GS 109 – Meteorology Fall 2021 / PCC – Cascade / Glazewski Lab #2 – Water in the Atmosphere / Remote Sensing Instructions: Please complete all the questions/exercises on this document where indicated....

Meteorology Lab


GS 109 – Meteorology Fall 2021 / PCC – Cascade / Glazewski Lab #2 – Water in the Atmosphere / Remote Sensing Instructions: Please complete all the questions/exercises on this document where indicated. Submit this lab in the appropriate D2L dropbox by the due date. No late labs will be accepted - NO EXCEPTIONS. Please use the provided text boxes for your answers; they expand automatically. Use the reference document on D2L for editing PDFs where noted. 1. Remember that relative humidity depends on temperature. Thus, the relative humidity can change even if the water vapor content of the air remains constant/the same. Keeping this in mind: Assume that from 7pm one evening until 7am the next morning, temperature decreases (in a typical nighttime way), and that the dewpoint remains constant. Describe (in as much detail as you can) the relative humidity during this period: 2. Figure 1 shows the temperature and dewpoint portions of the station model in the northeastern United States on an October morning in 2013. (a) Circle the stations where fog is most likely to have formed. (b) What criterion did you use to make your decision? 3. Figure 2 shows average July dewpoints in the Pacific Northwest (left), and along the Gulf Coast (right). (a) On both maps, draw isodrosotherms at multiples of five. (b) In general, how does the mean water vapor content of the air depend on distance from the nearby large body of water? (c) Explain why average dewpoints are so different in these two regions, despite the fact that both regions are near large bodies of water (Hint: Consider a significant difference between the water bodies in the Pac NW vs. the Gulf Coast.) Figure 1 Figure 2 4. In figure 3 (a-c), you are given three satellite images at 1415Z on November 18, 2008, obtained from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite. (a) Which image is the infrared? _____ (b) Which image is the visible? _____ (c) Which image is the water vapor? ____ Figure 3 5. Figure 4 is a 12Z visible satellite image on a day in 2013, taken from a geostationary satellite positioned at 57°E longitude. To get your bearings, that’s Africa on the left, western India is located right center, and the outline of Southeast Asia appears farther to the right in the darkness. The boundary that separates day from night is called the terminator. (I’ll be back!) Based on the orientation of the terminator, was this satellite image obtained in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter or summer? Explain your answer. Figure 4