Introduction: What is Weather? What is Climate?

What is climate? How is climate different from weather? Are they related? What controls the climate? Does climate change? Can climate be predicted? What is the climate in Hawai’i? Questions to think about

Climatology considers the past and can help predict future climate change. Energy In = Energy Out “Climate is what you expect … weather is what you get!”

Measuring Weather and Climate 1.Temperature –Hi –Lo –Range 2.Wind –Direction –Speed 3.Rainfall –Daily –Cumulative 4.Air Pressure 5.Humidity

Thermometers measure temperature. Types of thermometers: - liquid-in glass - bimetallic - infrared - thermoelectric 1.Temperature

Liquid in Glass Thermometer Most common for everyday use (medicine, cooking, etc.) Liquid is either mercury or alcohol Difficult to automate 1.Temperature

Bimetallic Thermometer Uses a coil of two different metals attached to one another –Different metals expand at different rates Used in: –round outdoor thermometers –thermostats Difficult to automate 1.Temperature

Infrared Thermometer Measures the infrared radiation emitted by an object (like night-vision) Used to take an instant temp reading of the air. Easily automated –but other aspects such as ground color can affect temp readings 1.Temperature

Measures wind direction Points parallel with the wind Has a “fatter” tail than head so it won’t point 180º in the wrong direction. Wind Vane 2.Wind

Anemometer (say “an-uh-MOM-e-ter”) Measures wind speed Common type = cup anemometer When the wind is gusty, it overestimates the avg. wind speed because of momentum Must be placed far away from obstacles to be accurate (Distance = 10x the height of tallest object) 2.Wind

Rain Gauge Tipping bucket rain gauge How it works: - Rain falls into one of two buckets - When it’s fills up with.01” of rain, gravity causes it to tip - Other bucket fills and tips - Number of tips counted electronically 3. Rainfall

Barometer Measures atmospheric pressure Works like a weight scale for the air above it Mercury barometer has a bowl with liquid in it and a tube sealed at the top and open at the bottom immersed in the liquid. When pressure rises, the mercury in the tube rises. 4.Air Pressure Mercury Barometer

Barometer Aneroid Barometer 4.Air Pressure Measures atmospheric pressure Aneroid barometer uses gears attached to a sealed air container that expands or contracts with decreasing or increasing pressure

Hygrometer Measures humidity Consists of two thermometers, one of which includes a dry bulb and the other a wet bulb. Comparisons of the temperatures on a chart tell us the relative humidity Dewpoint- temperature at which water vapor condenses 5. Humidity

Predictability “If they can’t predict the weather, how can they possibly hope to predict the climate?” Weather forecasts are only useful for a few days, maybe a week at best. Boundary-layer eddy: 10 minutes Cumulonimbus clouds:1 hour Mid-latitude cyclone:3 days Big standing waves:10 days El Niño:100 days Deep ocean circulation:50 years(?)

Satellites & Radar

Activity: Fast Facts Memory Games Memory Game rules are: a. Only 3 people to a team & everyone keeps score b.Only 5 minutes to plan c.Only 30 seconds to show your memory game d.Only 3 tries for another team to successfully imitate your game (and only 2 teams can try any one game) e.Points awarded to each team for: 1 point – trying out another team’s game 2 points – getting another team’s game correct in 3 tries 3 points – getting another team’s game correct in 2 tries 4 points – getting another team’s game correct in 1 try

Activity: Fast Facts Memory Games Memory Game options are: 1.Lots of instrument names rhyme … create a song, poem or chant using rhyming words to memorize the new vocabulary 2.Each instrument measures something different … create a clap & match game to memorize instrument names & what they measure (e.g. thermometer – temperature) 3.Each kind of thermometer looks different … draw thermometer pictures on flashcards or the chalkboard & match their names & uses to them 4.Predictions can be made for short term (weather) or long term (climate) … create a mini-play, with or without words, to memorize which different meteorological signs predict weather or climate & how far into the future they do so (e.g. cumulonimbus clouds predict 1 hour of cloud activity)

Sources Cited