METEOROLOGY

Meteorology :-

Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere and weather. A person who studies the weather is called a meteorologist. Meteorologists use many different tools to learn about the weather in the world.

Meteorologists and Weather Forecasters are very important because they can predict what the weather is going to be like in the future. To do this, they use very specialized equipment. Within the last 50 years, meteorologists have used weather balloons, satellites, radar, and computers to improve the accuracy of their forecasts.

- WEATHER BALLOONS carry an instrument called "Radio-sonde" which measures temperature, pressure, and humidity at different altitudes in the atmosphere. Special recording equipment in the balloons converts readings from these instruments into electrical impulses and transmits the impulses to earth. The balloons are tracked with radar to find wind speed and direction. Eventually the balloon bursts, and the instrument floats back to the ground by parachute.

- WEATHER SATELLITES send back information about storms, fronts, cloud cover, geographical features of the earth, and air and ocean temperatures.

- RADAR sends out radio waves which bounce off raindrops, snow, or hail inside a cloud and reflect energy back to a radar antenna, which usually looks like a huge dish sitting on its side.

- COMPUTERS can do millions of operations per second, figuring out math equations that relate to the movements of fronts, air pressure systems, and storms.

Weather Forecasters use many signs and symbols when they are describing what is going on in the weather and how weather is happening all across the country.

Metereological instruments :-

INSTRUMENT PARAMETER MEASURED
Standard Raingauge Rainfall
Automatic Raingauge Continuous record of rainfall, storm
Cupcounter Anemometer Windrun
Campbell, stoke sunshine recorder Sunshine hours
Evaporation Pan Evaporation
Stephenson Screen Housing for instruments
Dry & Wet bulb Thermometer Dry & Wet bulb temperature
Thermohygrograph Temperature & Humidity
Grass Minimum Grass Minimum temperature
Soil Thermometers Soil temperature different Depths
Piche Evaporimeter Evaporation
Gun-Bellani Radiometer Solar-radiation

Meteorologists also measure the amount of cloud cover in "oktas" from 1 to 8. 0 oktas means the sky is clear, 8 oktas means the sky is completely covered. The height of a cloud is measured by how far it is above sea level.