09 July 2012

Meteorological and Climatological Scales


Scales of distance and area in meteorology and climatology—One dictionary definition of scale is “A progressive classification, as of size or amount.”  In meteorology and climatology, the usual scale classification terms ranging from small to large are micro-, local-, meso-, and macro-scale.  On the very first page of his 1987 book, “Boundary Layer Climates,” T.R. Oke, lists the dimensions of these scales as:
          Micro-scale   10-2 to 103 m
          Local-scale    102 to 5 × 104 m
          Meso-scale    104 to 2 × 105 m
          Macro-scale  105 to 108 m

In our everyday thinking, the micro-scale might be as small as a leaf and as large as a city block, but typically the size of a suburban house lot.  Local-scale could range from three or four house lots to half of Baltimore, but more commonly, an area the size of downtown Baltimore where the tall buildings are.  Meso-scale encompasses an area at least the size of the whole Baltimore region up to an area that would extend from New York City to Washington, DC.  Macro-scale is similar to the area on a weather map of the whole Northeastern United States or larger.  In weather forecasting; macro-scale is often referred to as the synoptic scale. 

Along with the horizontal distance scales there are associated vertical scales.  For example, in considering micro-scale conditions of a leaf, the vertical scale would be a shallow layer of air over the leaf, its boundary layer, perhaps only a millimeter or two thick.  The boundary layer thickness is the depth of air that is significantly influenced by the surface.  If a leaf were very rough and hairy with large veins, the boundary layer would usually be deeper than the boundary layer of a very smooth leaf.  A city with tall buildings or scattered tall trees has a deeper boundary layer than a field with a short smooth crop.  During the day, the surface of the Earth is warmed by the sun and in turn warms the air just above it, which becomes buoyant and rises to increase the boundary layer depth.  At night surface cooling leads to a shrinking of the boundary layer, but in cities, the meso-scale boundary layer may remain warmer and deeper than rural boundary layers.

Meteorology is the study of processes in the atmosphere over short time periods.  At the meso- or macro-scale; meteorology is essentially the study of weather.  Weather is described by the state of the atmosphere, primarily in the lowest level of the atmosphere called the troposphere.  Variables that describe weather include air temperature, humidity, air movement (wind), clouds, and precipitation.  Measurement of fluxes at the surface of the Earth from tall towers, for example fluxes of water (evaporation), heat, and carbon dioxide are usually considered to be micro- or local-scale meteorological investigations. 

Climatology is the study of the averages, maximums and minimums of weather variables and the timing and spatial distribution of the variables.  The word “climatology” can be modified to indicate the size of the area being studied.  For example, microclimate is the study of climate in small spaces.  At the micro-scale, some researchers have studied the climate of rabbit warrens.  For a large city, the generally warmer temperatures than rural areas are a reflection of the meso-scale climate.

Contributed by BES Co-PI Gordon M. Heisler

4 comments:

  1. Testimony on how i got my LOAN from fundingloanplc@yahoo.com

    I'm Isabella Tyson from 1910 N Halsted St Unit 3, Chicago IL60614 USA,, i have been searching for a genuine loan company for the past few months and all i got was bunch of scams who made me to trust them and at the end of the day took my money without giving anything in return, all hope was lost i got confused and frustrated, i find it very difficult to feed my family and vowed never to have anything to do with loan companies on net and went to seek of assistance from a very good friend which i explained all my experience regarding online companies with and said he can help me that he knows of a Godsent and well known company called FUNDING CIRCLE PLC, he stated he just got a loan from them although i was still very unsure about this company due to my past experience but i decided to give it a try and did as i was directed by my friend and applied, i never believed but i tried and to my greatest surprise i received my loan in my bank account within 24 hours, i could not believe that i would stand on my feet financially again. I’m glad I took the risk and applied for the loan and today i'm thanking God that such loan companies still exist and promise to share the good news to people who are in need of financial assistance because the rate of scams on net is getting very serious and i don't want people to fall victim when we still have genuine and Godsent lenders.. You can contact this Godsent company using the information as stated and be a partaker of this great testimony.. Email: fundingloanplc@yahoo.com OR Call/Text +14067326622 thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. No matter how old you are, family history is important. While you might not think so at the time, as you get older there will be things you and your grandchildren will want to know. Most of us don't realise it until the older generations are gone and you can't replace first hand comments. Don't just put in about the good times, add in the harder times and how you overcame those trials. Another thing to remember is what caused the deaths of those you loved. There are many things that have been found to continue into future generations that knowing it runs in the family can be helped with now or possible in the future. prevention starts with knowing where to start. I wish someone had taken the time to write these things down for mew to be able to go back to. My Grandmother and my mother told us many stories of what things happened in their lives and about the people in their lives. I now wish someone had written those things down since both have passed now. But I never thought at that busy point in my life that I would one day want to remember all those things. So much family history is lost when the older generations are gone. Please pass it on to your family while you can. You can even just do it digitally so it can be accessed by family later on.Family pictures are something to cherish also. Just be sure to write down who is pictured in them, where they are taken and when. I have found family pictures that no one now even knows who is in them.

    AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
    or
    call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Everybody,
    My name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of $250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of $250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius, call/whats-App Contact Number +918929509036 via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Best Cryptocurrency Recovery Hacker I've ever known are Recovery Masters

    Lack of good information is very bad, i'll like to share my experience about crypto theft here and how I got my money recovered. One faithful evening I was going through the internet and I saw a lot of ads about this investment website. I tried to give them a try to gain financial freedom after giving me their contract agreement and all. Along the line they kept their promise until I made a huge deposit to get massive profit. I discovered the website crashed and their support team is not responding to their mails. I was devastated and came on this forum then I found reviews about (Recoverymasters@email.cz) I gave this fund recovery hackers a try because I never imagined crypto could be retrieved and they did get my lost funds back completely. I urge you to write to them for help on their email or WhatsApp +1(551) 202-23-35 them.

    ReplyDelete