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LT 7
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html
El Niños and La Niñas typically last 9 to 12 months, but also can last a couple of years.

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Hurricanes form over tropical oceans so the heat can build up pressure. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/hurricanes.html

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In order to predict the weather, meteorologists gather information about weather conditions everywhere.

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Knowing what weather is on the way is important to many people. For example, farmers plan their planting schedule based on the upcoming weather. They might not want to plant seeds right before a heavy rainstorm or a night with temperatures below freezing. Forecasts are also important for human safety. When people know that a hurricane or tornado is in the forecast they can take appropriate measures to ensure their safety. People also plan their leisure time based on the weather forecast.

In order to predict the weather, meteorologists constantly gather information about weather conditions everywhere on Earth. This information is collected using specialized equipment. A barometer measures atmospheric pressure, a thermometer measures the temperature, and an anemometer measures wind speed and direction. Weather radar detects precipitation in the clouds, and the Doppler radar takes measurements of winds in clouds in order to predict severe storms and tornadoes. All of these measurements help scientists make an accurate weather forecast.

Weather stations often contain the different weather instruments listed above to collect data. In addition, scientists launch weather balloons to collect data from the atmosphere. Research aircraft also carry instruments to collect data about weather and climate.

Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!

The Fall 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the Earth's ancient atmosphere, is available in our online store.

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Knowing what weather is on the way is important to many people. For example, farmers plan their planting schedule based on the upcoming weather. They might not want to plant seeds right before a heavy rainstorm or a night with temperatures below freezing. Forecasts are also important for human safety.

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The sun is all colurs mixed together,this appears white in our eyes. link -https://space-facts.com/the-sun/

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The suns main source of energy related to our survival is the thermal energy. It is what created life.

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Every morning the sun rises, bringing light and heat to the earth, and every evening it sets. It seems so commonplace that we rarely spare a thought for that bright object in the sky. Yet without it, we wouldn't exist!

Deep in the core of our local star, hydrogen atoms react by nuclear fusion, producing a massive amount of energy that streams in all directions at the speed of light (that's the mind-boggling speed of more than 186,000 miles per second). In just eight minutes, that energy travels 93 million miles to earth.

We use many different forms of energy here on earth, but here's the thing: almost all of them originate with the sun, not just light and heat (thermal) energy! The law of conservation of energy says that energy can't be created or destroyed, but can change its form. And that's what happens with energy from the sun-it changes into lots of different forms:

Plants convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy (food) by the process of photosynthesis. Animals eat plants and use that same chemical energy for all their activities.

Heat energy from the sun causes changing weather patterns that produce wind. Wind turbines then convert wind power into electrical energy.

Hydroelectricity is electrical energy produced from moving water, and water flows because heat energy from the sun causes evaporation that keeps water moving through the water cycle.

Right now, much human activity uses energy from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These energy sources are created over very long periods of time from decayed and fossilized living matter (animals and plants), and the energy in that living matter originally came from the sun through photosynthesis.

The sun sends more energy to the earth in one hour than the whole planet needs in a year. Imagine if we could capture that energy directly and convert it to a form that could power our cities, homes, and cars! Many scientists around the world are researching how we can improve our use of the sun's energy. One way is to use solar thermal panels to collect thermal energy to heat air and water. Another way is to use photovoltaic (PV) cells, also called solar cells, to convert sunlight directly into electricity ('photovoltaic' essentially means 'light electricity').

PV cells use a material such as silicon to absorb energy from sunlight. The sunlight energy causes some electrons to break free from the silicon atoms in the cell. Because of how the solar cell is made, these free electrons move to one side of the cell, creating a negative charge and leaving a positive charge on the other side. When the cell is hooked up in a circuit with wires, the electrons will flow through the wires from the negative side to the positive side, just like a battery - this electron flow is electricity, and it will power a load (light bulb, motor, etc.) you connect to its path.

PV cells today are still only able to capture a small fraction of the sun's energy, so acres of them are necessary to collect enough light to create electricity on a large scale. A lot more scientific work needs to be done to make them more efficient and take up less space. Despite the challenges, solar panels are used to power many things such as emergency signs, school crossing lights, and more. Many people are also able to power their homes by mounting solar panels on the roof, and this will only get easier as the technology continues to advance.

