The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere “behaves” over relatively long periods of time. http://www. nasa. gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather. html The definition and discussion of Meteorologist and Climatologist? A meteorologist is a scientist who studies meteorology which is the branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, esp. as a means of forecasting the weather.
http://www. thefreedictionary. com/meteorologist A climatologist is a scientist who studies the climate. This field in the sciences is related to meteorology, the study of weather, except that it looks at long-term trends and the history of the climate, rather than examining weather systems in the short term like meteorologists do. http://www. wisegeek. org/what-does-a-climatologist-do. htm#slideshow Climatic Types An Equatorial climate, also known as a tropical rainforest climate is a tropical climate usually (but not always) found along the equator.
Regions with this climate typically feature tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests are a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season – all years have mean precipitation values of at least 60 mm (2. 36 inches). Tropical rainforest climates have no pronounced summer or winter; it is typically hot and wet throughout the year and rainfall is both heavy and frequent. One day in an equatorial climate can be very similar to the next, while the change in temperature between day and night may be larger than the average change in temperature along the year.
A tropical rainforest climate is usually found at latitudes within five degrees North and south of the equator, which are dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The climate is most commonly found in Southeast Asia, Central Africa and South America. However, tropical microclimates are found in many other regions along the equatorial region there is a tropical rainforest climate. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tropical_rainforest_climate Tropical Marine Climate are where the islands and coastal areas 10° to 20° north or south of the equator usually have a tropical marine climate.
The ocean is the main influence in creating the tropical marine climate. There are two main seasons: the wet season and the dry season. The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500 mm. The temperature ranges from 25°C to 35°C. The trade winds blow all year round. The trade winds are moist, as they have passed over warm seas. The wet season of the tropical marine climate occurs during the period when the conditions of the atmosphere are not stable. At this time, the regions (10° to 20° north or south of the equator) experience tropical disturbances.
Around this time islands like Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada are affected by the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone). Most rain falls between July and September. The dry season occurs when the conditions in the atmosphere are stable. During the dry season there is less rainfall than in the wet season. Around this time the tropical marine regions is influenced by anti cyclones. There is little difference between the wet and dry seasons. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tropical_marine_climate
Desert climate, also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub. An area that features this climate usually experiences less than 250 mm (10 inches) per year of precipitation and in some years may experience no precipitation at all. In some instances, an area may experience more than 250 mm of precipitation annually, but is considered a desert climate because the region loses more water via evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation.
There are usually two or three variations of a desert climate: a hot desert climate, a cold desert climate and, sometimes, a mild desert climate. Furthermore, to delineate “hot desert climates” from “cold desert climates”, there are three widely used isotherms: either a mean annual temperature of 18°C, or a mean temperature of 0°C or -3°C in the coldest month, so that a location with a “BW” type climate with the appropriate temperature above whichever isotherm is being used is classified as “hot arid” , and a location with the appropriate temperature below the given isotherm is classified as “cold arid”.
To determine whether a location has an arid climate, the precipitation threshold must first be determined. Finding the precipitation threshold (in millimeters) involves first multiplying the average annual temperature in °C by 20, then adding 280 if 70% or more of the total precipitation is in the high-sun half of the year or 140 if 30%–70% of the total precipitation is received during the applicable period, or 0 if less than 30% of the total precipitation is so received. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Desert_climate Tundra Climate The tundra is a bleak and treeless place.
It is cold through all months of the year summer is a brief period of milder climates when the sun shines almost 24 hours a day. It has been called “the land of the midnight sun”. But even the sun can’t warm the tundra much. The short summer lasts only 6 to 10 weeks. It never gets any warmer than 45 or 50° F. The warmer weather causes a layer of permafrost, ice that never goes away in the ground, to melt, creating bogs and shallow lakes that don’t drain. They breed stinging insects, which make life even in the summer miserable for the inhabitants of the tundra.
The wind blows constantly, whipping around the small plants. During the long winter months the sun barely rises and it is dark for most of the day. Bitter cold winds scud across the barren snows cape, exposing high plateaus to barren ground. Winter temperatures don’t reach above 20° F and average -20° to -30°F. Endless hours darkness settles in and the winds blow even harder. The snow that falls is blown off the high plateaus and collects in the valleys. Animals hunker down, able to find only enough food to keep warm. The tundra is an unusually cold and dry climate.
Precipitation totals 6-10 inches of rain a year, which includes melted snow. This is almost as little as the world’s driest deserts. Coupled with strong and drying winds, the tundra is an extreme weather biome. The tundra seems like a wet and soggy place because the precipitation that falls evaporates slowly, and because of the poor drainage caused by the permafrost. You can find the tundra climate in Koppen’s E climate category. The E stands for ice climates. The average temperature of the warmest month is below 50° F.
