Meteorology

        WHAT IS METEOROLOGY?

Meteorology is the study of weather, coming from the Greek word “Meteorn” meaning the study of things high in the sky.

  A meteorologist is a scientist who studies the atmosphere to predict the weather. After they work and study to see the weather they can predict how it’s going be. After they figure this out they you the forecast on your local weather channel and website.

                                           Tools

There are many tools that the meteorologists use that were created centuries ago and were improved over time as we got more advanced. Below are some of the tools they use:

THE THERMOMETER:   Was first created by Galileo.  When he first created the Thermometer he used the chemical mercury but now we try and not use mercury for it is a dangerous chemical for the environment and for our health. Today it is substituted with alcohol died red with “sprit filled”. They also use digital thermometers. The thermometer is used to take the temperature.

BAROMETER:  there are two kinds of Barometers used today: the mercury Barometer and the Aneroid Barometer. The mercury barometer was invented in 1643 by Evangelista Torricelli, who is an Italian physicist till 1647; The Barometer has been said to be one of the most useful tools that we use. who is an Italian physicist till 1647; the French scientist Lucien Vidie invented the aneroid barometer. It is used mainly in laboratories and weather stations. Torricelli who was friends with Galileo they worked to together.

   This tool measures the air pressure of the atmosphere, which then tells whether it’s going to be too stormy, rainy, fine, or sunny if it’s going to be bad weather it has low air pressure means high winds, warm air, and atmospheric lifting lows normally produce clouds, precipitation, and other bad weather such as tropical storms and cyclones. High air pressure areas are normally caused by a phenomenon called subsidence, meaning that as the air in the high cools it becomes denser and moves toward the ground. When air pressure increases here because more air fills the space left from the low. Subsidence also evaporates most of the atmosphere's water vapor so high pressure systems are usually associated with clear skies and calm weather. The Barometer has been said to be one of the most useful tools that we use. The Barometer has been said to be one of the most  The Barometer has been said to be one of the most useful tools that we use. (Evangelista Torricelli)

RAINGAUGE: King Sejong invented a rain gauge while measuring rainfall at the palace. Sejong decided that instead of digging into the earth to check rain levels, it would be better to use a standardized container.

  The Rain Gauge is one of the simplest tools that they use today. It was made to measure the rain fall in a in a period of time, in a specific area.  There are many different types of Rain Gauge:

·         The Standard Rain Gauge Was created close to the start of the 20^th century

·         The Weighing Precipitation Rain Gauge This type of gauge has advantages over  tipping buckets, are that this one does not underestimate intense rain, this can also measure other forms of precipitation, including rain, hail and snow

·         The Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge This Rain Gauge is known not to be as accurate as other versions, that is because the precipitation may stop before the bucket has tipped, the advantage the Tipping Bucket has is that different types of the rain such as light, medium or heavy can be easily obtained

·         The Optical Rain Gauge when water is collected it makes a single drop, this drips from the bottom, falling into the laser beam then the sensor is set at right angles to the laser so that enough light is scattered, and detected as a sudden flash of light. The flashes from these photo detectors are then read and recorded

The Rain Gauge is one of the simplest tools, but also one of the most useful tools used today.

THE ANEMOMETER coming from the Greek word “Anemos” meaning wind. We don’t know who created the first Anemometer, but the first known description is by Leon Battista Alberti around 1450. Later, a more simple type of anemometer was invented by Dr. John Tomas  Romney Robinson.

 

Its purpose is to measure the speed of the wind and some Anemometer can even measure wind pressure. There is more than just one type of Anemometer such as the:

·         The Cup Anemometer This Anemometer is one of the simplest Anemometers of all of them and has been around for a long time.

·         The Windmill Anemometer The Windmill is very similar to the Cup Anemometer, such as being able to measure wind speed and to determine the direction that the wind is going.

·         Ultrasonic Anemometer its name would suggest it involves sonic pulses to measure the velocity of the wind. The device sends sonic pulses across a path to sensors located across which are able to sense the incoming pulses. And will give very accurate data about the wind speed.

HYDROMETER: the Hydrometer was created by a Greek scholar Hypatia of Alexandria in the 5^th century

This tool measures the humidity in an area. There are many different types of Hydrometer but they don’t have to do with weather.This tool measures the humidity in an area. There are many different types of Hydrometer but they don’t have to do with weather.

HYGROMETER: Was created by a Swiss scientist named Horace Bénédict de Saussure in 1783 by using human hair to measure the humidity.

It is used to measure the moisture in the atmosphere, and since measuring the humidity you need to know the temperature, the mass, pressure and the and the electrical change as the moisture is absorbed the Hygrometer is a good tool to measure the exact humidity as well . The Hydrometer and the hygrometer are very similar in some qualities but yet different in their own way.

THE WEATHER BALLOON: The weather balloon was invented by a Frenchmen named Jean-Francois De Rozier 1783 he was a Balloonist who is a person who ascends in a balloons as a sport, hobby or experiment .(below)

He was brave to go up that high in the atmosphere were the air is so thin, but seceded in his experiments to measure the atmosphere.

   The Weather Balloon is used to gather information about the atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed by using a device called Radiosonde.

THE CEILOMETER was created by an English scientist named Ty Back in 1987, who discovered that you can use light to measure the base of the cloud and its overall thickness. How this happens is by shooting up a intense beam often a laser. And the reflections from this light are detected by a photocell which is the receiver part of the ceilometer and is read. This tool is often used to help to see if it’s safe to fly planes.

           There are many tools that they use today were created centuries ago. But here are some of the more modern tools.

WEATHER SATELLITES the definition of a satellite is a device which orbits another often larger object. But Weather Satellites are a more advanced weather instrument and technology, which are able to photograph and track large scale air movements. After this information is gathered, meteorologists analyze the data in order to predict certain weather conditions and forecasts.

WEATHER ROCKETS are a special kind of Sounding Rocket. The nosecones of the weather rocket carries an instrumented payload capable of giving information and gather data about weather at very high altitude, including wind velocity and direction, to ground stations. The weather rocket can be a valuable source of data prior to a space launch vehicle or Space Shuttle launch. In some cases, several weather rockets may be launched prior to a space launch. This is to assure that conditions aloft will not adversely affect the vehicle in flight. Weather rockets offer a considerable advantage over weather balloons, in that they can operate more quickly and at higher altitudes.

            Meteorologist also use computer tools such as radar to help with this process.