Survey of Oceanography
Homework Set 3
Due 16 February 2004
Late homework will cost 15 points per week or part of a week it is late.
- Based on your readings, please state your opinion of what we as Texans
and citizens of the world ought to do about global warming. Please support
your opinion with one or two paragraphs summarizing the evidence you
used.
- Why does the Pacific have such a large influence on global weather
patterns? In writing the answer, you may wish to include:
- What processes in the water cause the Pacific to influence the atmosphere.
- A description of global weather patterns and how the Pacific influences them.
- Heat Budgets in the tropical Pacific (Use data in figures from Geographic
Distribution of Terms in the Heat Budget in Chapter 5 of the on-line
Physical Oceanography Book.
- What are typical values for incoming solar heat (insolation) in the tropical Pacific, in watts per square meter near 140° W?
- How much heat is lost back through the sea surface in the region where insolation is greatest, near 140° W longitude on the equator?
- Knowing how much is lost to the atmosphere, how much is available to be carried by ocean currents to other parts of the ocean?
- Our Texas rainfall in winter often depends on conditions in the eastern
tropical Pacific. This week, 10-13 February, we had persistent rains
throughout east and south Texas. Why? Go to the Goes
West archive and download the water vapor images from Goes West
for Goes West West CONUS (CONtinental United States) for around 1200
UTC (Universal Coordinated Time: The time at the prime meridian,
London
England) on 11 February 2004.
- What features do you see?
- Are they correlated with sea surface temperature (there is a link on the page to a temperature map, or use the links in the online text)?
- Where?
- What are the main sources of data for environmental conditions in the tropical Pacific, including the ocean and the atmosphere.
Revised on: 5 September, 2004