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Every morning the sun rises, bringing light and heat to the earth, and every evening it sets. It seems so commonplace that we rarely spare a thought for that bright object in the sky. Yet without it, we wouldn't exist!

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Coastal regions have a smaller range of temperature than continental interiors. Why?

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Answer (1 of 15): * Water has a higher heat capacity than soil and rock, so the ocean takes much longer to heat and to cool than the land. * Coastal areas will generally have more moderate temperatures than inland areas because of the heat capacity of the ocean.

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Eastern Pacific temperatures that are cooler than usual, are referred to La Niña, which translates to "The little girl".

https://phys.org/news/2017-11-la-nia-affect-winter.html

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LT: 10 The transmissometers are used on airports and or stations. http://www.nwclimate.org/guides/meteorological-instrumentation/

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The ocean and coastal systems provide millions of jobs in the United states. 76 million gallons of oil are dumped into the ocean every year.

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Organisms and Environments - Humans and Ocean Systems | Texas Gateway

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LT: 6
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/
" Storms that form north of the equator spin counterclockwise. Storms south of the equator spin clockwise. This difference is because of Earth's rotation on its axis. "

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The sun sends more energy to the earth in one hour than the whole planet needs in a year.

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Hurricanes form over warm water because it has the strongest amount of energy for the hurricane to gain strength.
https://socratic.org/questions/why-do-hurricanes-form-over-warm-water

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Hurricanes typically form over warm waters because they start out as tropical disturbances in the Atlantic ocean

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Whenever hurricane season arrives in the Atlantic Ocean - typically between June and November - a bunch of meteorological terms get hurled around. Tropical storm. Tropical depression. Category 3 hurricanes. Category 4 hurricanes.

So what's the difference between all these types of weather events? One way to understand this is to walk through the different stages of a hurricane, step by step. We'll use Hurricane Irma, which started out as a wave off the African coast and went on to pound several Caribbean before it hit Florida as a Category 4 storm, as an example:

1) Tropical disturbance: A hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean typically begins life as a lowly "tropical disturbance" - defined as organized thunderstorm activity that stretches at least 100 miles across and maintains its identity for more than 24 hours.

During the summer, these disturbances often start as storms moving westward off the coast of Africa in what are known as "tropical waves."

If meteorologists think a tropical disturbance may develop further, they'll designate it as an "investigative area,"or invest.Irma became a disturbance off the Cape Verde Islands in lateAugust, with forecasters keeping close watch as it headed west.

2) Tropical depression or cyclone: Under the right conditions, a tropical disturbance can develop further and start to spin around a low-pressure center. Once that happens, it's classified as a "tropical cyclone" or "tropical depression":

For a tropical depression to form, conditions have to be just right: The water has to be warm enough to fuel the system, with temperatures of 80°F or hotter. There needs to be enough moisture in the lower and middle part of the atmosphere. Local winds also have to be arranged so that they allow the depression to spin - too much wind shear can tear an aspiring tropical cyclone apart.

3) Tropical storm: This is the next stage. When the pressure in the center of the tropical depression drops, air rushes in, creating strong winds. If the system strengthens and wind speeds rise past 39 mph, the system is dubbed a "tropical storm" and is given a name. That's what happened to Irma on August 30, as it picked up speed in the far Eastern Atlantic and intensified.

The US National Hurricane Center makes the call for when a tropical depression officially becomes a tropical storm. It relies on data from islands and buoys as well as from reconnaissance aircrafts that fly into the storms to measure wind speed.

4) Hurricane: Tropical storms can intensify quickly if they pass over a region of especially warm water and don't face much wind shear. As that happens, the pressure in the center drops even further and the winds really pick up. The system gets rounder and often forms a clearly defined "eye." Here's Irma on Wednesday:

When the winds reach sustained speeds of 74 mph or more, the storm system is classified as a hurricane. Hurricanes are categorized according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale based on their wind speed and propensity for damage.

Irma wasa Category 5 as of September 5 with wind speeds of 185 miles per hour. That's serious - major hurricanes can do structural damage to buildings, take down trees, and cause widespread flooding.

Side note: The fact that you need especially warm water here explains why hurricanes only form in the Atlantic during the late summer months. (It also helps explain why global warming may lead to stronger hurricanes, although this gets complicated, since climate change can also affect wind shear that suppresses hurricanes.)

