Playing with Data

Surfside Beach – After Hurricane Hugo

Hurricanes!!

What do you think of when you think hurricanes?

• High winds• Large waves• Rain• Clouds• Circular Shape

Hurricane Ivan

• Occurred in September 2004– September 2 – 24

• Ivan came through the Gulf of Mexico• Ivan passed NOAA buoy 42039 – September 14 – 17

• Buoy 42039 collected meteorological data– Such as Wind Speed and Wave Height

Plotting Data

• How would you plot the wind speed and wave height data to compare the two?

• Two Ways– Wind Speed and Wave Height separate– Wind Speed Against Wave Height

• How big do you think the waves were and how strong do you think the winds were?

Which plot shows how the wave

height changes with the wind speed,

scientifically?

Animation

• Wind and wave animationhttp://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/waves/swf/wave_wind.html

Summary

• What is the relationship between wind and waves?

• What is the cause of this relationship?• What was the best plot?

Activity

• Three pairs of data– Wind direction and Air temperature– Salinity and Rainfall– Wind Speed and Dominant Wave Period

• Where does this data come from?