ATM OCN (Meteorology) 100
UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS & CHARTS
Summer 2001
Lecture #16 scheduled for:
16 JUL 2001 (T)
Recommended Readings from Moran and Morgan (1997):
Pages 21-24; 377; 382-385.
Today's Lecture Objectives:
- To identify the meteorological measurements obtained by a radiosonde.
- To describe the manner in which the weather is depicted upon the standard upper air charts.
- To compare and contrast the features on the surface and upper air weather charts.
- To relate the wind flow and temperature regimes aloft with the topography of constant pressure surfaces.
- To contrast winds aloft with near-surface winds.
Outline:
A. INTRODUCTION
- Overview - What is "Upper Air"?
- The need to know.
B. UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS
- Practical Problems
- Early Upper Air Observations - The Observing Platforms
- Current Upper Air Observations
- The Radiosonde
- Aircraft Reports
- Meteorological Rockets
- Weather Satellites
C. THE UPPER AIR WEATHER CHART
- The Radiosonde Observation (RAOB) network
- Use of Constant Pressure Charts
- Plotting of Routine Upper Air Constant Pressure Charts
- Isopleths used on Upper Air Charts
- HEIGHT CONTOURS
- ISOTHERMS
- ISOTACHS
- Topography of Constant Pressure Charts
- Relationships between:
- Height and temperature fields
Height and wind fields
Links to Other References:
The Upper Air Observations module from Weather World 2010 (Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign).
Last revision 6 June 2001 (0140 UTC)
Produced by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 53706
hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
URL: aos100/lectures/s0116upa.html