Weather Watching
Weather watching is something of a national obsession here in the UK. We are always either complaining about the weather, or telling each other how 'nice' it is. Many conversations start with "What about this weather, then ?" and the weather dictates what we can or can't do, where we can or can't go, and what we should or shouldn't wear !
And this shouldn't really be a surprise ... we live in a country where the weather is very 'changeable', and this is all because of where about on planet Earth the UK is located. We will look at this to develop an understanding of the factors that 'drive' our weather, but, before we do that, let's have a quick look at how we can use technology to 'watch' the weather !
Bringing Technology to the Weather Watching Party
Weather Stations
In recent years digital weather stations have become increasingly appealing to amateur and professional weather watchers alike.
Prices range from many thousands of pounds to systems costing less than £200. Even these 'lower end' systems can monitor a range of weather measurements including temperature, humidity, air pressure, dew point, wind spread, wind direction, and solar radiation. Most stations also upload the data they are collecting to the internet so that the data can be tracked over a period of time, and can be downloaded for further analysis.
Examples of these website include www.weatherunderground.net and www.weathercloud.net.
In time, the college will have it's own weather station, and a link to it will be posted here. To find out more about weather stations and how they work, click the link below to download a Powerpoint on the subject.
Understanding Weather
In this presentation, we learn about what gives us days and nights, where our seasons come from, what the jet stream is, the impact of the jet stream on our weather, high and low air pressures and the Coriolis Effect ! All fascinating stuff which helps us understand where the weather comes from and what gives us the changeable weather we have here in Scotland. To access the presentation, click on the image of lightening. This presentation should be used to support a largely practical presentation in class, so some bits of it, without the practical elements, may seem a little 'disjointed' !
