Download Basic and Intermediate Essentials of Marine Meteorology

Basic and Intermediate Essentials of Marine Meteorology
Course Syllabus and Outline:
1). Introduction: State basis for the course; State objectives from the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) Standards Training Certification & Watch-standing for Seafarers (STCW)
standards for Officer In Charge (OIC) of a Navigation Watch, "Basic Meteorology"; State
expected outcome of the course such as students will have a better understanding of how
weather works for more clarity in reading the Surface and Upper Air 500 Mb charts to effect a
forecast. A clear reminder to students that this is NOT a routing course.
2). The atmosphere: Its composition and behavior; The sun and its impact (radiation and
insolation impacts); Change of state & latent heat concepts; Standard atmospheric lapse rates vis
a vis Environmental Lapse Rates (ELR); The Adiabatic process for an unsaturated and saturated
atmosphere; Atmospheric stability concepts; Examples of Stuve Diagrams which profile both dew
point and temperature from each balloon launch 2 X daily at 0000 and 1200 UTC, along with
meteorological parameters used in weather forecasting (i.e., Temperature, Dew Point, Wind
Direction and Speed, and Pressure and Altitude; Short exercise in having students plot a
sounding through 500 Mb (means surface, 1000, 850, 700, and 500 Mb).
3). Precipitation and visibility: Types of precipitation; Causes of restriction to visibility, i.e., fog,
and haze and the reasons for it (i.e. atmospheric stability which is covered in section 2).
4). Pressure and wind concepts: Geostrophic wind and the forces involved; Sechrist film;
Discussion of the need for constantly converting true wind from apparent wind.
5). Introduction to the surface pressure map: Discussion of what "From" and "Valid" means; Mid
latitude synoptic scale systems (i.e., lows and fronts and highs; differences between fronts and
troughs and warm and cold highs) Relationship to clouds and cloud types; Overview of OPC
surface charts and symbols from the 4 X daily surface analyses to the 2 X daily 24 and 48 hour
Surface Forecasts and Once daily (From 12 UTC) 96 hour forecasts.
6). Exercise: With a surface pressure map, determine the true wind at a given latitude and
longitude.
7).500 Mb (Part One): Introduction to upper air charts and 500 Mb concepts; Long and short
wave troughs and ridges and its 3-D relationship with the corresponding surface features of lows
and highs; Flow patterns and how they relate to movement of surface highs and lows.
8). Wave formation, propagation and decay: Importance of fetch in wave development and its
limitations to wave development; Differences in wind waves from swell waves; Example of how
waves propagate from its source initially as a wind wave and its final GC travel path as a swell
wave some distance down wind, first as a diminished height, and second, the increase in its
period wave length; Brief discussion of fetch area and gate; With the use of the Bowditch tables,
a brief exercise in determining wave propagation and decay, using true wind values from first
exercise; Tie in wind and waves and fetch with discussion of North Wall Gulf Stream and
Teuhauntepec episodes; Overview of OPC wind and wave charts, emphasizing differences
between regional charts in feet and full ocean charts in meters.
9). Non frontal systems: Return to discussion of surface troughs and ridges; Cols; the ITCZ;
Tropical Cyclones their formation, characteristics (different from the mid latitude cyclones
previously discussed), movement and re-curvature; Reasons for their decay or transition into
powerful extra-tropical mid latitude cyclones; Interpretation of the Tropical Cyclone Message
(TCM) and an overview of the 1-2-3 rule.
10). Upper air 500 Mb Part 2; trough dynamics and behavior of a short wave trough; vorticity and
how it is reflected on OPC 500 Mb charts; more examples of 500 MB flow patterns and examples
as they relate to corresponding surface charts (i.e. the perfect storm); animation of both 500 Mb
and surface charts in a 133 hour forecast sequence
11). Wrap up exercise in identifying upper air and surface features; 500 Mb troughs and surface
lows; forecast the weather at a specific location on a surface chart noting frontal impact and types
of clouds and associated weather (use the sequence of weather scenarios I use in the present
introduction?).
12). Recommended readings (books); Web-sites; Glossary of terms; Road map for follow up to
the course (place the second portion of my present introduction in the back of this section).