Wind & Weather Information
Study, collection and prediction of wind and weather information falls under the purview of the interdisciplinary scientific field called meteorology. By observing data pertaining to macro variables of the Earth's atmosphere (specifically, the troposphere)--such as temperature, atmospheric pressure and water vapor--and analyzing their gradients, interplay and time variance, this science has tremendously evolved in the last few decades.
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Historical Context
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Mankind has tried to predict weather for a long time, with the first recorded attempt by Aristotle (considered to be the father of meteorology) in 350 B.C. Later, Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist, also wrote a book that described how weather could be predicted by observing atmospheric signs. Research on predicting cyclones and air flow further evolved from the 15th century onward--subsequent to Columbus' journey to America--with more detailed studies to follow in subsequent years on related topics such as the effect of Earth's rotation, solar and lunar eclipses and the role of fluid dynamics in predicting air behavior. In recent years, elaborate numerical and computationally intensive models have been developed to predict and analyze wind and weather information.
Instruments
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Weather information is collected at weather stations and observatories specifically constructed for this purpose, through various equipment that aids in the observation, measurement and recording of specific data pertaining to various meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, humidity, temperature, pressure, cloud cover and rain. Apparatus such as thermometer (temperature measurement), barometer (atmospheric pressure measurement), anemometer (wind speed measurement), hygrometer (humidity measurement) and rain gauge (rainfall measurement) are a few standard weather station instruments.
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Upper Atmosphere Weather Information
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Weather equipment measures weather parameters at the ground level, but weather information in the upper atmosphere is also critical for developing correct predictive models. This is achieved by launching radiosondes, which are weather measuring instrumentation packs. They are launched in the upper atmosphere with the help of weather balloons and transmit meteorological data to a fixed receiver on the ground. This is further aided by a network of aircraft flying in the atmosphere and radars on the ground. More recently, geo-stationary satellites are also positioned at various altitudes in the atmosphere for this purpose.
Weather Data Collection
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Given the large amount of data collected and analyzed on a continuous basis, and the complex numerical models used in predicting wind and weather, dependence of meteorology on computationally intensive systems has also significantly increased.
Unpredictability and Inaccuracy
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Despite scientific advances in fluid dynamics, numerical computation, instrumentation and space technology (all of which are important in studying wind and weather), it still remains an approximate science given the highly complex nature of the field and the number of parameters influencing the weather as well as their interplay. A new class of study, called chaos theory, is also now used to develop weather predictive models. It tries to analyze the various possible end states of the weather based on marginally different current states and develop the probability of which end state is the most likely scenario.
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