5) Back down to tropical storm: Hurricanes can also weaken, however, as they move over land (or cooler water) and no longer have warm, moist air to fuel them. Once wind speeds drop below 75 miles per hour, the hurricane gets downgraded to a tropical storm - and, later on, a "post-tropical cyclone" as it degrades further.

For example, Hurricane Hermine in 2016 was downgraded to a tropical storm not long after it made landfall in Florida in September. But then Hermine moved back over the Atlantic Ocean and hit record-warm ocean temperatures there, gathering to hurricane strength again.

It's worth emphasizing that even tropical cyclones that aren't hurricanes can still do a great deal of damage by bringing torrential rain, dangerous surf, beach erosion, high winds, and flooding. In 2012, "superstorm" Sandy was technically no longer a hurricane when it hit the East Coast, but it still proved devastating to the New York and New Jersey coasts.

Read more: Hurricane Irma is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever: what we know

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How do hurricanes form? A step-by-step guide.

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Whenever hurricane season arrives in the Atlantic Ocean - typically between June and November - a bunch of meteorological terms get hurled around. Tropical storm. Tropical depression. Category 3 hurricanes. Category 4 hurricanes. So what's the difference between all these types of weather events?

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https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/
Hurricanes forming LT#6
Interesting fact: Hurricanes are the most violent storm on earth.

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http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-instruments.htm Compasses can be used for weather purposes

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The scientific term for all these storms is tropical cyclone.

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How Do Hurricanes Form? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

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https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/fuelforthestorm/
Hurricanes need three things to form.
Hurricanes start from storms.

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Solar Energy

Basics of Solar Energy

The Sun Always there; lots of Energy

How many photons (energy) reach the surface of the Earth on Average?

The energy balance in the atmosphere is shown here:

The main components in this diagram are the following:

Short wavelength (optical wavelengths) radiation from the Sun reaches the top of the atmosphere.

Clouds reflect 17% back into space. If the earth gets more cloudy, as some climate models predict, more radiation will be reflected back and less will reach the surface

8% is scattered backwards by air molecules:

6% is actually directly reflected off the surface back into space

So the total reflectivity of the earth is 31%. This is technically known as an Albedo . Note that during Ice Ages, the Albedo of the earth increases as more of its surface is reflective. This, of course, exacerbates the problem.

What Happens to the 69% of the incoming radiation that doesn't get reflected back:

19% gets absorbed directly by dust, ozone and water vapor in the upper atmosphere. This region is called the stratosphere and its heated by this absorbed radiation. Loss of stratospheric ozone is causing the stratosphere to cool with time this has caused some of use stratospheric cooling as an argument against the occurence of global warming. The two are not connected at all.

4% gets absorbed by clouds located in the troposphere. This is the lower part of the earth's atmosphere where weather happens. This part of the equilibrium cycle is being changed as the troposphere, particularly at tropical latitudes, is getting cloudier.

The remaining 47% of the sunlight that is incident on top of the earth's atmosphere reaches the surface. This is not a real significant energy loss Therefore it makes absolutely no sense to put solar panels in orbit and then "beam" the energy back to the surface.

How much energy from the sun reaches the surface of the Earth on Average?

Note that we measure energy in units of Watt-hours. A watt is not a unit of energy, it is a measure of power.

ENERGY = POWER x TIME

1 Kilowatt Hour = 1KWH = 1000 watts used in one hour = 10 100 watt light bulbs left on for an hour

Incident Solar Energy on the ground:

8 hours x 600 watts per sq. m = 4800 watt-hours per sq. m which equals 4.8 kilowatt hours per sq. m

This is equivalent to 0.13 gallons of gasoline

For 1000 square feet of horizontal area (typical roof area) this is equivalent to 12 gallons of gas or about 450 KWH

But to go from energy received to energy generated requires conversion of solar energy into other forms (heat, electricity) at some reduced level of efficiency.

We will talk more about PV cells in detail later. For now the only point to retain is that they are quite low in efficieny!

Collection of Solar Energy

Amount of captured solar energy depends critically on orientation of collector with respect to the angle of the Sun.

Under optimum conditions, one can achieve fluxes as high as 2000 Watts per sq. meter

In the Winter, for a location at 40 degrees latitude, the sun is lower in the sky and the average flux received is about 300 Watts per sq. meter

A typical household Winter energy use is around 2000-3000 KWHs per month or roughly 70-100 KWH per day.
Assume our roof top area is 100 square meters (about 1100 square feet).

