‘Weather’ Archives
American Meteorological Association (AMS)
American Meteorological Association (AMS) The AmericanMeteorological Society was founded in 1919. The society’s initial publication, the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, serves as a supplement to the Monthly Weather Review, which was initially published by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The role of the AMS is serving the atmospheric [...]
Meteorology
Meteorology In his Meteorologica, Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) considered a vast range of phenomena as embraced by this science. Since antiquity, meteorological phenomena were thought to take place inside the earth and in the space extending from our planet to the Moon. As a subject, meteorology had not the specific boundaries associated with [...]
Deep-ocean currents
Deep-ocean currents The large-scale deep circulation of the world’s oceans is not driven by wind but by density variations, which are controlled by both salinity and temperature. Combining these two factors, the resulting circulation is called the thermohaline circulation. The principle is thatwhena body of water becomes denser than the water [...]
Microclimatology
Microclimatology Microclimatology is the study of local climate over a small area. Since we live in the lowest few metres of the atmosphere, we need to take a special interest in the climate of this zone as it can be very complicated and diverse, and climatic differences equivalent to a change in latitude of several degrees can occur over a [...]
Water Vapour
Water Vapour One of the important components of the atmosphere is water vapour, the gaseous form of water, the molecules of which mix freely throughout the atmosphere like the other gases. However, water vapour can vary greatly in its concentration, and the ability of the atmosphere to hold water vapour and the condensed form of water droplets [...]
Thermosphere
Thermosphere In this outer layer of the atmosphere, which extends outwards from 80 km, temperatures rise rapidly up to around 1500 C due to an increasing proportion of free oxygen in the atmosphere, which, like ozone, absorbs incoming extreme UV radiation (0.125–0.205 um) from the Sun. However, since temperature is really a measure of the [...]
Mesosphere
Mesosphere There is no water vapour, cloud, dust or ozone in this layer, which extends from 48 to 80 km, so temperatures fall rapidly because there is little to absorb the Sun’s incoming radiation. Within this layer the atmosphere’s lowest temperatures (−90 ◦ C) and strongest winds (around 3000 mph) are reached. The mesopause marks the [...]
Stratosphere
Stratosphere This layer extends from around 12 to 48 km, and moving up through it there is a steady increase in temperature (called a temperature inversion), which is caused by a concentration of ozone (O3) which absorbs incoming short-wave ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun. Pressure continues to fall and the air is dry. Winds are [...]
Troposphere
Troposphere This is the zone of our weather and extends from 0 to 12 km on average, but is thinner over the poles (5–6 km) and thicker over the equator (15–16 km). Temperatures in the troposphere fall from around 15◦C at the Earth’s surface to−57◦ Cat the tropopause (the upper boundary of the troposphere). This decrease of around [...]
Doldrums
Doldrums The term doldrums refers to ocean regions slightly north of the EQUATOR where there is no regular system of crossoceanic winds. These regions are also known as the “equatorial belt of calms.” Because of the relative intensity of the sunlight in the doldrums, a continuous updraft of air is created. Evaporation occurs simultaneously, [...]
