Project 1.  Draw two atmospheric soundings and extract some useful information.

 

  1. Download the following sounding from the University of Wyoming site.  No other sounding is acceptable.

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html

Text list; 2005; Jan 18; 00Z (to Jan 18, 00Z)

  1. Print one sheet of graph paper and plot the following two soundings by hand.  You do not have to plot every single point – just enough to see the shape of the sounding, e.g., every second or third point.  Look at the “skew-T gif” at the Wyoming site to get an idea of where the changes occur.  Do not use a spreadsheet to plot the data.
    1. On the upper half of the graph paper, plot temperature from –80 C to +30 C (x-axis) vs. altitude from 0 to 35000 m (y-axis).
    2. On the lower half of the graph paper plot pressure from 0 to 1000 mb (x-axis) vs. altitude from 0 to 35000 m (y-axis).
  2. Answer the questions on the following Project Report.
  3. Staple together the Project Report and the graph and hand in your completed project during class on or before the due date (Wednesday, 2/9/05).  Only two pages are allowed.  Points will be subtracted for longer write-ups.

Project 1 Report.  Name/SID:___________________________

 

1.      Draw the best fit straight line through the temperature vs. altitude sounding over the following two ranges:

    1. From the surface to 9026 m (the troposphere)
    2. From 20530 m to 31000 m (the stratosphere)

2.      Calculate the slope of each straight line.  The general formula for the slope of a straight line is:

Slope = change in Y/change in X    =   [Y(2) – Y(1)]/[X(2) – X(1)]

For example, in the troposphere the calculation for this sounding would look approximately like:

Slope = (9000 m – 900 m)/((–50 C) – (25 C))

Slope = 8100 m/–75C

Slope = –108 m/C

Note that:

·        The slope in the troposphere is negative (the atmosphere cools as the altitude increases).

·        The dimensions of “meters per degree centigrade” make sense physically.

Answer the following (show your arithmetic where necessary):

I.      Slope in troposphere = __________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

 

II.      Slope in stratosphere = __________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

 

III.      The slope in stratosphere is positive because: _______________________________________________________________

 

IV.      The tropopause begins at approximately: ______________________meters

Inspect the pressure vs. altitude sounding and answer the following:

V.      The altitude at 500 mb is: __________________________________ meters

VI.      The pressure at Mt. Lemmon (2000 m) is: ____________________ millibars

VII.      The pressure at the beginning of the tropopause is: ___________ millibars