Science

Seismic Waves: Radiated energy that passes through the Earth during an earthquake.

Two basic ways to classify waves

1. Based on where the the wave is traveling in / on

Body wave : Motion through the interior of the Earth.

Surface waves : Motion is along the surface of the Earth.

2. Based on how the particles are moved by the wave or how the wave causes the
material it is traveling through to deform.

Compressional (Longitudinal) Waves : Motion of the particles in the direction of the

wave. Causes the material to contract and extend.

Shear (Transverse) Waves : Motion of the particles is perpendicular to the wave

direction. Causes the material to shear.

BODY WAVES
Primary Waves (P Waves)

The fastest kind of seismic wave and the first to arrive at a seismic station.

It can move through solid rock and fluids.

It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through.

Serves as a “signal” or “warning” that an earthquake is coming.

The particles of motion are sideways or in the direction of the wave (Longitudinal).

Secondary Waves (S Waves)

Second wave you feel in an earthquake.

Slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock.

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 The particles of motion is up-and-down or sideways; perpendicular to the direction
of the wave (Transverse).

*The time gap in the arrival of P-wave and S-wave can give the estimate of the distance
to the earthquake

SURFACE WAVES
Love Waves

Named after Augustus Edward Hough Love, a British mathematician who worked
out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911.

The fastest surface wave and moves the wave sideways (horizontal motion).

Rayleigh Waves

Named after John Willian Strutt who mathematically predicted the existence of this
kind of wave in 1885.

A rayleigh wave rolls along the ground, and because of that the ground moves up
and down and side-to-side in the same direction that the wave is moving (elliptical).

Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the Rayleigh wave, which can
be much larger than the other waves.

TYPHOONS
Tropical Storms

Hurricanes are formed over the North Atlantic Ocean & Northeast Pacific.

Cyclones are formed over the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Typhoons are formed over the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

Hurricanes and Typhoons are mostly formed in the Northern Hemisphere (the
movement of storm is counter-clockwise) and Cyclones are mostly formed in the
Southern Hemisphere (the movement of storm is clockwise)

Average diameter of a typhoon: 150-250 km

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 Equators are formed in warm waters (a must create a typhoon in order for the thick
clouds to form) at least 5-8 degrees north
or south of the equator.

The Philippines has been hit by an average of 20 typhoons every year since it is
located on the Western Pacific.

Cool air from the poles are attracted/ are going to the equator because it has a low
pressure and a warm area. While going
towards the center, the cool air keeps getting deflected now creating a spin

Coriolis Effect

Named after the French mathematician and physicist, Gaspart Gustav de Coriolis.

The speed of the Earth’s rotation is fastest at the equator and slowest at the poles.

When the air leaves the poles, its speed increases as it travels towards the equator
as a result the air veers and it doesn’t go straight.

How do Typhoons form?

Typhoons starts off as tropical thunderstorms. The strong winds pull in moisture
from the warm ocean, the thunderstorms convert the moisture into heat and the
heat causes more air to flow to the center of the storm causing evaporation of water
and the water condenses into cloud droplets. All the heat and airflow towards the
eye creating a typhoon. [Typhoons gain power over warm bodies of water and starts
losing energy as it enters land (because the moisture supply if cut off) and are over
cold water (Temperature of water, land mass and air, moisture, air currents.]

Places/ Countries near the Pacific Ocean experience the most typhoons because
the Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world so more warm sea is
evaporated.

Pre - conditions for Typhoons

1. Pre-existing low level focus or disturbance

2. Warm ocean water

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 3. Low atmospheric stability

4. Sufficient Coriolis force

5. Humid mid-atmosphere and upper atmosphere divergence

Monsoon Through : Extension of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) where

cyclonic spin has developed. Mostly the
cause why typhoons are formed. (ITCZ - zone of wind convergence of the northeast and
southeast trade winds)

Wind Movement

High Pressure to Low-Pressure Areas.

Low-Pressure Area occurs when the air is warm either over a warm land or warm
surface.

High Pressure: Area occurs when the air is cool.

Parts of a Typhoon

1. Eye : Has the lowest pressure and the calmest area of a typhoon.

2. Eyewall : The most destructive part of a typhoon.

3. Rain bands: Long bands of rain clouds appear to spiral inward to the eyewall

4. Convection Cells:

Trade Winds : Cool winds entering the eye of the storm making the storm stronger.
Wind Shear : Change in speed/direction of wind over a relatively short distance or time
period. Vertical wind shear is the most commonly described shear. Wind shear is
considered to be severe if the horizontal velocity changes at least 15 m/sec over
distances of 1 to 4 km. In the vertical, wind speeds change at rates greater than 500
ft/min.
Altitude : is the distance above sea level. Areas are often considered "high-altitude" if
they reach at least 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) into the atmosphere.

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 Latent Heat : Heat absorbed or radiated during a change of phase at constant
temperature and pressure.
Convection : A way for heat to move, also referred to as a heat transfer mechanism.
This transfer of heat happens when a fluid such as air or water is in motion. Convection
is driven by temperature differences across that fluid.

Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR)

The exact dimensions of this domain are the area of the Western North Pacific
bounded by imaginary lines connecting the coordinates :

1. 5°N 115°E

2. 15°N 115°E

3. 21°N 120°E

4. 25°N 120°E

5. 25°N 135°E

6. 5°N 135°E.

