METEOROLOGY

Engr. Muhammad Irfan Qureshi

UET LAHORE

Introduction
Meteorology is the science related to
atmosphere.
Its knowledge is required for estimation of
probable
maximum
precipitation
and
optimum snowmelt conditions.
This is required for design of various hydraulic
structures.
A hydrologist needs to have some knowledge
of regional climate & meteorological process.

Atmosphere
Atmosphere is the gaseous envelope around the
earth. It consists of dry air, water vapor and
various kinds of salts and dusts.
The total amount of dry air and water vapors
would be over 5,600 billion tons and about 146
billion tons, respectively.
If all the water vapors present in the atmosphere
are imagined to condense and fall uniformly over
the earth, it will accumulate to a depth of 25 mm.

Troposphere/Hydrosphere
It is the zone of atmosphere adjacent to earth.
It extends approximately up to seven miles
above sea level.
Almost 100 % of the total moisture contents
of the atmosphere are present in this zone
and
there is comparatively high temperature
gradient in this part of atmosphere.

Vapor Pressure
It is the pressure exerted by the amount of water
vapors present in the atmosphere.
It is usually denoted by e and expressed in millibars.
A Millibar is defined as the pressure exerted by a force
of one thousand dynes on one square cm surface.
1.33 millibar = 1 mm of Hg.
Since the temperature of water vapor is the same as
that of the air in the atmosphere, the maximum
amount of water vapor may be said to depend on the
air temperature.
The higher the temperature, the more vapor can
atmospheric air hold.

Saturation Vapor Pressure

When a sample of air holds the maximum
quantity of water vapors at a particular
temperature it is said to be saturated.
The pressure exerted by water vapors, when
the air is fully saturated with water vapors, is
known as the saturation vapor pressure.
It is denoted by es. The variation of es with
temperature is shown in next slide.

Fig 3.1:
Variation of Saturated Vapor Pressure with Temperature

Isobars
These are the lines joining
points of same
atmospheric pressure at a
given elevation.
The horizontal
distribution of pressure is
generally shown on
weather charts by
isobars.
The spacing between
isobars is a measure of
the pressure gradient.

Saturation Deficit
Suppose that a parcel of air
has a temperature T and
vapor pressure e indicated
by point D in the Fig. If
more vapor were added at
constant temperature T
point D would move
vertically upward towards
B and the air would be
saturated when B is
reached
and
the
corresponding
saturation
vapor pressure would be
es.
The difference, es - e is
called Saturation deficit.

Humidity and Relative Humidity

It is the presence of moisture in the air.
Humidity in the atmosphere can be assessed by
vapor pressure of air.

Relative humidity is the ratio between the vapor

pressure and the saturation vapor pressure of air at
a given temperature. It is usually expressed in
percentage.
=

Dew Point
When the air is cooled
at
a
constant
atmospheric pressure,
the temperature at
which air becomes
saturated is called Dew
Point i.e. the point D
will come to point C in
figure.

Discussion
The relative humidity is the ratio of actual vapor pressure at
certain temperature and the saturation vapor pressure.
Thus the relative humidity is 100 percent when the air is
saturated.
If the parcel of air is cooled at constant pressure e and
without addition of vapor, the point D would move
horizontally towards C.
The air would be saturated when C is reached and the
corresponding temperature Ta is the Dew point.
The dew point is thus the temperature at which water
vapor present in the atmosphere will condense if the air is
cooled.

Measurement of Relative Humidity

Dew Point
The instruments used for measurements of
relative humidity are:
1. Psychrometer
2. Hair hygrometer
3. Hygrograph
4. Thermo-hygrograph

Psychrometer
Working:

Psychrometer consists of two thermometers .

Dry bulb thermometer
Wet bulb thermometer.
The mercury bulb of wet bulb thermometer is covered by a jacket
of clean muslin(cotton) cloth saturated with water.
This is done by putting a beaker with distilled water underneath so
that the bulb is not submerged in water but only the cloth. Then
water rises due to capillary action.
The thermometers are ventilated by whirling or by use of a fan. As
a result of evaporation cooling takes place. Readings are taken on
both the thermometers simultaneously.

Psychrometer
The dry bulb reading is denoted as Td and wet bulb reading
as Tw.
The difference of these two temperatures is called the wet
bulb depression.
Using these readings, the relative humidity and dew point
can be found from the psychrometer tables.
Td - Tw = Wet bulb depression
The value of e for air temperature t may be obtained by
the relation:
( es e ) = ( T - Tw ) or
e = es ( T - Tw )
Where = psychrometer constant and its value is 0.660
when e is measured in millibar units and 0.485 when it is
measured in units of mm of Hg.

Example
Given the air temperature as Ta = 24o C and
the wet bulb temperature Tw = 21o C. Find
relative humidity and dew point.
Ans:
Relative Humidity=76%
Dew point= 20oC

Example
Given the air temperature as Ta = 22o C and
the wet bulb temperature Tw = 16o C. Find
relative humidity and dew point.
Ans:
Relative Humidity=53%
Dew point= 12oC

Relative humidity

Dew Point Temperature

SOLAR RADIATION
The only source of heat energy for earth system is the sun.
Whatever heat is received by earth or reflected is the solar
energy.
Depending upon the shape, rotation, angle of inclination of
earth, it is visualized that solar energy received by earth is
changing from time to time and point to point.
The solar radiation comes to the earth in the form of a high
temperature radiation. A part of this radiation may be
intercepted by the clouds but most of it is reflected back into
space.
The fraction of the total incoming radiation is called ALBEDO.