The tundra climate spans from most of Greenland to parts of Alaska, northern Canada, and northern Russia. The latitudinal range is 75° N to 60° N. Tundra climates can be found on the coastal areas of the arctic. The ocean water keeps the climate from falling to the extreme temperatures found in the interior of the continents. http://www. blueplanetbiomes. org/tundra_climate_page. htm Tropical Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby.
Often winter temperature is cold enough to support a fixed period of snow each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer, although there are exceptions such as the upper east coast areas of North America in Canada which show an even distribution of precipitation: this pattern is called Humid continental climate, but dry continental climates also exist. Regions with a continental climate exist in portions of the Northern Hemisphere continents, and at higher elevations in other parts of the world.
Only a few areas, in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and in Iran, northern Iraq, adjacent Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia show a winter maximum in precipitation. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Continental_climate Cold Temperate Climates are those without extremes of temperature and precipitation (rain and snow). The changes between summer and winter are generally invigorating without being frustratingly extreme. There are two types of temperate climate: maritime and continental. The maritime climate is strongly influenced by the oceans, which maintain fairly steady temperatures across the seasons.
Since the prevailing winds are westerly in the temperate zones, the western edge of continents in these areas experiences most commonly the maritime climate. Such regions include Western Europe, in particular the UK and western North America at latitudes between 40 and 60° north. Continental climate is increases inland, with warmer summers and colder winters as the effect of land on heat receipt and loss increases. This is particularly true in North America, where the north-south aligned Rocky Mountains act as a climate barrier to the mild maritime air blowing from the west.
Maritime climate, on the other hand, penetrates further into Europe where the major mountain range the Alps is orientated east-west. http://golearngeo. wordpress. com/2010/11/02/temperate-climate/ World Wind System What is the jet stream? The jet stream is a fast flowing, river of air found in the atmosphere at around 12 km above the surface of the Earth just under the tropopause. They form at the boundaries of adjacent air masses with significant differences in temperature, such as of the polar region and the warmer air to the south.
Because of the effect of the Earth’s rotation the streams flow west to east, propagating in a serpentine or wave-like manner at lower speeds than that of the actual wind within the flow. What are the polar easterlies? At about sixty degrees latitude in both hemispheres, the prevailing westerlies join with the polar easterlies to reduce upward motion. The polar easterlies form when the atmosphere over the poles cools. This cool air then sinks and spreads over the surface. As the air flows away from the poles, it is turned to the west by the Coriolis Effect.
Again, because these winds begin in the east, they are called easterlies. What are the trade winds? The trade winds are just air movements toward the equator. They are warm, steady breezes that blow almost continuously. The Coriolis Effect makes the trade winds appear to be curving to the west, whether they are traveling to the equator from the south or north. What are the prevailing westerlies? Between thirty and sixty degrees latitude, the winds that move toward the poles appear to curve to the east. Because winds are named from the direction in which they originate, these winds are called prevailing westerlies.
Prevailing westerlies in the Northern Hemisphere are responsible for many of the weather movements across the United States and Canada. http://www. weatherwizkids. com/weather-wind. htm What are the anti-trades? Winds blowing steadily from west to east in the upper levels of the troposphere, above and in a direction counter to the surface trade winds of the tropics. In the middle latitudes of the North and South Temperate Zones, the antitrades merge with the prevailing westerly surface winds. http://www. thefreedictionary. com/antitrade+winds What is the ITCZ?
The Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ Brings Convectional Precipitation. Near the equator, from about 5° north and 5° south, the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge in a low pressure zone known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ. Solar heating in the region forces air to rise through convection which results in a plethora of precipitation. The ITCZ is a key component of the global circulation system. Weather stations in the equatorial region record precipitation up to 200 days each year, making the equatorial and ITC zones the wettest on the planet.
The equatorial region lacks a dry season and is constantly hot and humid. The location of the ITCZ varies throughout the year and while it remains near the equator, the ITCZ over land ventures farther north or south than the ITCZ over the oceans due to the variation in land temperatures. The location of the ITCZ can vary as much as 40° to 45° of latitude north or south of the equator based on the pattern of land and ocean. In Africa, the ITCZ is located just south of the Sahel at about 10°, dumping rain on the region to the south of the desert.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone has been called the doldrums by sailors due to the lack of horizontal air movement. The ITCZ is also known as the Equatorial Convergence Zone or Intertropical Front. There’s a diurnal cycle to the precipitation in the ITCZ. Clouds form in the late morning and early afternoon hours and then by 3 to 4 p. m. , the hottest time of the day, convectional thunderstorms form and precipitation begins. These storms are generally short in duration. http://geography. about. com/od/climate/a/itcz. htm Diagrams http://www. scalloway. org. uk/clim9. htm Tropical Climate http://www.
