrumentation
10
0
15
15
20
30
25
Range (km)
45 Reflectivity
Factor (dBZ)
M. D. Eastin
Examples of Modern Satellite Systems
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin
How Do These Instruments Work?
Starting next time…
1. Principles of Measurement and Instruments
2. Surface Measurement Systems
3. Sounding Measurement Systems
4. Precipitation Radar Systems
5. Satellite Systems
Atmospheric Instrumentation
M. D. Eastin