LECTURE 2

Elements of climate.
Measurement & representation of climatic data.
 Latitude .
Altitude.
Factors. Water masses.
Landforms.

CLIMATE
Temperature.
Humidity.

Elements. Wind.
Precipitation.
Atmospheric pressure.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE

Climatic elements are conditions that are part of the climatic characters of a
place. These are not stable because they can change when interacting with
other elements or climate factors.

The elements that affect the climate are:

1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Winds
4. Precipitations
5. Atmospheric Pressure

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

01 . Temperature – ( measurement & data)

How hot or cold the atmosphere is ??

How many degrees it is above or below

freezing ??

Temperature is a very important factor in

determining the weather, because it
influences or controls other elements of the
weather, such as precipitation, humidity,
clouds and atmospheric pressure

Temperature is measured is measured in

terms of degree Centegrade or degree
Fahrenheit.

The instrument used to measure the

temperature is thermometer.
Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
Temperature is affected by:
Latitude.
Distance from the sea.
Ocean currents.
Altitude.
Direction of prevailing wind.
Cloud cover.
Nature of the ground.
Length of the day.

Temperature measurement :

Thermometer consists of a hollow glass bulb attached to a narrow stem with a

thread-like bore. The bulb is filled with liquid, usually mercury, but also
alcohol when very low temperatures need to be measured, which expands
when the temperature rises and contracts when the temperature falls. The
amount of expansion and contraction is measured by a calibrated scale.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Measuring instrument :

Thermometer

Whilst thermometers are really measuring their

own temperature, they are usually needed to
measure the temperature of the surrounding air. To
ensure that the temperature of the surrounding air
is the same as the thermometer, it must be shaded
from sunlight and be exposed to adequate
ventilation. These conditions are provided by
enclosing the thermometer within a wooden box
with louvred sides, called a Stevenson screen. Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
Representation :

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
02 . Humidity

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

02 . Humidity – ( measurement & data)

Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. Humidity is produced by

the action of the sun, because its energy evaporates the water of rivers, lakes
and oceans. It is measured either in absolute terms – absolute humidity or
relative terms – relative humidity.

The humidity can be described as absolute humidity (AH) that is the actual
amount of moisture present in the air. It is measured in terms of gramme per
kilometer.

The relative humidity is much more useful as it gives the direct indication of
evaporation potential. Relative humidity is the ratio of actual amount of
moisture present to the actual amount of moisture the air could hold (saturation
point-humidity – SH) at the given temperature.

Expressed in percentage: RH = AH x 100 (%)

SH

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Measurement:
The amount of vapour in the air can be measured in a number of ways. The
humidity of a packet of air is usually denoted by the mass of vapour contained
within it, or the pressure that the water vapour exerts. The variation of
absolute humidity (vapour content of saturated air) with temperature is shown
in the figure below

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Hygrometer:

▪ Measures of humidity can be calculated from

readings taken by a hygrometer.
▪ A hygrometer has two thermometers, one dry
bulb or standard air temperature
thermometer, and one wet bulb thermometer.
▪ The wet bulb thermometer is an ordinary
thermometer which has the bulb covered with
a muslin bag, kept moist via an absorbent
wick dipped into water.
▪ Evaporation of water from the muslin lowers
the temperature of the thermometer.
▪ The difference between wet and dry bulb
temperatures is used to calculate the various
measures of humidity.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
03 . Winds – ( measurement & data)

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

03 . Winds – ( measurement & data)
▪ The wind is produced because of the
differences between atmospheric
pressure & temperature.
▪ The air is nearly always in motion, and
this is felt as wind.
▪ Two factors are necessary to specify
wind, its speed and direction.
▪ The direction of wind is expressed as
the point of the compass from where
the wind is blowing.
▪ Air moving from the north-east to the
south-west is called a north-east wind. It
may also be expressed in degrees from
true north.
▪ The wind speed can be expressed in
miles or kilometers per hour, meters
per second, knots or as a force on the
Beaufort scale.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Measuring instrument : Anemometer

An anemometer is a type of weather instrument that measures wind speed.

Some of these instruments measure both wind speed and wind direction.

Anemometers are common at weather stations

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

04 . Precipitation :

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
04 . Precipitation :

As the warm air rises in the sky it cools. Water vapor (invisible water in the air)
always exists in our air. Warm air holds quite a bit of water. When enough of
these droplets collect together, we see them as clouds. If the clouds are big
enough and have enough water droplets, the droplets bang together and form
even bigger drops. When the drops get heavy, they fall because of gravity, and
you see and feel rain.

The amount of rain, sleet, snow or hail which falls in a specified time is
expressed as the depth of water it would produce on a large, level
impermeable surface. Usually it is expressed in millimeters although inches
may sometimes be used.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Measuring instrument : Rain Gauge

Rainfall is measured daily (24

hours) by means of a rainguage.
Today's rainguages are simple to
use with pre-calibrated scales on
their sides. When measuring
rainfall, certain precautions have
to be taken against the effects of
obstructions, wind, splashing and
evaporation.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
Graphical representation:

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil
05 . Atmospheric Pressure :

Atmospheric pressure (or air pressure) is

the weight of air resting on the earth's
surface.

Air pressure is the force exerted on you

by the weight of tiny particles of air (air
molecules). Although air molecules are
invisible, they still have weight and take
up space. Since there's a lot of "empty"
space between air molecules, air can be
compressed to fit in a smaller volume.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Gravity pulls the air
molecules towards the
earth, giving them
weight. The weight of
the air molecules all
around us is called the
air pressure.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Measuring instrument : Barometer.
Barometers are used to measure atmospheric
pressure. They may be either mercury or
aneroid (vacuum) barometers. Often they are
attached to a pen that charts movements in
pressure on a piece of paper. The resulting
chart is called a barograph

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

 Quick Review:

Temperature Humidity precipitation Wind Air pressure

The amount
The weight
of heat in the The amount The
Water that of the air in
air. of water movement of
falls from the
vapour in the air in the
clouds. atmosphere.
Unit : degree air. atmosphere.
centigrade,
Unit : Unit :
degree Unit : Unit :
millimeters hectopascals
Fahrenheit percentage. km/hour
(hpa)
Instrument:
Instrument : Instrument : Instrument :
rain gauge Instrument:
thermometer hygrometer. anemometer.
barometer.
.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

▪ What are the different elements affecting the climate ??
Explain the same.
▪ Explain with neat sketches the measuring instruments
and measuring units of these element.

Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil

Source:
Course text books.
Public internet sharings.
Prepared by - Ar.Anusha Patil