CHAPTER 2: WEATHER BASIS (METEOROLOGY): ATMOSPHERIC WATERS

What is Meteorology

-Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere, atmospheric phenomena, and atmospheric effects
on our weather.

Difference Between Weather and Climate

-Weather is short-term changes in the atmosphere while climate is the average weather pattern of
an area over a long period.

Atmosphere

-Atmosphere is made of the layers of gases surrounding a planet or

other celestial body.

-Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21%

oxygen, 0.9 percent argon, and 0.1 percent other gases.

Lavers of Earth's Atmosphere

1.)Troposphere

- Earth's troposphere extends from Earth's surface to, on average,

about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in height

-this very shallow layer is tasked with holding all the air plants need
for photosynthesis and animals need to breathe, and also contains about 99 percent of all water vapor.

-Most of Earth's weather happens here, and almost all clouds that are generated by weather are found
here

2.)Stratosphere

-Located between approximately 12 and 50 kilometers (7.5 and 31 miles) above Earth's surface

-the stratosphere is perhaps best known as home to Earth's ozone layer.

-The stratosphere is nearly cloud- and weather-free.

-It's also the highest part of the atmosphere that jet planes can reach.
3.)Mesosphere

-Located between about 50 and 80 kilometers (31 and 50 miles) above Earth's surface

-the mesosphere gets progressively colder with altitude.

-Most meteors burn up in this atmospheric layer. Sounding rockets and rocket-powered aircraft can
reach the mesosphere

4.)Thermosphere

-Located between about 80 and 700 kilometers (50 and 440 miles) above Earth's surface.

-In this layer, temperatures increase with altitude due to the very low density of molecules found here.

-The aurora borealis and aurora australis are sometimes seen here. The International Space Station
orbits in the thermosphere.

5.) Exosphere

-Located between about 700 and 10,000 kilometers (440 and 6,200 miles) above Earth's surface

-The exosphere is the highest layer of Earth's atmosphere and, at its top, merges with the solar wind

-this layer doesn't behave like a gas, and particles here escape into space.

Atmosphere General Characteristics

1. Helps retain the sun's heat and prevents it from escaping back into space.

2. Protects life from harmful radiation from the sun

3. Plays a major role in Earth's water cycle.

4. Helps keep the climate on Earth moderate.

Atmospheric Stability

Atmospheric stability determines whether or not air will rise and cause storms, sink and cause clear
skies, or essentially do nothing
 UNSTABLE STABLE NEUTRAL

Tparcel > Tair Tparcel < Tair Tparcel = Tair

The parcel is warmer than its The parcel is cooler than its The parcel is the same
sorroundings, so it rises and surroundings, so it will sink temperature as its
expands and compresses surroundings, no change.

 It will be less dense  It will be denser than  The parcel will not
than its surroundings its environment and move of its own
and will rise like a hot will sink. accord.
air balloon.  Generally, leads to
 Potential for creating clear skies
storms

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADIABATIC AND DIABATIC PROCESS

Adiabatic process is when the system does neither gain or lose heat. Diabatic is adding or removing heat
from the system. A decrease in temperature with height is called lapse rate and while the temperature
decreases with altitude, it is defined positive because it is a lapse rate ( K / km) or (ᵒC / km).

TEMPERATURE

 Is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the degree of hotness or coldness of
a body. It also determines the thermal radiation emitted from a surface.

HOW DO YOU CLASSIFY COLD AND WARM?

SUMMER:

VERY HOT: More than 34 celsius HOT: from 27 to 34 celsius

WARM: from 20 to 25 celsius COLD: Less than 20 celsius

SPRING:

VERY HOT: more than 30 celsius HOT: from 25 to 30 celsius

WARM: from 18 to 25 celsius COLD: Less than 18 celsius

WINTER:

WARM: more than 20 celsius COOL: from 12 to 20 celsius

COLD: Less than 12 celsius FREEZING: less than 7 celsius

FALL:

