Meteorology for Kids!

By: Haemin and Sam

What is Meteorology?

What do you think of when you hear Meteorology? Some people will say it has to do with the atmosphere. Others will say it has to do with weather. Both of these people are right! Scientists who study meteorology are called meteorologists. This book will teach you all you needed to know, and more, about how the atmosphere affects our weather!

All about the Atmosphere

Just like the Earth, the atmosphere is made up of layers. The four layers in the atmosphere are called the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere.

The Troposphere

● The troposphere is the layer of atmosphere that is closest to the ground.

● It has the highest air pressure. The air pressure is high here because of all the weight on top of the troposphere by other layers. (Yes! Air has mass!)

● The height or elevation of this layer range from 0 to 10 km.

The Stratosphere

● The layer that sits on top of the troposphere (2nd closest to the ground)

● Contains the Ozone Layer. This is a layer of gas formed by oxygen that protects us from harmful sunlight.

● The elevation of this layer ranges from 10 to 25 km.

The Mesosphere

● The mesosphere is the 3rd closest to the ground. (On top of the stratosphere)

● The elevation of this layer ranges from 25 to 100 km.

The Thermosphere

● This is the highest layer of the atmosphere. (The layer that "touches" space)

● We have the thermosphere to thank for not being hit by large chunks of space rock that enter our atmosphere, or meteorites. Most meteorites burn up in this layer.

● The Northern Lights occur here. ● The elevation of this layer ranges from 100

to 400 km.

The Sun gives us all our energy!

The Sun gives us own energy by traveling millions miles just to get to the atmosphere, then it has to travel another thousand miles to get to the crust and give us what energy we need to power our lives. The sun is a giant ball of fiery ball of gas in space. Our Sun is one of the billions of stars in the galaxy and one of infinite in the universe. The Sun is the most important thing in our lives, because it is what heats earth to let us live.

How does the Sun's energy

get to us?

Did you know that almost all energy on Earth comes from the Sun? The Sun's energy travels to us in electromagnetic waves. These waves are measured by the distance between each wave or wavelength. In the rainbow of colors we see, red has longer wavelengths than purple. (Warm colors and cool colors)The Sun's energy reaches us in 3 forms:● Visible light - What we see, the rainbow!● Infrared radiation - Wavelengths longer than red● Ultraviolet radiation - Wavelengths shorter than purple(We cannot see infrared or ultraviolet radiation)

Infrared radiation...Sounds dangerous!

Actually infrared radiation is not dangerous at all. Infrared radiation is what comes to earth and warms us, it gives us the warm temperatures, and is what we feel when we are hot. This type of radiation is not visible, it can only be felt. The wavelengths of this type of radiation is longer than red light. That is why it is called infrared radiation.

What is Ultraviolet Radiation?

Ultraviolet radiation is what you try to avoid when wearing sunglasses and sunscreen. The wavelengths are shorter than purple light.If you are exposed to too much ultraviolet radiation, it can cause sunburns, skin cancer, and eye damage. (Wear your sunscreen!)

Energy in the Atmosphere. It's there!

Some of the energy that comes to earth is absorbed in the atmosphere by many different ways. The first way is be water and Co2, these absorb infrared radiation. The second is the Ozone layer in the atmosphere, which absorbs most of the Ultraviolet Radiation. This radiation is becoming more dangerous because, there is a hole in the ozone layer. The third way is be clouds and dust. These absorb energy, some of the energy that is absorb is reflected back into space. This is called scattering.

Why is the sky blue?

Ever wonder why the sky is blue, even though space is darkness? We can thank tiny gas molecules for our beautiful blue sky. These molecules reflect light in all directions, but they scatter the shorter wavelengths of light. (Blue)Some energy is reflected back into space by the ground. Other energy is absorbed, and that absorbed energy heats the land and the water.

Energy at the Earth's Surface!

When Earth's surface is heated, it radiates or transfers some of the infrared radiation back into the atmosphere. The radiated heat from the the surface heats the water vapor in the air. (This is called the Greenhouse effect; it traps heat in the atmosphere)The rising amount of Carbon dioxide (CO2) is increasing the amount of trapped energy in the atmosphere, and heating the Earth.

How is Heat Transferred?

Well heat is transferred three different ways, Radiation, Convection, and Conduction. Radiation- This is the direct transfer of heat through electromagnetic waves, heat.Convection- This is the transfer of heat by movement of a liquid(Convection Currents) These molecules can move from place to place. Conduction- This is the transfer of heat through direct contact of molecules sithen a substance. (Molecules that gain energy con pass energy along to other particles)

Heat Transfer in the Troposphere

Radiation, conduction, and convection all work together to heat the troposphere. The land absorbs more solar energy than the air, so it becomes warmer. Air very close to the ground gets heated by radiation and conduction. Convection heats the rest of the troposphere. Hot air from ground rises and cool, heavier air from higher up sinks. The cool air gets heated and forms a cycle or current. (Similar to boiling water)

What is wind?

Wind is the sideways movement of high air pressure to an area of low pressure. This movement is what we feel when the high pressure air is moving past us to create an equilibrium.(a state of equality)There are many different types of wind currents and they are the Doldrums,Trade winds, Prevailing Winds, and the Polar Easterlies.

What causes wind?

The atmosphere is not heated equally all throughout. Air over a warmer surface will stretch out, and that lowers the pressure. Air that is high pressure nearby will move under the low pressure air. When wind moves, it has a wind speed. Fast moving wind can make it seem colder than it really is! A machine called an anemometer measures wind speed.

What is Convection?

