Name: Ildrin Vyn A.

Diaño

Course, Yr. & Section: BSMT 1B16

Subject: Meteorology and Oceanography

4. Wind

4.1 Wind

A. Wind is the movement of air, caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by
the sun and the Earth's own rotation. Winds range from light breezes to
natural hazards such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

B. The daily wind cycle

a. During the day, the air above the land heats up faster than the air
above the water. Warm air above land expands and rises, and
heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating wind.

b. At night, the winds are reversed because the air cools more rapidly
over land than it does over water.

c. In the same way, the atmospheric winds that circle the earth are
created because the land near the earth's equator is hotter than the
land near the North Pole and the South Pole.

C. Wind energy for electricity generation.

a. Wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Water-pumping

windmills were once used throughout the United States, and some
still operate on farms and ranches, mainly to supply water for
livestock.

4.2 Determining the true speed and direction

A. If you are using a wind meter you can estimate the true wind speed by
sailing close-hauled and subtracting 80% of the boat speed from the
apparent wind reading of the wind meter. That will get you very close.
For example, if the apparent wind is 20 knots and the boat is going
6.2 knots at 45 degrees to the true wind then the true wind is 20 - 6.2
+ 1.2 = 15 knots. The calculator says 15.1, which is close enough. (I
used True Wind Speed = Apparent Wind Speed - Boat Speed + .2 *
 Boat speed rather than Wind Speed = Apparent Wind Speed - .8 *
Boat Speed because the math is easier to do in your head).

4.3 Interpreting wind information the on the weather

A. Weather charts, also known as surface pressure or synoptic charts,

contain a lot of information that helps weather forecasters make
predictions about the weather and sea conditions.

B. Before going to sea, it is always a good idea to study weather charts

and determine how the weather will likely evolve in the area you plan
to sail in.

C. Isobars on a weather chart

a. The circular lines are isobars, similar to contour lines on a land

map, and join areas of equal barometric pressure.

b. Air moves from high to low pressure and when the difference in
the pressure is greater, the airflow or wind will also be greater.

c. Isobars that are close together indicate stronger winds. Isobars

that further apart indicate lighter winds.

d. The wind scale inset in the top left of the chart helps you to
forecast wind speed.

5. Humidity and Condensation

5.1 Humidity and Condensation

A. At a specific amount of moisture in the air, the relative humidity will rise as
the air temperature falls.
B. Condensation can be expected to form on windows, doors, and skylights
given the right conditions. The higher the relative humidity, the warmer the
surface temperature needs to be in order to avoid condensation.

5.2 Determining the relative humidity and dew point

A. To calculate relative humidity with temperature and dew point, follow the
given instructions:
a. Measure the air temperature T, in °C.
b. Find out the dew point temperature Dp, in °C.
c. Calculate relative humidity RH using the formula, RH = 100 ×
{exp[17.625 × Dp/(243.04 + Dp)]/exp[17.625 × T/(243.04 + T)]}.
 B. Relative humidity can be found by subtracting the temperature on the
wet-bulb thermometer from the temperature on the dry-bulb thermometer
and using a relative humidity chart.
a. Td = T - ((100 - RH)/5.) where Td is dew point temperature (in
degrees Celsius), T is observed temperature (in degrees Celsius),
and RH is relative humidity (in percent). Apparently, this
relationship is fairly accurate for relative humidity values above
50%.

6. Cloud and Precipitation

6.1 Cloud

A. An aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen

crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or
similar space. Water or various other chemicals may compose the droplets and
crystals.

6.2 Determining the types of clouds

A. Stratus clouds are uniform grayish clouds that often cover the sky. Usually, no
precipitation falls from stratus clouds, but they may drizzle. When a thick fog
“lifts,” the resulting clouds are low stratus.
B. Nimbostratus clouds form a dark gray, “wet” looking cloudy layer associated with
continuously falling rain or snow. They often produce light to moderate
precipitation.
C. Middle clouds with the prefix “alto” are middle-level clouds that have bases at
6,500 to 23,000 feet up.
a. Altocumulus clouds are made of water droplets and appear as gray, puffy
masses, sometimes rolled out in parallel waves or bands. These clouds
on a warm, humid summer morning often mean thunderstorms by late
afternoon.
b. Altostratus clouds are gray or blue-gray and are made up of ice crystals
and water droplets. They usually cover the sky. In thinner areas of them,
the sun may be dimly visible as a round disk. Altostratus clouds often
form ahead of storms that produce continuous precipitation.
D. High clouds
a. Cirrus clouds are thin, wispy clouds blown by high winds into long
streamers. They are considered “high clouds,” forming at more than
20,000 feet. They usually move across the sky from west to east and
generally mean fair to pleasant weather.
b. Cirrostratus, thin, sheetlike clouds that often cover the sky, are so thin the
sun and moon can be seen through them.
 c. Cirrocumulus clouds appear as small, rounded white puffs. Small ripples
in the cirrocumulus sometimes resemble the scales of a fish, creating
what is sometimes called a “mackerel sky.”
E. Vertical clouds
a. Cumulus clouds are puffy and can look like floating cotton. The base of
each is often flat and maybe only 330 feet above the ground. The top has
rounded towers. When the top resembles a cauliflower head, it is called
“cumulus congestus.” These grow upward and if they continue to grow
vertically can develop into a giant cumulonimbus, a thunderstorm cloud,
with dark bases no more than 1,000 feet above the ground and extending
to more than 39,000 feet. Tremendous energy is released by the
condensation of water vapor in a cumulonimbus. Lightning, thunder, and
violent tornadoes are associated with them.