HOT: more than 26 celsius WARM: from 17 to 26 celsius

COOL: from 14 to 17 celsius COLD: less than 14 celsius

COMMON TEMPERATURE SCALES

 CELSIUS SCALE ( ᵒC )
 FAHRENHEIT SCALE ( ᵒF )
 KELVIN SCALE ( K )
 RANKINE SCALE ( ᵒR )

CONVERSION OF TEMPERATURE FROM FORMULAS

Fahrenheit to Celsius 5
ᵒC = ( ᵒF – 32 )
9

Celsius to Fahrenheit 9
ᵒF = ᵒC + 32
5

Celsius to Kelvin K = ᵒC + 273

Kelvin to Celsius ᵒC = K - 273

Rankine to Kelvin 5
K= ᵒR
9

Kelvin to Rankine 9
ᵒR ¿ K
5

Fahrenheit to Rankine ᵒR = ᵒF + 460

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE

 The temperature of the atmosphere is not same across the earth

 The temperature of a place depends largely on the insolation received by that place

It is important to know about the temperature distribution over the surface of the earth to understand
the:

1. Weather
2. Climate
 3. Vegetation Zone
4. Animal and Human Life

TWO TYPES OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION

 Horizontal Temperature
Distribution
- It refers to the distribution of
temperature across the
surface of the Earth
- Influenced by factors – land
and water distribution, ocean
currents & prevailing winds

 Vertical Temperature Distribution

- Refers to the distribution of
temperature concerning altitude in the
Earth’s Atmosphere
- It can also impact weather patterns, air
quality, and agriculture.

TEMPERATURE VARIATION

1. Diurnal variation
- Is the change in temperature from day to night brought about by the daily rotation
of the Earth.
2. Seasonal Variation
- Is the change in temperature due to seasonal variation of the angle of incident solar
radiation between hemispheres brought about by tilting of the Earth’s axis around
the sun.
3. Variation with Latitude
- Is the change in temperature due to variation of the angle of incident solar radiation
in contact with the geographical surface profile of the Earth.
4. Variations with Topography
- Is the change in temperature not related to the movement or the shape of the Earth
but of variations induced by water and terrain.
5. Variation with Altitude
- Change in temperature relative to Altitude.
 MEASUREMENT OF TEMPERATURE

A. Instruments that measure earth’s temperature

 Stevenson screen
- Is a standard shelter for meteorological instruments, particularly wet and dry bulb
thermometers used to record humidity and air temperature.
 Maximum minimum thermometer
- This thermometer measures the highest and lowest temperatures reached during a
period of time.
 Thermograph
- Is an instrument that produces a trace or image representing a record of the varying
temperature or infrared radiation over an area or during a period of time.

Stevenson screen Maximum minimum thermometer Thermograph

MEASUREMENT OF TEMPERATURE

B. STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF TEMPERATURE

1. DAILY RANGE OF TEMPERATURE, Tr - difference between the highest and lowest temperature.
 Tr=Tmax-Tmin

2. MEAN DAILY TEMPERATURE, Tm- average daily maximum and minimum temperature

Tm=½(Tmax+Tmin)

3. NORMAL DAILY TEMPERATURE,Tn- average daily mean temperature for a given date over a
specific 30 days

Tn=
∑ Tm ; n=number of days
n

4. MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURE, TMm- average mean monthly maximum and minimum
temperature

TMn=
∑ Tm ; n=number of months
n

5. MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE, TAm- average monthly means of the year

TAm=
∑ TMn
12

SIGNIFICANCE OF DAILY TEMPERATURE

- Human Health
- Agriculture
- Ecosystem

HUMIDITY

- Amount of water vapor in the atmosphere

Saturation Vapor Pressure- pressure exerted by the vapor in saturated place

Dewpoint Temperature- air temperature at which the moist air saturates respect to water at a given
pressure.

ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY

- Total mass of vapor (grams) present in a given volume of air(m³).

Mv
AH =
Va

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

- Degree of saturation of the air.

- is a measure of the current humidity in relation to a given temperature.
-
actual vapor
RH = x 100
saturation vapor

SPECIFIC HUMIDTY

- Ratio of water vapor in the atmosphere to dry air in a particular mass.

