Simulations

In this first question, you have been instructed in the use of a number of tools employed in pursuing atmospheric investigations. Some of these are tools in the literal sense: they include thermometers, barometers, and transmissometers, used to measure various properties of the air. Other tools are more abstract or metaphorical: these include the station plotting model, a tool used to picture a single location's weather observation; and the frontal cyclone model, a useful tool in making sense of the array of data you see on a typical weather map. This first chapter has also introduced you to several key ideas concerning scientific inquiry. The most important is that science is a never-ending process of activity that includes noticing, asking questions, posing explanations in the form of hypotheses, raising new questions, and so forth in a continuing cycle. The chapter's meteorological content included an introduction to the basic variables that comprise the standard weather observation: clouds, visibility, present weather, precipitation amounts, wind, temperature, humidity, and air pressure. We also discussed techniques and instruments involved in measuring these weather elements and for plotting the reports on weather maps. We presented circulations, fronts, and the frontal cyclone model, a comprehensive scheme for visualizing relations among the various weather elements at different locations. We concluded with a reflection on the meaning of scientific explanation.

Simulation 1 (1737.0K)

Simulation 2 (791.0K)

Simulation 3 (134.0K)