Selected years/seasons in terms of temperature and precipitation - Essay Example

1) How unusual are the selected years/seasons in terms of temperature and precipitation Use standard deviations to quantify this. (50 marks) Answer: The troposphere is the lowest layer of the earth's atmosphere, starting from the surface and extending to an altitude of about 8-16 kilometers. It is distinguished by the circulation of currents from one region to another through heat transfer. Precipitation has an unusual link to temperature. In order to gauge the degree of that relation, a time series analysis (employing standard deviations) was conducted for selected years/seasons. The stations (Alborg, Birmingham, Toulouse, Helsinki) demonstrate minimum average temperatures in the annual temperature cycle from January to February, while from July to August, it displays the maximum average. During winter, Helsinki shows the lowest temperature, in summer, Toulouse has the highest (refer to Figure 1). Figure 2 shows that precipitation anomalies in the aforementioned stations do not have a significant difference to precipitation anomalies in general as it does with temperature anomalies. As shown by time series analysis, the highest average precipitation occurs from August to September, while the lowest average precipitation happens from January to February. Figure 1. The monthly average temperature anomaly for stations Alborg ( Denmark), Birmingham, Toulouse, and Helsinki, with deviation from mean. Figure 2. The monthly average precipitation anomaly for stations Alborg (Denmark), Birmingham, Toulouse, and Helsinki, with deviation from mean. Recent developments on climate variability primarily deals with the winter climate, as precipitation appears to be a crucial factor to it. It is necessary to consider patterns in major convective occurrences affecting the creation of variations in precipitation to understand how this influences the various time-scales in a certain region. In Figure 3, a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.672 is determined for the average precipitation and temperature anomalies. The linear curve has a slope of 1.43 + 0.49, and the uncertainties fit the coefficients within a 95% confidence rate. It can therefore be concluded that anomalies in terms of temperature and precipitation for the stations mentioned earlier are correlated. Figure 3. Comparison between monthly average temperature and precipitation anomalies for stations Alborg (Denmark), Birmingham, Toulouse, and Helsinki. The line is linear fit line. The linear fit line regression R = 0.672 and slope = 1.43 + 0.49. The Table 1 gives the winter and summer average values of temperature and precipitation anomalies with standard deviation for stations Alborg (Denmark), Birmingham, Toulouse, and Helsinki. Station Temperature Precipitation Alborg (Denmark) Birmingham Helsinki Toulouse Table1.Average seasonal temperature and precipitation anomalies and standard deviation 2) Discuss and compare the seasons with reference to the hemispheric flow. How many waves are there and what is the flow like over Europe (30 marks) Answer: On earth, a body's acceleration is affected by two factors aside from the radial gravitational pull of the planet. One factor is the centrifugal acceleration due to the earth's rotation (which results in a non inertial frame of reference). As can be expected, this non-inertial frame of reference results in centrifugal acceleration, perpendicular the axis of rotation. The second factor is the minor irregularities in the earth's gravitational pull due to its shape. The earth is not a perfect sphere, but is actually a non-spherical ellipsoid. In addition, the earth has an irregular surface and material composition. These produce the mentioned gravitational irregularities. Because the component of gravity affects hydrostatic balance on earth, geopotential coordinates are used, resulting in one vertical coordinate for all the components of gravity. The data that was utilized for winter are from the months of January, February, and December of 1963 and 1983, while for summer, they were from June, July, and August of 1976 and 1983. These data are from the areas with latitudes 20N and 900N, and longitude 357.50E. Making use of the information on pressure level, the monthly hemispheric charts were mapped out from the NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center. The summer and winter seasons were analyzed against the hemispheric flow. A stereographic projection is prominent on the sphere's upper portion (refer to figures below), and the planetary scale mid latitude flow is appropriately represented by the 500 hPa geopotential height, characterized by a relatively calm weather. Winter-1963 Winter-1983 Summer-1976 Summer-1983 Summer Ht (m) (max-min) Winter Ht (m) (max-min) June 1963 Max=5919 Min=5266.53 652.47 December 1976 Max=5889.26 Min=4966.97 922.56 June 1983 Max=5897.73 Min=5355.13 542.6 December 1983 Max=5886.19 Min=4944.68 941.51 July 1963 Max=5946 Min=5421.16 524.48 January 1976 Max=5826.74 Min=4963.58 863.16 July 1983 Max=5929 Min=5402 527 January 1983 Max=5894.23 Min=4914.1 980.13 August 1963 Max=5946.74 Min=5352.9 593.84 February 1976 Max=5863.04 Min=4834 1029.04 August 1983 Max=5923 Min=5291.49 631.51 February 1983 Max=5884 Min=4958.64 925.36 Average Ht 1963= 1983= 590.26 m 567.04 m Average Ht 1976= 1983= 938.25 m 949 m The geopotential height dictate the wind flow to be parallel to its outlines. Wind flow towards the east means that the geopotential height increases towards the direction of the pole, while a flow to the west means that it decreases. The geopotential height from the above plots can be observed to decrease towards the pole. The regime behavior is prominent in the winter season, thus the geopotential height is relatively maximum during the winter season as opposed to summer. Rossby waves are created when wind flow to the west passes over large mountains. This could also be created by buoyancy effects from solar heating. One Rossby wave, brought about by a mid latitude cyclone and anticyclone, can be observed in the contours of the 500 hPa geopotential. 3) Does the flow change with height You could select 1000, 500, and 200 mb to examine this (20 marks) Answer: The monthly hemispheric flow charts are plotted from NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center for 1000, 500, and 200 mb pressure level as shown below; Winter-1963 Winter-1983 Summer-1976 Summer-1983 Temperature at 850 hPa: In the atmosphere's lower regions, the temperature is an effective indication of the existence of warm and cold intrusions. On high terrain, the temperature indicated by the contours can be determined by setting tho 0C line as a partition between snow and rain. Sea level pressure at 500 hPa Geopotential Height: Relatively low geopotetial height verifies the existence of a storm or trough at mid-troposphere levels, while a high geopotential height means that the weather is calm. The sea level pressure (in hPA) is illustrated by the white outlines and the geopotential height is shown by the shading. Wind speed at 300 hPa Geopotential Height: At this level the jet stream blows parallel to the geopotential outlines, with the lowest heights to its left. The wind intensity (in meters/seconds) is illustrated by the contours and the core of jet stream is shown by the dark shading. Read More