The PAR or Philippine Area of Responsibility was plotted by PAGASA so that our
National Weather Office would have an exact area to monitor for weather
disturbances. Once a weather disturbance becomes to near the borders of the PAR
or crosses it, it could become a national or provincial issue of safety.

Meteorological satellites, geostationary and polar orbiting, take pictures of the cloud
imagery of the atmosphere. These satellites take picture of the earth's cloud
formations every hour and continuously.

Surface (MSL) Chart : The data plotted on this weather map are analyzed
isobarically. This means the same atmospheric pressure at different places are
inter-connected with a line taking into consideration the direction of the wind.
Through this analysis, weather systems or the so-called centers of action such as
high and low pressure areas, tropical cyclones, cold and warm fronts, intertropical
convergence zone, can be located and delineated.

Upper Air Charts : The data plotted on this weather map are analyzed using
streamline analysis. Lines are drawn to illustrate the flow of the wind. With this kind

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 of analysis, anticyclones or high pressure areas and cyclones or low pressure areas
can be delineated.

Numerical Weather Prediction Model Output : The computer-plotted weather maps

are analyzed manually so that weather systems like cyclones and anticyclones,
troughs, etc. are located.

Monitor Weather Charts : Plotted data on the cross-section, rainfall and 24-hour
pressure change charts are analyzed to determine the movement of wind waves,
rainfall distribution and the behavior of the atmospheric pressure.

Tropical Cyclone categories

Category Wind Speed (kph)

Tropical Depression 61 kph or less

Tropical Storm 62 - 88 kph

Severe Tropical Storm 89 - 117 kph

Typhoon 118 - 220 kph

Super Typhoon More than 220 kph

Warning Signals

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 OUTERSPACE
Asteriods

Asteroids are simply rocky or metallic objects that orbit the sun in the same way that
planets orbit. Asteroids are hard to see because they reflect little light and they are
always on the move. None of the asteroids has an atmosphere.

How big are Asteriods? Asteroids come in all sizes and shapes. Some are as tiny
as pebbles and some are as big as mountains. Since they are smaller than planets,
they are often called minor planets or planetoids. Ceres is the largest of the
asteroids — t is about 930 kilometers in diameter.

Where do Asteriods orbit? Many asteroids orbit the sun in a region between Mars
and Jupiter. This area is called the asteroid belt. They follow a slightly elliptical path
as they orbit the sun in the same direction as the planets — once an asteroid is

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 captured by the gravitational pull of a planet, it may become a satellite of that
planet. Many astronomers believe that the two satellites of Mars, Phobos and
Deimos, are captured asteroids.

If it were not for the giant planet Jupiter pulling the asteroids outward, large
asteroids would constantly bombard Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth.

Meteors
Land - Meteorite

Atmosphere - Meteor
Outerspace - Meteoroid

A meteoroid is a piece of stony or metallic object, which travels in space.

Meteoroids travel around the sun in a variety of orbits and at various speeds. They
are believed to form when asteroids hit each other as they orbit.

When a meteoroid enters the earth's atmosphere, friction between this object and
atmospheric gases heats it to the point that it glows and becomes visible to our
eyes for only a few seconds. This streak of light in the sky is known as meteors.
sometimes called falling or shooting stars.
What if the meteor does not burn up completely? Would it fall to the earth?

If the meteor does not burn up completely, the remaining portion falls to earth! But
don't worry; you are still lucky because most of them are very small. In addition,
most debris from space falls unseen over oceans or sparsely populated areas like
Antarctica.

A meteor that hits the earth's surface is called a meteorite.

Like asteroids, meteoroids collide and can be pulled out of orbit or sent into earth's
atmosphere or another planet.

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 Meteor shower : a phenomenon in which many meteors fall through the atmosphere
in a relatively short time and in approximately parallel trajectories. A very intense
meteor shower is called a meteor storm.

Meteor showers and storms occur when the earth passes through a comet's. orbit,
and leftover comet debris bombards the earth. Meteor showers occur at a
predictable time each year. The latest meteor shower experienced on earth
happened in November 1999. It was named Leonid shower.

Comets

A comet is a fuzzy, luminous big dirty snowball composed of rock dust wrapped
around a big ball of ice. This beautiful sight in the sky moves very slowly and may
remain in our sight for weeks before fading out of view.

A comet enters a huge elliptical orbit. Each time the comet passes close to the sun,
it loses some of its material. When it returns to the distant part of the solar system, it
gradually appears smaller and dimmer.
What are the parts of the comet?

Most comets are thought to originate from a huge cloud called the Oort Cloud,
which is too far away for astronomers to see.

A comet does not produce energy and light, thus it is not visible.

As it gets closer to the sun, it becomes visible because the heat of the sun melts the
ice of the comet and turns it to gas. This gas becomes the coma, which envelopes
and hides the nucleus from our
view.

The nucleus is the center of the comet made of frozen water. The nucleus and the
coma together are called the head of the comet. They become bigger and

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 bigger as more gas and dust are released from the coma.

The solar wind blows more and more gas from the coma causing it to form a tail,
which in some comets, can reach up to 150 million kilometers in length

Halley's comet : an example of a short-period comet, with an orbital period of less

than 200 years. Halley's comet makes an appearance once every 76 years, and is
set to return in 2061. Other comets are long-period comets that can take up to a
million year to orbit the sun. An example of such is the Hale-Bopp comet.

When a comet approaches the sun, the tail is behind the head, but as it travels
away from the sun, the tail is in front. In other words, the comet's tail always points
away from the sun — his is due to the effect of the solar winds.

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