6.3 Determining the cloud coverage

A. Cloud amount is reported in oktas or eighths with the additional convention that:
a. 0 oktas represent the complete absence of cloud.
b. 1 okta represents a cloud amount of 1-eighth or less, but not zero.
c. 7 oktas represent a cloud amount of 7 eighths or more, but not full cloud
cover.

6.4 Precipitation

A. The main types of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets,
graupel, and hail. Precipitation happens when water vapor (reaching 100 percent
relative humidity) saturates a portion of the atmosphere so that the water
condenses and 'precipitates' or falls.

7. Visibility

A. Visibility means how far or how clearly you can see in particular weather
conditions.

7.1 Fog Mist and Haze

A. Mist and fog occur when water droplets hang in the air.
B. Haze happens when the particles in the air are pollutants. Most of the time, haze
occurs in areas far from the original source of the pollutants, which are carried by
wind currents to where they ultimately gather.

7.2 Other elements that affect Visibility

 A. Visibility at sea is also affected by the time of day, water and air temperature,
humidity levels, and wind speed. There is a lot to keep in mind.
B. Visibility is influenced by many factors, such as meteorological conditions,
concentrations of gas pollutants, and airborne particles. At high relative humidity,
the aerosol absorbs moisture, thus causing the aerosol to grow rapidly in size.

8. Wind and Pressure System

A. Winds blow away from high pressure. Swirling in the opposite direction from a
low-pressure system, the winds of a high-pressure system rotate clockwise north
of the equator and counterclockwise south of the equator. This is called
anticyclonic flow.

8.1 Pressure Gradient Wind

A. The pressure gradient is just the difference in pressure between high- and
low-pressure areas. The speed of the wind is directly proportional to the pressure
gradient meaning that as the change in pressure increases (i.e. pressure gradient
increases) the speed of the wind also increases at that location.

8.2 Geostrophic Winds

A. The geostrophic wind is the wind flow that occurs in the middle latitudes aloft in
the troposphere. The winds have a more difficult time obtaining geostrophic
balance in the equatorial latitudes since the Coriolis force is weak.

8.3 Global Wind Circulation-Three Cell Theories

A. Global circulation can be described as the worldwide system of winds by which

the necessary transport of heat from tropical to polar latitudes is accomplished. In
each hemisphere, there are three cells (Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, and Polar cell) in
which air circulates through the entire depth of the troposphere.
a. Hadley cell, a model of the Earth’s atmospheric circulation that was
proposed by George Hadley (1735). It consists of a single wind system in
each hemisphere, with westward and equatorward flow near the surface
and eastward and poleward flow at higher altitudes.
b. Ferrel cell, a model of the mid-latitude segment of Earth’s wind circulation,
was proposed by William Ferrel (1856). In the Ferrel cell, air flows
poleward and eastward near the surface and equatorward and westward
at higher altitudes; this movement is the reverse of the airflow in the
Hadley cell. Ferrel’s model was the first to account for the westerly winds
between latitudes 35° and 60° in both hemispheres. The Ferrel cell,
however, is still not a good representation of reality because it requires
that the upper-level mid-latitude winds flow westward; actually, the
 eastward-flowing surface winds become stronger with height and reach
their maximum velocities around the 10-km (6-mile) level in the jet
streams.
c. Polar cell is the smallest and the weakest cell. The cold air from the poles
(near the surface) moves towards the lower latitudes and interacts with
the ferrel cell. The air rises after interaction and returns to sink at the
poles again. Thus completing the polar cell.

8.4 Local and Regional Weather and Climate Systems

A. Local weather primarily refers to the prevailing atmospheric conditions in your

immediate vicinity at a specific period in time, like a small town or suburb.
B. Regional weather refers to the atmospheric conditions present in a broader
geographical area like a county or state.

References:

A. (2021, December 31). Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, Polar cell | Atmospheric circulation.

GEOGRAPHY HOST. https://geographyhost.com/hadley-cell/

The Highs and Lows of Air Pressure | Center for Science Education. (n.d.). UCAR.

https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-weather-works/highs-and-lows-air-pressure

Precipitation and Clouds, Formation of - temperature, types, effect. (n.d.).

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Precipitation-and-Clouds-Formation-of.html

Climate - Atmospheric humidity and precipitation. (2023, March 14). Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-meteorology/Atmospheric-humidity-and-preci

pitation

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, March 1). Wind | meteorology. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/wind