Mv
SH=
Ma

VAPOR PRESSURE, e

- partial pressure of water vapor in the air, expressed in Pa.

e= Pa-Pd

where: Pa= pressure of moist air

Pd=pressure of dry air

SATURATION VAPOR PRESSURE, 𝒆𝒔 – the pressure exerted by the vapour in a saturated space and
is the maximum vapor pressure possible at a given temperature.
BOSEN FORMULA

- Use to determine the actual and saturated vapor pressure.

- For actual vapor pressure:
e= 33.8639[(0.00738Td + 0.8072)⁸-0.00009(1.8Td + 48)+0.001316]

where: Td= dew point temperature, °𝐶

e= in mbars

- For saturation vapor pressure:

es= 33.8639[(0.00738T + 0.8072)⁸-0.00009(1.8T + 48)+0.001316]
where: T = temperature, °𝐶
es= in mbars

TETEN’S EQUATION

a. Temperature above 0º

17.27 Td
e=611exp ⁡( ) = es
237.3+Td

b. Temperature below 0º

e=611exp ( 21.875
265.5+T )
T
=¿ e s

where: es=in Pa=e

T= °𝐶

PROPERTIES OF WATER VAPOR

a. Specific Energy, Sv
 ρv
Sv=
ρd

b. Density of Dry Air, ρd

Pd
ρd=
RT
c. Density of Water Vapor, ρv
0.622 e
ρv=
RT
d. Density of Moist Air, ρa
ρa= ρv+ ρd

total mass of moist air

ρa=
unit volume of mixture

mass of water vapor + maass of dry air

ρa=
unit volume of mixture

1
ρa= (Pa−.378 e )
RT

Pa
ρa= (1−.378 e/ Pa)
RT

Pg 0.003489 Pa
ρa= =
RT 273+ T

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ∶
𝑒 = 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑁/𝑚2 ,𝑎𝑏𝑠
P𝑑 = 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑁/𝑚2 ,𝑎𝑏𝑠
R = 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 287 𝑁𝑚/𝐾𝑔.𝐾 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑖𝑟
T = 𝑎𝑏𝑠.𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒,𝐾
Pg= pressure of gas

IDEAL GAS LAW

e= ρv RvT

where: Rv- gas constant for water vapor

T= Absolute Temperature (K)

Relationship Between the constant of Moist and Dry Air

e
Ra=Rd(1+0.608qv) where: qv=specific humidty =0.622
P
P= normal pressure

RELATIVE HUMIDTY,f
 - is equal to the percentage ratio of the actual vapor pressure to saturated vapor pressure.
f=100e/ es (%)

BOSEN APPROXIMATE EQUATION:

a. -25 ºC<T<45 ºC

112−0.1T +Td
f=100( ¿
112+0.9 t

where:

T = Air temperature, ºC

Td = dew point temperature, ºC

b. - 40ºC<T<50 ºC
T-Td=(14.55+0.144T)X+[(2.5+0.007T)X]³+(15.9+0.117T)X14

f
Where : X = complement of relative humidiy=1−
100

BASED ON TETEN’S FORMULA

17.27 T +(273.3+ T )lnf

Td=273
4098.171− ( 273.3+T ) lnf

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑓 = 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙

PSYCHROMETRIC EQUATION

- to determine actual vapor pressure, 𝑒

e= 𝑒sw – 0.00066(1+0.00115𝑇𝑤)𝑃(𝑇 −𝑇𝑤)

wℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:

𝑒 = 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒,𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑠

esw = 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑡 −𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏,𝑇𝑤

T𝑤 = 𝑤𝑒𝑡−𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒,°𝐶

T= 𝑑𝑟𝑦−𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒,°𝐶

P= 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒,= 1015.9 𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑠

RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND DEW POINT CHART

Important Terms:

Dry Bulb-Outside temperature

Wet Bulb-Evaporation within the atmosphere

Difference/Depression-The difference between dry and wet bulb

DEWPOINT CHART
RELATIVE HUMIDITY CHART