ONLINE ANTIVITY 2

BY:

MICHELLE N. VILLAFRANCA

BEED1B

METEOROLOGY

is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuseson weather processes and forecasting. There is also broaddiscussion of atmospheric physics and atmospheric chemistry,including such topics as air pollution, tropical cyclones, midlatitude weather.

HISTORY OF METEOROLOGY

In 350 BC, Aristotle wrote Meteorology. Aristotle is considered the founder of meteorology. One of themost impressive achievements described in the Meteorology is the description of what is now known asthe hydrologic cycle. The Greek scientist Theophrastus compiled a book on weather forecasting, calledthe Book of Signs. The work of Theophrastus remained a dominant influence in the study of weather andin weather forecasting for nearly 2,000 years. In 25 AD, Pomponius Mela, a geographer for the RomanEmpire, formalized the climatic zone system. Around the 9th century, Al-Dinawari, a Kurdish naturalist,writes the Kitab al-Nabat (Book of Plants), in which he deals with the application of meteorologyto agriculture during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution. He describes the meteorological character of thesky, theplanets and constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons and rain,the anwa (heavenly bodies of rain), and atmospheric phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow,floods, valleys, rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.

Around the 9th century, Al-Dinawari, a Kurdish naturalist, writes the Kitab

al-Nabat (Book of Plants), in which he deals with the application of

meteorology to agriculture during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution. He

describes the meteorological character of the sky, the planets and

constellations, the sun and moon, the lunar phases indicating seasons

and rain, the anwa (heavenly bodies of rain), and atmospheric

phenomena such as winds, thunder, lightning, snow, floods, valleys,

rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water.

WEATHER FORECASTING

Weather forecasting is the application of science andtechnology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a futuretime and a given location. Human beings have attempted topredict the weather informally for millennia, and formally sinceat least the nineteenth century. Weather forecasts are made bycollecting quantitative data about the current state of theatmosphere and using scientific understanding of atmosphericprocesses to project how the atmosphere will evolve.

AVIATION METEOROLOGY

Aviation meteorology deals with the impact of weather on airtraffic management. It is important for air crews to understand theimplications of weather on their flight plan as well as their aircraft, asnoted by the Aeronautical Information Manual

The effects of ice on aircraft are cumulative-thrust is reduced, dragincreases, lift lessens, and weight increases. The results are an increasein stall speed and a deterioration of aircraft performance. In extremecases, 2 to 3 inches of ice can form on the leading edge of the airfoil inless than 5 minutes. It takes but 1/2 inch of ice to reduce the lifting powerof some aircraft by 50 percent and increases the frictional drag by anequal percentage.

AGRICULTURAL

METEOROLOGY

Meteorologists, soil scientists, agricultural

hydrologists, and agronomists are persons concerned with

studying the effects of weather and climate on plant

distribution, crop yield, water-use efficiency, phenology of

plant and animal development, and the energy balance of

managed and natural ecosystems. Conversely, they are

interested in the role of vegetation on climate and weather.

Hydrometeorology is the branch of meteorology that deals withthe hydrologic cycle, the water budget, and the rainfall statisticsof storms. A hydrometeorologist prepares and issues forecasts ofaccumulating (quantitative) precipitation, heavy rain, heavy snow,and highlights areas with the potential for flash flooding. Typicallythe range of knowledge that is required overlaps with climatology,mesoscale and synoptic meteorology, and other geosciences.

Nuclear meteorology investigates the distribution

of radioactive aerosols and gases in the atmosphere

Maritime meteorology deals with air and wave forecasts for ships

operating at sea. Organizations such as the Ocean Prediction Center,

Honolulu National Weather Service forecast office, United Kingdom Met

Office, and JMA prepare high seas forecasts for the world's oceans.

HISTORY OF WEATHER KNOWLEDGE

For most of human history, weather predictions had to be made using

pure observation. Babylonians attempted to predict short-term

weather changes based on the appearance of clouds and optical

halos, and Aristotle wrote a philosophical treatise called

"Meteorologica" that included detailed theories on the formation of

rain, clouds, lightning and many other weather-related phenomena.

WEATHER INSTRUMENTS

Weather instruments have a long, rich history that may be charted

against the growth of science itself. The advent of weather

instruments was a time when inventors could be experts in many

scientific fields---Galileo, for example, helped lay down the framework

for modern astronomy but also found the time to experiment with

thermometers. Starting with a mere idea, the design of these

specialized instruments graduated to robust theory,

experimental application and progressive refinement over

time. It was not until the Renaissance that weather

instruments were finally invented through the gains of

technological advancements and the formulation of accurate

theories about the weather. In the 20th century, more refined

technology like weather balloons and Doppler instruments

helped to make weather measurement quicker and more

accurate.

HYGROMETER

One of the first known designs of the hygrometer waswritten down in approximately 1450 AD by Nicholas of Cues, whodescribed how to measure the humidity of air. An early hygrometerwas built by Leonardo da Vinci and later in 1663 by Robert Hooke,using a piece of hair that contracted or expanded depending on thedegree of humidity present. Inventions in 1783 by Horace-Bénédictde Saussure (who used human hair) and in 1820 (when J. F. Daniellused ether in glass tubes) refined the hygrometer.

THERMOMETERS

Thermometers were progressively developed over time byinventors such as Cornelius Drebbel, Robert Fludd, Santorio Santorioand, most notably, Galileo Galilei, who in 1592 invented a thermoscopethat reacted to changes in temperatures. In 1612, Santorio put a scale onthe thermometer so that it began to resemble its more modernpermutations, but it wasn't until 1714 that Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheitreplaced the alcohol in thermometers with mercury and developed amore accurate measurement, later to be followed by Anders Celsius andSir William Thomson (who invented the Kelvin scale) with their ownmeasurements of temperature.

BAROMETERS

Evangelista Torricelli is credited with inventing the barometer in 1643

to measure air pressure, but both Giovanni Battista Baliani in 1630

and René Descartes in 1631 had postulated a version of the barometer

even earlier than that. Gaspero Berti, who had heard from Galileo

about the design written down by Baliani, attempted to experiment

with water in a vacuum between 1639 and 1641 to explain why pumps

would not draw water above a certain height. Torricelli, however,

approached it from a different angle and recognized that air had

weight; he also recognized that mercury in a barometer was a suitable

replacement for water. Years later, Blaise Pascal and Florin Périer

refined the design.

ANEMOMETERS

Anemometers, which measure wind speed, werefirst described by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450, but themost familiar kind, the cup anemometer, was invented in1846 by Dr. John Thomas Romney Robinson. The designwas refined up until the 20th century: In the 1960s and1970s, anemometers that used lasers or sonar to measurewind speed were developed.