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WWKThe student will know the history of forecasting and the characteristics of meteorology.
History of Forecasting The art of weather forecasting dates back to around 650 B.C.
During this time Babylonians tried to predict short-term weather changes based on the appearance of clouds and optical phenomena such as haloes.
Around 340 B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote Meteorologica, a philosophical treatise that included theories about the formation of rain, clouds, hail, wind, thunder, lightning, and hurricanes.
Most of his theories and claims were used until about the 17th century, then many of his ideas were overthrown.
By the end of the Renaissance philosophers realized that they needed instruments to measure the properties of the atmosphere.
A few of the first instruments were the hygrometer, an instrument to measure the humidity of air, the thermometer, and the barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure.
History of Forecasting By the 1920s the radiosonde was invented. These are small lightweight
boxes equipped with weather instruments and a radio transmitter.
Radiosondes are carried high into the atmosphere by a hydrogen or helium-filled balloon that ascends to an altitude of about 30 kilometers before bursting. During the ascent, these instruments transmit temperature, moisture, and pressure data back to a ground station.
At the ground station the data is processed and made into weather maps. Today, radiosondes are launched every 12 hours from hundreds of ground stations all over the world.
Forecasting involves the use of meteorology. Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere and atmospheric phenomena, or the study of weather and climate.
Meteorology A very important instrument that meteorologist use is the Doppler radar.
The Doppler radar can perform all of the tasks that a conventional radar can, and this new generation of weather radar can detect motion directly and hence greatly improve tornado and severe storm warnings.
A tornado is a small, very intense cyclonic storm with exceedingly high winds, most often produced along cold fronts in conjunction with severe thunderstorms.
The first stage of a tornado is called the dust whirl stage, this is marked by the emergence of a short funnel cloud and the swirling of debris on the ground.
K.S. What is the term for the study of weather and climate?
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