jamstec. go. jp/rigc/e/tcvrp/ http://www. scalloway. org. uk/clim7. htm http://www. scalloway. org. uk/clim5. htm http://www. google. com. bz/url? sa=i&rct=j&q=tropical%20continental%20climate%20diagram&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=GO70IEuBD2ypIM&tbnid=jggkBNemV-grQM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. geography. hunter. cuny. edu%2F~tbw%2Fncc%2FNotes%2Fchapter. 4. outline. html&ei=R64wUpKhHIna9ATrqoCoDg&psig=AFQjCNGeJIbH5pSRpbNE3BhiNxD-67rX4g&ust=1379008329612253 http://www. eldoradocountyweather. com/canada/climate/coldlakeclimate. html http://www. oocities. org/stjoegrade6/weathersymbols. html
http://www. answers. com/topic/station-model Cloud cover refers to the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds when observed from a particular location. Okta is the usual unit of measurement of the cloud cover. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cloud_cover Wind direction is the direction from which the wind is blowing; the direction from which the air is moving. It is not the direction the wind is blowing toward. Wind direction is measured with reference to 360 degrees on the compass (true North), and expressed to the nearest degree, going in a clockwise direction, or to any one of the 16 points on a compass.
http://www. mymobilebay. com/stationdata/whatiswinddir. htm Temperature is a numerical measure of hot or cold. Its measurement is by detection of heat radiation or particle velocity or kinetic energy, or by the bulk behavior of a thermometric material. It may be calibrated in any of various temperature scales, Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, etc. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Temperature Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted on a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth .
In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point. On a given plane, low-pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their surface, whereas high-pressure areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate. Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications.
Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer but can also be classified using the older Beaufort scale which is based on people’s observation of specifically defined wind effects. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Wind_speed Earth’s Currents http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Telluric_current A hygrometer is an instrument used for measuring the moisture content in the environment. Humidity measurement instruments usually rely on measurements of some other quantity such as temperature, pressure, mass or a mechanical or electrical change in a substance as moisture is absorbed.
By calibration and calculation, these measured quantities can lead to a measurement of humidity. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hygrometer A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Numerous measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis to help find surface troughs, high pressure systems, and frontal boundaries. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Barometer http://www. made-in-china. com/showroom/timliu8/product-detailzeHEkWaMYLVD/China-Aneroid-Barometer.
html A pluviometer is a rain gauge, an instrument that is used to measure the amount of precipitation in the form of rainfall that has fallen at a given location over a specified period of time. The origin of the term is from the Latin word pluvia, which means “rainfall. ” Another synonym for rain gauge is ombrometer, from the Greek ombros, which means “rain” or “shower. ” The term “pluviometer” is more commonly used, but either synonym is an acceptable term for a rain gauge. “Udometer” is an older, archaic term, from the Latin udus, or “damp.
” http://hyfs. wordpress. com/2010/03/02/tithing-bucket-or-rain-gauge/ A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that makes use of the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been altered by the object’s motion. This variation gives direct and highly accurate measurements of the radial component of a target’s velocity relative to the radar.
Doppler radars are used in aviation, sounding satellites, meteorology, police speed guns, radiology, and bistatic radar. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Doppler_radar http://www. wxow. com/story/17601001/radar-upgrade-provides-new-tools-for-meteorologists A Stevenson screen or instrument shelter is an enclosure to shield meteorological instruments against precipitation and direct heat radiation from outside sources, while still allowing air to circulate freely around them. It forms part of a standard weather station.
The Stevenson screen holds instruments that may include thermometers (ordinary, maximum/minimum), a hygrometer, a psychrometer, a dewcell, a barometer and a thermograph. Stevenson screens may also be known as a cotton region shelter, an instrument shelter, a thermometer shelter, a thermo screen or a thermometer screen. Its purpose is to provide a standardised environment in which to measure temperature, humidity, dew point and atmospheric pressure. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Stevenson_screen A barograph is a recording aneroid barometer.
A barograph is used to monitor pressure. http://commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Barograph. JPG Ombrometer is an instrument to measure the height, quantity and the intensity of the precipitation striking the surface of the earth. http://www. gunapris. net/ombrometer-galvanis A radiosonde is a unit for use in things such as weather balloons that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them to a fixed receiver. Radiosondes may operate at a radio frequency of 403 MHz or 1680 MHz and both types may be adjusted slightly higher or lower as required.
