LAB 6: INTRODUCTION TO WWW

The objective of this web based part of Lab 6 is to retrieve climate data, satellite imagery, and surface weather maps. Complete the tasks below, then feel free to explore!

QUESTION 1

a) What are the current weather conditions in Indianapolis?

Use this information to complete the table in Question 2 of your lab manual.

Make sure to indicate which station you selected in the table.

b) What is the altitude of the station you selected?

Also put this information in the table in your lab manual.

QUESTION 2

a) For Indianapolis again, use the NOAA US climate home page to generate graphs of the temperature and precipitation monthly means for 1961-1990. Select the fast lane traffic, then click on the state of Indiana and then select the city of Indianapolis. Scroll down the page and select “Monthly means 1961-1990”.

Print these graphs and add them to the work you will turn in for Lab 6.

b) Compare these graphs to the graphs you constructed in Lab 1. What differences do you see?

HINT: look at the variables plotted.

What are these differences linked to?

QUESTION 3

a) What is the relationship between local time and Universal Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC, GMT or Z) which is used in most weather reports and maps? To answer this, indicate how to convert Z/UTC time into Indianapolis time.

You will need this information to answer question 4b.

QUESTION 4

a) Visit the University of Illinois weather site. Look at the surface observations map of the Midwest (click on surface weather, and then select surface observations: Midwest).

Describe the surface observations for the 5 stations listed below for Indiana. If you need help interpreting the map, use this surface observations guide or use the WXP symbols legend provided on the first page of Lab 6.

Northern border of the State:

Western border of the State:

Eastern border of the State:

Southern border of the State:

Indianapolis:

b) Using the surface temperature (temperature contours) map, show how the air temperature in Indianapolis has changed in the past 8 to 12 hours (use the slow animate option on the maps to answer this question). You need to convert Z time (Universal Coordinated Time) into Indianapolis time to answer this question.

TIME	TEMPERATURE (°F)
Current time:

QUESTION 5

a) Compare the satellite images of the water vapor content of the atmosphere over the eastern part of the United States with the cloud cover over the same area. Explain the difference between the water vapor content and the cloud cover over Indiana based on these two images.

Hint: To aid in your interpretation of these images read the Satellite Image Details page on the Unisys site.

QUESTION 6

a) Look at a current United States severe weather map and describe where severe weather is forecasted (make sure you describe the type of severe weather and the location where it is forecasted). You can make up zones connecting areas that show the same severe weather advisory.

b) Click on one of the colored areas and describe in detail the forecast using the text that will appear (be sure to mention which location you choose).

QUESTION 7

a) Currently, where are tropical storms/hurricanes occurring?

b) Relate the occurrence of these hurricanes to sea-surface temperatures. Use color maps of Global SST (Sea Surface Temperature) to answer this question. Do some research (i.e. web search) to find the optimal SST to trigger a hurricane and relate this information to the maps above.

Use your G107 textbook to find this information, or do a search on the web.

QUESTION 8

a) Display an image of the Earth, which shows the areas that are in daylight /darkness. Where in the world is it dusk?

Where in the world is it dawn?

b) Explain how the duration of daylight you see on this map for the Northern hemisphere is related to the revolution of the earth around the sun (equinoxes and solstices).

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