In the winter on a sunny day at this latitude (40 o) the roof will receive about 6 hours of illumination.

So energy generated over this 6 hour period is:

300 watts per square meter x 100 square meters x 6 hours

= 180 KWH (per day) more than you need.

But remember the efficiency problem:

5% efficiency 9 KWH per day

10% efficiency 18 KWH per day

20% efficiency 36 KWH per day

At best, this represents 1/3 of the typical daily Winter energy usage and it assumes the sun shines on the rooftop for 6 hours that day.

With sensible energy conservation and insulation and south facing windows, its possible to lower your daily use of energy by about a factor of 2. In this case, if solar shingles become 20% efficient, then they can provide 50-75 % of your energy needs

Another example calculation for Solar Energy which shows that relative inefficiency can be compensated for with collecting area.

A site in Eastern Oregon receives 600 watts per square meter of solar radiation in July. Asuume that the solar panels are 10% efficient and that the are illuminated for 8 hours.

How many square meters would be required to generate 5000 KWH of electricity?

each square meter gives you 600 x.1 = 60 watts

in 8 hours you would gt 8x60 = 480 watt-hours or about .5 KWH per square meter

you want 5000 KWH

you therefore need 5000/.5 = 10,000 square meters of collecting area

Solar Energy: Collection, Energy Generation and Heat Transfer

How Solar Energy is Used:

Two Choices:
Heat Water into Steam

Turn photons into electrons

Solar Thermal Power:

Focus sunlight on a bucket of water

This requires about 2000 heliostats
Maintenance, initial costs make energy
expensive (25-50 cents per KWH).

Direct conversion into electricity Photovoltaics; conversion of solar photons into electrons that flow down a semi-conductor. Main problem is low efficiency (about 10%).

Photons into Electrons: PhotoVoltaic Devices

Charge Generation Photoelectric Effect

When photons strike a metal, their energy is used to liberate loosely bound electrons and therefore induce a current.

Efficiency of this process depends upon the material

This is the principle behind Digital Cameras (all college graduates should know how a digital camera works -- its a literacy test).
To make use of the photoelectric effect, we need material that is a good conductor of electricity and which can be manufactured in bulk at reasonable cost. This conditions strongly constrain the available choices. For most practical aspects, Silicon is the material of choice.

Silicon:

is abundant on the earth and readily found in the crust. It is a direct product of fusion inside stars. It can be easily recovered from the crust and mass-produced. Computers are cheap because silicon works well for circuit boards and is an easily recoverable material from the earth's crust. The result is a world-wide economy centered around semi-conductor technology.

Has four outer (valence) electrons to bond silicon atoms together in a crystal

Under normal circumstances, there are no free electrons available in silicon to conduct electricity. All the electrons are used to bind the atoms in place to form the crystal.

The conduction band is empty and therefore no current can be carried by the material.

Schematic structure of energy bands in Silicon:

Hence, if a silicon atom receives at least 1.11 Electron Volts from some source, a valence electron will move to the conduction band. Once an electron is in the conduction band, the material can carry a current and the material is now a conductor.
So much energy is 1.11 Electron Volts?

1.11 eV corresponds to the energy that a photon of wavelength 1.12 microns has.

77% of the energy from the sun is carried in photons with wavelength less than this and therefore can move a valence electron in silicon into the conducting band.

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Solar Energy The Sun Always there; lots of Energy How many photons (energy) reach the surface of the Earth on Average? The energy balance in the atmosphere is shown here: Short wavelength (optical wavelengths) radiation from the Sun reaches the top of the atmosphere. Clouds reflect 17% back into space.

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Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel.

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Solar energy and gravitational energy are the fundamental sources of energy for the Earth's climate system

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 The sun sends more energy to the earth in one hour than the whole planet needs in a year. 

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Billions of dollars are made from just fishing alone.

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On this hurricane simulator I found I saw how the heat affects the hurricane and so does wind pressure and also the seasons can affect a hurricane

Below you can see the website I used.

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"Hurricane Simulation" WebApp Courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). Copyright 2013 by Tom Whittaker at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Explore the relationship between sea surface temperatures (SST) and hurricane strength.

