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Problem/Purpose:
So far in the Atmosphere Section of the course you learned how Earth's atmosphere developed and changed, how the natural components and pollutants cycle in and out of the air, how the atmosphere's movements are powered by heat and produce vertical and horizontal movements, how those movements produce clouds, storms, clear skies and wind, and how we measure and observe the atmosphere. Your focus was on acquiring the knowledge you need to manage the atmosphere.
Your management of the atmosphere takes place at many levels. As a long term goal, management of the atmosphere includes inventorying how it works and how we affect it, planning what you and your society and government should do to maintain it, then following and modifying your plan for the rest of your life. On a short time scale, management of the atmosphere means inventorying what the weather will do over the next few days then planning for it and using that plan to benefit yourself.
Your task is to measure the accuracy of weather predictions.
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Research: 1. Look outside, then check the most recent display from our weather station to see what is happening now. 2. There are many sources of weather information available to you, including the graphics used in class. Visit these weather prediction web sites and see what they display about our current weather and what they predict for the next week. Hypothesis: On the next page of this assignment, record the weather predictions for the coming week from THREE separate sources. Try to find as many specifics from each source as you can, such as predicted precipitation, temperature range, wind speed and direction. Which source do you expect to be the most accurate?
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Test the predictions. 1. Over the next week, fill in actual weather observations and data each day using your own observations or using data from weather web pages or the LSM weather station. Some web sites have archived information so you can look up the weather data if you have to miss a day. 2. Rank the different sources as to how accurate they were each day. |
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Conclusion: Write a paragraph comparing and
contrasting the accuracy of the predictions made by the different sources.
Data:
Weather Source 1:
| Date | Temp | Wind Chill | RH % | Dew °C | Wind Speed | Gusts | Wind Dir | Rain / Snow | Air Pressure | Cloud Cover | Observations | RANK |
Weather Source 2:
| Date | Temp | Wind Chill | RH % | Dew °C | Wind Speed | Gusts | Wind Dir | Rain / Snow | Air Pressure | Cloud Cover | Observations | RANK |
Weather Source 3:
| Date | Temp | Wind Chill | RH % | Dew °C | Wind Speed | Gusts | Wind Dir | Rain / Snow | Air Pressure | Cloud Cover | Observations | RANK |
ACTUAL WEATHER: Where and how did you get this information?
| Date | Temp | Wind Chill | RH % | Dew °C | Wind Speed | Gusts | Wind Dir | Rain / Snow | Air Pressure | Cloud Cover | Observations |
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