You may have heard about convection currents when learning about the tectonic plates, but that's not the only place there is convection! The movement of wind (warm/low pressure rising and cool/high pressure moving under) causes a cycle. The warm air eventually cools and sinks, while the new warm air rises. This action of wind causes wind currents. Convection also happens in the ocean and causes ocean currents.

Wind currents, like the Ocean, but the air!

A wind current is a body of moving air that is moving faster than the air around it. It is caused by the unequal heating of the Earth's atmosphere.

Different Types of Wind

Local Winds - Caused when the air is heated differently in different places.Sea Breezes - These are caused during the day when the land gets hotter than the water. The air above the water moves toward the land.

Global Winds!

Doldrums - These are calm winds that happen at the center of the earth, or the equator.Trade Winds - These are also calm winds. There are little clouds and little rainfall. They are located 30 degrees North and South of the equator.Prevailing Winds - These are very strong winds. They are located 30-60 latitude North and South.Westerly Winds - Winds that come from the west and travel east. These are caused by the rotation of the Earth.Polar Easterlies - Very cold but weak winds that are near the North and South Poles.

These winds travel all around the word and effect the weather!

Do you know what Ocean currents are?

Ocean current is just a different way of saying that the ocean has different temperatures in the ocean which makes them move around in the ocean. Sort of like a conveyor belt, the cold water that comes from the poles move towards the center of the earth where it gets heated, then it comes up to the surface of the ocean and then moves back down or up to the poles to get cooled again, where the cycle repeats. These currents are everywhere!

Front basics!

A front is a boundary separating two separate types of air. There are 4 different types of fronts.

Cold front, Warm front!

A cold front is just a body of cold air moving towards something. Violent thunderstorms and heavy rain are brought by a cold front. This is represented by a curved line and spiked points.

A warm front is just a body of warm air moving towards something. Warm fronts "dumb down" the precipitation. If it is raining really hard, the warm front will bring light rain. In the winter, it creates snow.This is represented by a curved line and curved points.

More fronts!

An occluded front is when cold air surrounds warm air. The temperature near the ground becomes cooled, and the weather turns cloudy, rainy, or snowy. This is represented by a line with both spiked and curved points.

A stationary front is a boundary between two different types of air, but neither of them is strong enough to push out the other. They cause many days of clouds, fogs, and precipitation.

Hurricanes!

Hurricanes or cyclones are caused when a bunch of low pressure air starts swirling together into a ball. This swirling causes storms, clouds, and precipitation or rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls from the earth. The middle of a hurricane is calm with good weather. This area is called the eye of the storm.

Eye of the hurricane

Tornado! Take cover!

Tornados are fast spinning columns of air that form in thunderstorms.They form when two different air masses (hot and cold) meet and start spinning around each other because of the unstable atmosphere.

Weather maps! Will it rain today?

What Does the Weather

Map Show You?

The weather map shows you the weather predicted for today or for a monthly basis.

How Many Clouds Can You Name?

You already know that clouds are made up water vapor, but did you know there are different kinds of clouds? The 3 different clouds help let us predict what weather to expect!Cumulus - These are the clouds that look like cotton candy. There are fluffy, white, and have flat bottoms.Stratus - These are very wispy clouds that look like stretched cotton balls. They are clouds layered on top of each other and make fog.Cirrus - These are the bright white clouds in the sky that look like they have been stretched. They are made up of ice crystals.

What Falls From the Sky?

As an Earthling, you may have noticed that sometimes, water falls from the sky. When water returns to the ground from clouds it is called precipitation. There are 4 different types of precipitation.Rain - When water falls from the sky as water.Snow - When the water droplets in the clouds freeze and falls as ice crystals.Sleet - When snow and ice fall from the sky, but melts as it comes down.Hail - When ice falls from the sky.

What is the Dew Point?

Dew point is a fancy word to describe the temperature when rain begins to form from condensed (smushed together) water vapor. The dew point depends on the temperature and humidity or wetness of the air.

How to Read an Isotherm Map

An Isotherm map shows areas that have the same temperature. The areas are sectioned off with lines that connect the the temperatures that are the same. Isotherm maps are usually color coded.

What Are Isobars?

Just like how isotherms show the areas with the same temperature, isobars show areas with the same air pressure. They are also shown on maps with lines.

How do scientists get images?

Scientists get pictures of the earth with a satellite. A satellite is a man made object that orbits the earth. Scientists use pictures taken by the satellite to make maps of the earth, and see the weather.

How do scientists measure everything?

Scientists have a bunch of different instruments they use to measure the weather.

Thermometer - This measures the temperature of the air (how hot or cold it is)Barometer - This shows you the air pressure. The higher the pressure, the more sunny the weather.Anemometer - This measures how fast the wind is traveling.Weather Map - Meteorologists use this to forecast the weather and show conditions of the atmosphere over a large area.Weather Satellites - These are used to take pictures of the atmosphere. The huge pictures help scientists gather data about the weather.

Work T Chart

HaeminIntro

atmosphere and 4 layers

How does the sun's energy get to us (2nd sun slide)

UV radiation

Why is the sky blue? (Scattering)

Energy at the earth's surface

convection

heat transfer in the tropospherewhat causes wind

convection Tornados

wind currents Isotherm And Isobars

hurricanes How do scientists get images

more fronts Instruments used by scientists

Global Winds

Types of Clouds

Types of Precipitation

SamTitlesThe first Sun slideInfrared radiationenergy in the atmosphereHow is heat transferredOcean Currentsfront basicswarm and cool frontsWeather mapWhat does the weather map show you?