SOLAR RADIATION
Solar energy received by sun is the maximum at the equator and
decreases pole-wards. The variations in solar energy are the
following:
a. Diurnal (daily) Variation
b. Seasonal Variation
c. Regional Variation.
The units for radiation flux per unit area are either joules per
square centimeters or milliwatt hours per square centimeter.
In some countries calories per square centimeters is designated
as Langley and the corresponding unit of radiation flux is Langley
per minute.
The intensity of direct solar radiation at normal incidence is
measured with an instrument called a Pyrheliometer.

SOLAR RADIATION
The principal exposure requirements of this instrument are
that it should be free from obstructions to the solar beam
at all times of day and seasons of the year. The site should
be chosen so that the incidence of fog, smoke and airborne pollution is as less as possible in that area.
The Bi-metallic Actinograph is used for measurement of
global radiation from sun and sky on a horizontal surface.
In this instrument a mechanical linkage is used to record
the temperature difference between a black coated Bimetallic strip exposed to solar radiation and two similar
bimetallic strips painted white. Because of the large mass
of the bimetallic strips, the response time of the instrument
is large and the instrument is only suitable for the purpose
of obtaining estimates of daily totals.

Temperature
The degree of hotness or coldness is called the
temperature. Its units of measurement are
Degree Centigrade ( C ) or Degree Fahrenheit
( F ).
There are three types of Temperature
Variation.
1. Daily Variation of Temperature
2. Seasonal Variation of temperature
3. Regional Variation of Temperature

Daily Variation of Temperature

The daily variation of temperature is dependent on the
elevation of the sun, the cloud cover and the wind speed.
The variation of temperature is large in low latitudes and
small in high latitudes, with the result that the daily
variation decreases from equator towards poles.
The clouds reduce the radiations coming down during the
day and outgoing radiations during the night. On a cloudy
day, the maximum temperature is lower and the minimum
temperature higher than on normal bright days. On windy
days the temperature on ground surface is lower than on
calm days, because the greater mobility of air along the
vertical axis results in greater heat exchange with the upper
atmospheric layers.

Seasonal Variation of Temperature

The seasonal variation in rainfall and wind
also affect the temperature. During the rainy
season, the cloud cover is large with the result
that less radiation is received by the earth.
Annual migration of vast masses of air also
brings about horizontal heat exchange and
thus affects the annual range of temperature
variation.

Regional Variation of Temperature

Since the amount of net
radiation decreases
with increasing latitude,
the temperature tends
to be highest at the
equator and decreases
towards the poles.

Measurement of Temperature
The temperature is measured with the help of
thermometers. There are two types of thermometers .
Maximum thermometer (Mercury Type thermometer)
Minimum Thermometer (Alcoholic type
thermometer).
In order to measure the air temperature properly,
thermometers must be placed where air circulation is
relatively unobstructed and yet they must be protected
from the direct sunrays and from precipitation.

Measurement of Temperature
Therefore thermometers are placed in white,
louvered (ventilated), wooden boxes, called
instrument shelters. These shelters are set about
4.5 feet above the ground. The readings are
taken at 8.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m.
The thermograph, with either a bi-metallic strip
or a metallic tube filled with alcohol or mercury
for its thermometric element, makes an
autograph record for the past 24 hours, week or
one month on a ruled chart wrapped around a
clock driven cylinder.

Commonly used terms of temperature

Four commonly used terms of temperature
are:
Mean Daily Temperature
It is the average of maximum and minimum
temperatures during the past 24 hours.
Normal Daily Temperature
It is the average daily mean temperature for a
given day over the past 30-years period i. e. it
is the mean temperature for a specific day

Commonly used terms of temperature

Mean Monthly Temperature
It is the average of the mean monthly
maximum and minimum temperatures or it is
the mean temperature of the mean daily
temperatures during the month.
Mean Annual Temperature
It is the mean temperature of 12 months.

Lapse rate
The lapse rate or vertical temperature gradient is
defined as the change in temperature per unit
distance in the vertical direction from the Earth
surface. The average value of the lapse rate is 3.6o F
per 1,000 ft ( 304.8 m ). The greatest variation in lapse
rate is found in the layer of air just above the land
surface. The lapse rates are of three types depending
upon the type of water vapors.
1. Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
2. Wet (Saturated) Adiabatic Lapse Rate
3. Pseudo-Adiabatic Lapse Rate

Lapse rate
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
It is the rate of change of temperature when air is not fully
saturated with water vapors. The average value of this is
17.71oF per 1,000 m.
Wet (Saturated) Adiabatic Lapse Rate
When air is fully saturated, then rate of change of
temperature is called wet adiabatic, lapse rate. Its average
value is 9.84o F per 1,000 m.
Pseudo-Adiabatic Lapse Rate
After condensed particles have fallen down fully, as after a
rainfall, then the rate of change of temperature is called
pseudo-adiabatic lapse rate. Its average value is also 9.84o F
per 1,000 m.

WIND MEASUREMENT
Wind speed is measured with an instrument called
Anemometer. This instrument gives continuous record over
some graph called Anemograph..
Wind has both speed and direction. Wind direction is the
direction from which wind is blowing. Wind speed is usually
given in miles per hour, meters per second or knots.
1m/sec = 2.2 mph and 1 knot = 1.15078 mph
The graph between wind speed and elevation is shown .The
equation of the curve is,

V/Vo = ( / Zo )1/7
Where V is wind speed at height Z from ground and Vo is
wind speed measured by the anemometer at height Z0.

Example
The speed of air at a height of 15 meter above
ground was measured as 10 m/s. Find the
speed at 2 m level.
Ans: ?

Assignment
Prepare a report on Monsoon System in
Pakistan.
Working of Bi-metallic Actinograph for the
measurement of solar radiation.