A rawinsonde is a radiosonde that is designed to only measure wind speed and direction. Colloquially, rawinsondes are usually referred to as radiosondes. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Radiosonde Psychrometer is an instrument that uses the difference in readings between two thermometers, one having a wet bulb and the other having a dry bulb, to measure the moisture content or relative humidity of air. http://www. thefreedictionary. com/psychrometer http://www. daviddarling. info/encyclopedia/P/AE_psychrometer.
html Minimum – Maximum Temperature Thermometers record the maximum and minimum temperatures. Min-Max Thermometers are ideal for temperature monitoring in essentially any setting – the laboratory, food processing, refrigeration, green houses, etc. Some of the instruments are available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature, digital, and temperature data logging compatible. http://www. novatech-usa. com/Products/Min-Max-Thermometers A wind vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building.
Although partly functional, weather vanes are generally decorative, often featuring the traditional cockerel design with letters indicating the points of the compass. Other common motifs include ships, arrows and horses. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Weather_vane A Sling Psychrometer an instrument that measures relative humidity (a hygrometer). The sling has two thermometers, a dry bulb and a wet bulb thermometer, mounted together on a chain. The wet bulb thermometer is wrapped in muslin that is moistened with distilled water. http://www.
kestrel4000. com. au/kestrel4000/what-is-a-sling-psychrometer-. html Cup anemometers are used to measure wind speed, or as in the case of our anemometer, is used to totalize the amount of wind that has passed over a surface. Some cup anemometers measure wind pressure, but wind pressure is a function of speed, so speed is often the desired data. http://piercecollegeweather. com/cup_anemometer. php Sunshine is measured using The Campbell-Stokes Sunshine Recorder. This instrument consists of a solid glass sphere that focuses rays of sunlight
onto a light-sensitive card on which a line is traced showing the number of hours of sunshine in the day. http://www. ask. com/question/how-do-you-measure-sunshine Layers of the Atmosphere Without our atmosphere, there would be no life on earth. Two gases make up the bulk of the earth’s atmosphere: nitrogen (78%), and oxygen (21%). Argon, carbon dioxide and various trace gases make up the remainder. Scientists divided the atmosphere into four layers according to temperature: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere.
The temperature drops as we go up through the troposphere, but it rises as we move through the next layer, the stratosphere. The farther away from earth, the thinner the atmosphere gets. Troposphere is important for weather. http://www. vtaide. com/png/atmosphere. htm Quasi stationary describes a low or high pressure area or a front that is nearly stationary. http://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0025556498100597 Easterly wave are long waves that occur in bands of geostrophic wind flowing above the friction layer. Long waves may flow toward the west or toward the east.
http://www. newmediastudio. org/DataDiscovery/Hurr_ED_Center/Easterly_Waves/Easterly_Waves. html Land breeze is a type of wind that blows from the land to the ocean. When there is a temperature difference between the land surface and the ocean. http://www. weatherwizkids. com/weather-wind. htm What is a sea breeze? On a warm summer day along the coast, this differential heating of land and sea leads to the development of local winds called sea breezes. As air above the land surface is heated by radiation from the Sun, it expands and begins to rise, being lighter than the surrounding air.
To replace the rising air, cooler air is drawn in from above the surface of the sea. This is the sea breeze, and can offer a pleasant cooling influence on hot summer afternoons. http://www. weatherwizkids. com/weather-wind. htm Cold front is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing a warmer mass of air, which lies within a fairly sharp surface trough. http://www. kidsgeo. com/geography-for-kids/0128-cold-fronts. php A warm front is where a warm air mass is pushing into a colder air mass.
Warm fronts move more slowly than cold fronts because it is more difficult for the warm air to move against the cold, dense air. http://www. windows2universe. org/earth/Atmosphere/tstorm/warm_front. html Hurricanes form in the tropics over warm ocean water and die down when they move over land or out of the tropics. These storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons or tropical cyclones in other areas of the world. In the Northern Hemisphere the storms rotate counterclockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere they rotate clockwise because of the Coriolis Effect.
At the center of the rotating storm is a small area of calm weather and clear skies called the eye. http://www. windows2universe. org/earth/Atmosphere/hurricane/hurricane. html http://geology. com/hurricanes/hurricane-names. shtml Northern Hemisphere – winds primarily go west to east, and low pressure systems (like hurricanes/tornados) spin counterclockwise. Southern Hemisphere is all the opposite it goes anti clockwise. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Geostrophic_current Rain is caused when water particles, that are located in clouds, grow and become too heavy to stay in the clouds.
Updrafts hold the particles in the clouds and the stronger they are, the more likely the particles will get heavy. There are 3 main types of rainfall such as: 1. Convectional rainfall is when the sun comes out and heats up the land, this causes the air around it to become warm too. The warm air currents rise and as it rises it gets colder so it gradually condenses and the water vapor become water droplets and it rains/precipitates. Convectional rainfall is mostly common around towards the south of Britain in the summer. 2. Relief rainfall is when the warm moist air from the sea is forced to rise over
