Atmospheric Visualization Collections

Atmospheric Visualization-A Collection at the NSDL Near real time remote sensing of the atmosphere to provide high resolution input for Global Climate Models. The Collection seeks to share this data with an audience of educators, students and scientists to teach and learn about the earth’s atmosphere.

1.Data shared allowing inquiry based investigations 2.Lesson plans for all levels: K-16 with standards 3.Research investigations for University and graduate level 4.Authorship opportunities utilizing a Wiki server: The Sandbox 5.Community of users contribute local data 6.Ongoing assessment and evaluation opportunities Goals of the NSDL AVC

Where does the data come from? 1.SGP- Southern Great Plains- Oklahoma 2.NSA- Northern Slope of Alaska- Alaska 3.TWP- Tropical West Pacific- Nauru NSA SGP TWP

Instruments at SGP

Correlations (ranked descending by Course Total) SGP Site in Lamont RWP Ariel views. Ideal land-air interface.

Instruments at NSA

North Slope of Alaska Site Ideal Ice-air Interface. Typical transportation.

Tropical Western Pacific: Nauru Site Ideal water-air interface.

Geophysical Focus Area Interface  Educationally friendly user interface to data images  Annotated example images  Documentation to enable use by researchers or educators

I.Comparative historical analysis. Can participate in local, ARM, and global analysis i.e. local cloud formation contrasted with SGP and NSA. II.Correlation analysis data reduction. For robust, stable and deep data, significant parametric trends can be identified, i.e. for CAPE > 3000 J/kg significant storms can develop. III.Causal modeling of the atmosphere. Apply the laws of physics and chemistry to understand weather phenomena, Navior-Stokes nonlinear PDEs Effective Investigative Learning with ARM Data at AVC

Cloud Radar Image

1.Frequency from historical data. 2. For your location, latitude, longitude and elevation, what is the average seasonal rainfall, wind speed cloud cover and solar irradiance? 3. How often are melting layers formed? 4. Are precipitation and melting layers correlated? 5. Does the BBSS indicate conditions for ice? 6. Is the formation of a melting layer related to storm severity? 7. Do CAPE values indicate precipitation? 8. Does horizontal wind speed related to storm activity? Investigating Clouds

Cloud identification and classification

Anomalous Features Evidence of a layer? When? Where?

No melting layer? Horizontal wind speed?

How do snowflakes form? Construct a lesson plan around the generation of snowflakes.

Details of a specific storm: 1. How is the boundary of a cloud defined? 2. Does Vceil indicate clouds where MMCR boundaries appear? 3. Does the BBSS indicate cloud formation in the correct region? 4. How does could height, rainfall and location relate to storm formation? 5. Do vertical winds from RWP match storm severity? 6. Does the theoretical prediction for cloud formation match cloud location? Basic result: h = 125 (T-T d ) for ground based observer. Cloud Boundaries

Conditions for Storm formation: Making a Cloud

Extreme CAPE On Convective Available Potential Energy: CAPE Skew-T thermodynamic diagram from BBSS

Energy of the Vertical Moving Parcel Area between T of the parcel and the fiducial Adiabat given by Normand’s Theorem.

Lightning and storm formation.

Irradiance and the Energy Budget Solar Infrared Radiation Station: two probes: SW- short wavelength: 0.3-3microns LW-Long wavelength:4-50 microns Downwelling: red color- radiation received by the earth Upwelling: black color-radiation directed upwards from the earth’s surface 1. For your location, longitude, latitude and elevation, what are the seasonal or monthly variations in temperature? 2. Does upwelling or downwelling ever equal 0.0 W/m 2 ? 3. Is there a diurnal variation in the upwelling and downwelling? 4. Are the season maxima different? 5. Are the geographic maxima different? 6. In what way do storm and clouds impact upwelling and downwelling? 7. Do clouds form periodically at NSA, TWP or SGP as seen by Vceil?

Conservation of Energy- the atmospheric energy budget

Ideal Black Body radiation curves and visible spectrum wavelength

Radar Wind Profiler Vertical and Horizontal wind speed

Radiometer reading vary with storm activity.

System of Equations: Convert to an iterative map and look in phase space

Investigations can be tailored for students and may involve: 1.Local measurements with standard equipment or weather station, 2.ARM data and Quicklooks allow student investigations with data, 3.NOAA data and internet based weather maps lead towards GCM. Conclusion