Meteorology

What is meteorology
Is the study of atmospheric phenomena

What is weather?
Weather- short term in atmospheric phenomena that interact and
affect the environment and life on earth

What is an air mass?

Is a large volume of air that has the same characteristics, such as
humidity and temperature, as its source region
Source region- is the area over which an air mass forms

What are the types of air masses?

Maritime tropical are topical bodies of water
Continental Tropical- is hot and dry, especially in summer
Maritime polar- air masses form over the colds waters of the North

Atlantic and North pacific

Continental polar- air masses form over the interior of Canada and
Alaska, and carry frigid air southward in the winter
Arctic- earths ice- and snow-covered surfaces above 60 N latitude in
Siberia and the Arctic Basin are the sources

What cause wind? Types of winds

The direction of earths winds is influenced by the earths rotation
Coriolis effect- result in fluids and objects moving in an apparent
curved path rather than a straight line
Types of winds
Polar easterlies- -are the wind zone between 60 N latitude and
the north pole, and 60 S latitude and the south pole
Prevailing westerlies- are the wind systems on earth located
between latitudes 30 N and 60 N, and 30 S and 60 S
Trade winds- between latitudes 30 N and the equator is a
circulation belt of wind (trade winds)

What are the types of fronts?

Front- a narrow region between two air masses of different densities

Cold front- intense precipitation and sometime thunder storm

Warm front- widespread light precipitation
Stationary front- sometime light winds and precipitation
Occluded front- Strong winds and heavy precipitation
a warm air mass is squeezed up ward between two cold air
masses

What are the types of pressure?

Low pressure system- equal rain and precipitation because air is rising
(Bad weather)
High pressure- good weather

What are our tools to measure weather?

Thermometer- measure temperature using either the Fahrenheit or
Celsius scale
Barometer-measure air pressure
Anemometer-measure wind speed
Hygrometer-measure relative humidity
Radiosonde-measure the air temperature, pressure, and humidity
Doppler radar- speed at which precipitation moves toward or away
from a radar station
Weather satellites- track clouds but not necessarily precipitation
3 types of images
Infra-red
Visible light
Water vapor imagery

How do we communicate weather data?

Station model- is a record of weather data for a particular site at a

particular time
Isobars- are lines of equal pressure
Isotherms- lines of equal temperature
Digital forecast- is created by applying physical principles and
mathematic to atmospheric variable and then making a prediction
about ow these variable will change
Analog forecast- is based on a comparison of current weather pattern
to similar weather pattern from the past