Homework Questions for Chapter 10 - Global Circulation

Consult Syllabus for Due Date

SHOW ALL WORK , CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER, PLEASE BE NEAT AND STAPLE YOUR HOMEWORK!

ALSO, PLEASE USE A SPREADSHEET FOR ALL GRAPHS

Follow the Problem solving steps discussed in class

1. In meteorology, we use the concept of finite differences a lot to examine how a meteorological variable is changing over some distance.  Check out this diagram for an illustration of how to compute finite differences.

If the air temperature at Hanover, NH is 25 degrees Celsius while 125 km to the north, it is 10 degrees Celsius cooler here at LSC,

a.  draw an accurate picture of this meteorological situation

b.  What is DT?  What is Dy?  What is DT/Dy?

c.  Given that a surface temperature gradient (change) creates the polar jet, what would the direction of the resultant polar jet stream winds created by the above surface temperature gradient?

d.  If DU/Dz is 0.005 s^-1, then what is U at 7 km above the ground?  Assume that the wind speed at the ground is 10 ms^-1.  Note that U is the west-east component of the wind.

2. Assuming that angular momentum is conserved for parcels of air swirling into a tornado, if a parcel of air starts out at 2 km from the circulation center and has a tangential velocity of 10 ms^-1, what is the resultant tangential velocity if the parcel is located 100 m from the tornado center?

EXTRA CREDIT:  Create a vertical cross section of wind speed and temperature across the polar front with model data that we receive in the met lab.  On your cross section indicate the location of the polar front and the upper-level jet stream.  Discuss the relationship between the polar front and the upper-level jet stream.