Download sce-13-introduction

Introduction to Weather and
Climate
Tutor: Roy Doyon
MA: University of Georgia, Geography Dept.
Teaching Assistant in Weather and Climate courses
Assistant Professor at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Geography
Dept. 1998 – 2005
Courses taught include Global Regional Geography, Map Reading, and a
variety of cartography classes.
Contact information:
[email protected]
Mobile phone: 07599-08997
Housekeeping
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How to leave the building in case of a fire
The location of the gathering point during a fire drill
Why we keep the attendance register
Yes, you’re right, I’m originally an American and I talk
funny, please stop me when you don’t understand what
I’m saying and I’ll attempt to clarify the point.
Course Overview and Objectives
• To explain and illustrate the basic factors involved in
weather and climate on a global, regional and local
scale. Where appropriate we will briefly describe
some of the issues involved in global climate change.
• At the conclusion of the course you will understand
how the weather and climate system works and have
a better appreciation of what the various media are
presenting to you in their daily weather reports.
• Note: The weather system is a very logical one.
Once you grasp a few concepts you’ll be able to make
sense of what’s going on.
Topics
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Definition of weather and climate.
Introduction to the Met Office website
Earth/sun relationships and geometry.
Solar radiation
Atmospheric structure and composition
Changing states of water
Barometric pressure, high and low pressure systems
Global circulation patterns: the ITCZ, prevailing winds, jet streams
Air masses; high and low pressure systems; fronts and depressions; land and sea
breezes
Atmospheric moisture
Ocean currents - their influence on weather and climate
Storm systems: frontogenesis, hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons
Weather reporting networks and instruments
Climate classification and global distribution of climates
Climate is the sum total or composite of the weather conditions
that prevail at a place or region. It includes the statistics (means,
or averages, variability, ranges and extremes) of temperature,
humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and velocity,
cloud cover, precipitation, and other meteorological variables
over a long period of time. The standard interval used by the
World Meteorological Society (WMO) is 30 years and these are
called “normals.” First used for 1901-1930 data. The current
normal is 1961-1990 or 1981-2010, depending on data
availability. The 30 years must be consecutive and the normals
are updated each decade.
Weather is the condition of these same variables over the period
of a few days. Conventionally weather extends out 10 to 15 days
which is the limit of numerical weather prediction.
The Met Office definition: Climate, which comes from the Greek
klima meaning 'area', usually refers to a region's long-term weather
patterns. This is measured in terms of average precipitation (i.e. the
amount of annual rainfall, snow etc), maximum and minimum
temperatures throughout the seasons, sunshine hours, humidity, the
frequency of extreme weather, and so on.
The Met Office is the UK’s national weather service and a worldleading provider of climate science and services. Their weather
forecasts help to keep the UK moving every day on land and by sea,
and protect anyone taking to the air. Around the world, our
knowledge of the weather and climate informs the long-term
decisions and policies of businesses and governments. Critically,
we contribute to the global understanding of climate change and
inform the UK Government’s international negotiations on
greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
The Met Office
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
•Introduction to the Met Office web site
•Activate the“Weather” heading at the top left–scroll down
and select the “Surface pressure” charts.
•Also under the “weather” heading and to the right you
will find “Specialist Forecasts” which include climate
information for aviation and marine forecasts.
•I would recommend that you look at the Met Office web
site weekly during the term and especially the surface
pressure map, it’s the most useful product and brings
together many of the concepts we will be discussing.
This is a little heuristic device you may find useful
The climate system involves the interaction of
many aspects of the environment
British Climate:
• Britain has a mild climate
• It is in a seasonal temperate
climate zone
• The sea affects the weather.
• Britain gets cool, wet winters
and warm, wet summers.
• The weather conditions are
also very changeable.
These regional climates as
defined by the Met Office
summarise the characteristics of
11 regions of the UK. Their aim
is to describe the main features
of each region's climate.
1. Northern Scotland
2. Eastern Scotland
3. Western Scotland
4. Northern Ireland
5. Wales
6. North West England and Isle of Man
7. North East England
8. Midlands
9. Eastern England
10. Southern England
11. South West England
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/reg
ional-climates