How to build a hurricane:

Drag the hurricane around to see the effect surface temperature has on the hurricane.

Drag the grey high pressure area around to see how pressure and winds influence hurricane paths.

Click the season name to rotate through seasons. Ocean temperatures change with each season.

Click Reset to start over.

How big did your hurricane get? To find out how these tropical storms get started, click here to learn more about hurricanes.

What exactly do the numbers on the hurricane mean?

The hurricane in this simulation will either have an L on it, or be labelled with numbers 1 through 5. "L" stands for low pressure, and the numbers are the category of the hurricane:

What paths do hurricanes take?

Every storm is different, which makes predicting their behavior so very challenging. But take a look at some historical storms and the path they took as they grew and made landfall.

Click the pictures below to see more detail about these hurricanes, including their name, what year they happened, and how intense they were.

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Explore the relationship between sea surface temperatures and hurricane strength.

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Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator.

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section 17.1 notes weather changes as air masses move.

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Section 17.1 Notes Weather changes as air masses move. - ppt download

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The Four Types of Air Masses Continental air masses form over land. Air becomes dry as it loses moisture. Continental air masses form over land. Air becomes dry as it loses moisture. Maritime air masses form over water. Air becomes moist as it gains water vapor. Maritime air masses form over water.

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By NASA // September 10, 2017
(NASA) - Hurricanes are the most violent storms on Earth. People call these storms by other names, such as typhoons or cyclones, depending on where they occur.
The scientific term for ALL of these storms is tropical cyclone. Only tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern and central Pacific Ocean are called "hurricanes."

Whatever they are called, tropical cyclones all form the same way.

Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator. This warm, moist air rises and condenses to form clouds and storms.

As this warmer, moister air rises, there's less air left near the Earth's surface. Essentially, as this warm air rises, this causes an area of lower air pressure below.

This starts the 'engine' of the storm. To fill in the low pressure area, air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure pushes in.

That "new" air near the Earth's surface also gets heated by the warm ocean water so it also gets warmer and moister and then it rises.

As the warm air continues to rise, the surrounding air swirls in to take its place. The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, fed by the ocean's heat and water evaporating from the surface.

As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the center. It is vey calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure.

Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land, because they are no longer being "fed" by the energy from the warm ocean waters. However, when they move inland, they can drop many inches of rain causing flooding as well as wind damage before they die out completely.

There are five types, or categories, of hurricanes. The scale of categories is called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and they are based on wind speed.
How Does NASA Study Hurricanes?
Our satellites gather information from space that are made into pictures.

Some satellite instruments measure cloud and ocean temperatures.

Others measure the height of clouds and how fast rain is falling. Still others measure the speed and direction of winds.

We also fly airplanes into and above hurricanes. The instruments aboard planes gather details about the storm. Some parts are too dangerous for people to fly into. To study these parts, we use airplanes that operate without people.

To learn more about how we study hurricanes, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/main/index.html

We're using our unique vantage point in space to provide observations and data of Hurricane Irma and other tropical storms. Hurricanes Irma and Jose are seen here in a 12-hour long infrared loop.

Scientists monitor storms in infrared to closely monitor clouds and storm intensity. We continue to provide satellite imagery for these storms, tracking its trajectory, force and precipitation to inform forecasters at the National Hurricane Center.
As these storms continue their westward drive in the coming days, they will be passing over waters that are warmer than 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit)-hot enough to sustain a category 5 storm. Warm oceans, along with low wind shear, are two key ingredients that fuel and sustain hurricanes.

Get the latest imagery and data from us at www.nasa.gov/hurricane
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS Click here to contribute your news or announcements Free

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How Do Hurricanes Form? NASA Answers The Question and More

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By NASA // September 10, 2017 (NASA) - Hurricanes are the most violent storms on Earth. People call these storms by other names, such as typhoons or cyclones, depending on where they occur. The scientific term for ALL of these storms is tropical cyclone.

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Hurricanes - A tropical low pressure with winds blowing at speeds of 120 km per hour. Also tropical cyclones use warm water  as fuel just like engines uses its own fuel.

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Hurricanes form in moist warm water such as the Atlantic and eastern pacific oceans. This happens because  the moisture from the waters evaporates and rises until a large amount of heated moist air are twisted high in our atmosphere -Lina