Period-1, Rishi, Joseph, Encyclopedia Scientifica

Encyclopedia Scientifica Meteorology edition.

By Joseph Yamouni and Rishi Talati

Atmosphere The Atmosphere is "the gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth."

The Atmosphere gives the world its round shape. It is basically the Earth's hard hat. It protects us from harmful rays that the sun gives us and keeps in what we need to survive. It Is comprised of the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, and the Thermosphere.

High pressure High pressure is a meteorology term used when the pressure in areas rise. These are also known as anti-cyclones. High pressure is represented on a weather map as a capital H. The motion of air in a high pressure area causes a zone of convergence. High pressure causes stability of the atmosphere and may lead to clear skies, sunshine, dry weather, high day and low night temperatures, dew, frost, fog, and mist.

Low pressure Low pressure is another meteorology term used when pressure in a certain area drops. These are also known as cyclones. Low pressure symbols are represented on a weather map as a capital L. The motion of air in a low pressure area causes a zone of divergence. Low pressure causes an instability in the atmosphere and may lead to cloudy skies, low levels of sunshine, wet weather, mild temperatures for the time of year, windy conditions, and changeable weather.

Diagram

Warm fronts Warm front are areas where a warmer air mass replaces a cooler air mass. Things that may indicate a warm front include cool or cold temperatures, increasing or thickening clouds, light to moderate precipitation, winds from the east and the south east, and rising humidity. The warm front causes warmer temperatures and more humid weather conditions, clearing clouds, a brief rise in pressure and/or, winds from the south and south west.

A Warm Front

Cold Fronts A cold front is an area where a cold air mass replaces a warmer air mass. Things that may indicate a cold front are winds from the south and southwest, warmer temperatures, lower air pressure, an increase in clouds, small precipitation, and high humidity. Once the cold front passes over wind direction would change to coming from the west and northwest, a drop in temperature, a rise in pressure, showers followed by clearing skies, and/or a lower in humidity.

A Cold Front

Stationary Fronts A Stationary front is a boundary between air masses that are not moving. Usually, a cold front and a warm front collide together causing various weather conditions Things that may indicate a stationary front include a noticeable change in wind direction and in temperature When crossing from one front to the other. Various weather conditions include all forms of precipitation and on even worse cases, tornadoes and hurricanes.

A Stationary Front

Occluded Fronts Occluded fronts are when warm air is pushed above the earth's surface by cooler air that is closing in on both sides. Occluded fronts usually accompany cyclones. Occluded fronts form when cold air behind the cold front catch up to the warm front, which is stuck behind the cool air already in place.

An Occluded Front

Weather maps and front symbols

Tornadoes Tornadoes are a type of natural disaster.

Tornadoes occur during a stationary front. The cold side of the stationary front mix with the warm side. The cold air drops as the warm air rises. Eventually the two airs mix and twist together forming a swirling cloud of winds that can destroy acres of land.

Hurricanes Hurricanes basically are tropical storms gone wrong. These tropical storms happen over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans near the equator. As the moisture in the oceans evaporate in the storm, it rises until enormous amounts of heated moist air are twisted high into the atmosphere. They begin swirling until the actual hurricane is formed. Hurricanes circle counterclockwise north of the equator and clockwise south of the equator. These storms caln last for at least a week

Convection Convection is when the excess water vapor in rising air particles condense to form clouds. This causes heat to be transferred from the bottom of the atmosphere to the top of the atmosphere. The way way we see convection in our everyday world is through cloud formation.

Convection also depends on where it occurs in the world. A desert would have less convection due to having less moisture whereas the ocean would have a lot of convection due to its abundance of moisture

Wind currents Wind currents are caused by pressure differences in regions of air. The differences in air pressure are caused by differences in the variations of temperature in the different regions.

Areas that have higher temperatures in their regions have higher pressures. Areas that have a lower than normal temperature have lower pressures. This causes the wind patterns we know today.

Ocean Currents Ocean currents are rivers of water moving through the ocean. These "rivers" are driven by the wind. Types of ocean currents include the Gulf stream which is a warm current that flows from Florida northeastward toward northern california. Others include the North Pacific Gyre, The south pacific Gyre, The North Atlantic Gyre, The South Atlantic Gyre, and the Indian Ocean Gyre.

An Ocean Current Map

Sun and Sun's Energy The sun is the closest sun to the solar system.

Its gravitational pull is great enough to cause our solar system to revolve. The sun is the highest entity in the food chain. The sun's energy is the base for plant's photosynthesis.

This lets all the plants live to give oxygen and feed the bottom of the food chain. In more ways than one, The sun and its energy allows us all to live.

Isotherm and Isobar Isotherm lines are lines that connect points on a weather map that have the same temperature. Any point that crosses an isotherm line will have the same temperature as other points on the same line.

Isobar lines are lines that connect places of equal pressure on a map. The closer together two isobar lines are, the stronger the winds will be in the area shown.

Types of precipitation There are many types of precipitation. ● Rain is precipitation in liquid form ● Snow is precipitation in a solid form (typically in a crystal shape.) ● Sleet is when snow falls through a warm layer of air and melts, and before reaching the ground, the precipitation passes through a cold layer of air, which causes the water to freeze and fall as sleet. ● Hail (also called a hailstone) is a lump of ice that falls out of a storm cloud. Hail can fall as balls of ice from severe thunderstorms.

Dew point The dew point is the temperature where water vapor condenses into liquid water. The dew point also shows the amount of moisture in the air. The bigger the dew point, the higher the level of moisture is in the air. The dew point can be found with a hygrometer.

Picture of Dew Point

How scientists get images Scientists usually get their images from satellites. From these images they can predict the temperature, predict natural disasters, observe changes in land or water, and do many other incredible things.

Examples of satellites and the images that they produce.

Meteorological instruments used by scientists Meteorologists use a variety of instruments to measure different things. Three famous instruments include: â—? Thermometer: measures temperature â—? Barometer: Measures atmospheric pressure -Mercury Barometer: Uses the weight of mercury in the glass tube against the atmospheric pressure, and if the weight of mercury is less than the atmospheric pressure, the mercury level in the glass tube rises, and vice versa.

-Aneroid Barometer: More modern, digital barometer that uses electrical charges to measure air pressure, which allows for multiple recordings of the pressure instead of one to get a more accurate measure of the pressure.

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Atmosphere Convection Wind currents Ocean currents High pressure Low pressure Fronts – all three types Hurricanes Tornados Weather map

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Sun and sun’s energy Isotherm and isobar Types of precipitation Types of clouds – Dew point How scientists get images 7. Meteorological instruments used by scientists