Lab_3_FA23-1 (1)
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
120
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
8
Uploaded by ProfessorFlowerLoris27
ATMS 120: Fall2023
Name and NetID: Abby Pritz
Lab #3: Satellite and Radar Analysis
Due Tuesday, September 19, 2023 @ 11:59PM
Part #1 Satellites and Weather Radar Matching – 1 point each
Answer the following questions by selecting from the list below:
1.
Infrared Satellite Imagery
2.
Visible Satellite Imagery
3.
Radar Reflectivity Imagery
4.
Radar Radial Velocity Imagery
1.
I am at Opening Day for the Chicago Cubs and weather reports from the morning hinted at the possibility
of rain during the game. What type of imagery would I monitor to know if the game could be delayed by
rain?
Radar Reflectivity Imagery
2.
It is 2AM local time in the Philippines and Super Typhoon Mangkhut is offshore by 300 miles and heading
toward my city. What type of imagery would I use to examine the size and extent of Super Typhoon
Mangkhut in this situation?
Radar Reflectivity Imagery
3.
It is the middle of the night and my phone wakes me up altering me of a tornado warning for my location.
What type of imagery would I examine to see if there was strong rotation within the storm approaching my
location?
Radar Radial Velocity Imagery
4.
It is a clear day at noon after a large winter storm blanketed the Midwest with snow. What type of imagery
would I look at to determine the how much of the ground is covered in snow? Visible Satellite Imagery
5.
What type of imagery would allow me to estimate rainfall rates associated with a hurricane?
Radar Reflectivity Imagery
Part #2 New Polar Orbing Satellite – 5 points
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
ATMS 120: Fall2023
You have been placed in charge of a team of scientists at NASA to launch a new polar orbiting satellite to track
aerosols released during wildfires. The new satellite will follow a sun-synchronous, polar orbit at an altitude of 705
km above Earth’s surface. It will complete one orbit around Earth every 101 minutes and provide spectacular high
resolution satellite imagery of Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Please solve for the orbital velocity (in mph) of your
satellite in its circular orbit around Earth. (Show all of your work.)
Things you need to know:
1.
Earth’s radius is 6,370 km
2.
The satellite is 705 km from Earth’s surface
3.
The orbit is circular and it takes 101 minutes to complete one orbit.
(2pi x radius)/time period
Radius=6370 km+705 km=7075 km=4396.201 miles
101 minutes=1.683 hours
(2pi x 4396.201)/1.683=16412.445 mph
The orbital velocity of the satellite in its circular orbit around Earth is 16412.445 mph.
Part #3 Two Satellite Images – 1 point each
Please use these two satellite images to answer the following questions.
1.
Please identify which image is a visible satellite image and which is an infrared satellite image. Briefly explain how you arrived at your answer.
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
ATMS 120: Fall2023
The image on the right is an infrared satellite image because it has varied colors, which represent different temperatures. The one on the left is the visible satellite image because it does not have colors and is more accurate as to the lightness/darkness of the globe.
2.
Why can we see clouds over the US on the image on right, but we can’t see them in the left image?
We can’t see clouds over the US on the image on the left because it is nighttime, and visible satellite imagery cannot see anything that we ourselves cannot see at night, like clouds. On the other hand, infrared satellite imagery can.
3.
What type of orbit was the satellite in that took these images? Geosynchronous
4.
What time of day was it in Illinois when these images were made (i.e., morning, midday, etc.)?
It was nighttime when these images were made.
5.
Do you think these images were taken during the Northern Hemisphere spring or fall?
I think these images were taken during the Northern Hemisphere spring.
Part #4 Cloud Top Temperature – 7 points
Thermal infrared (IR) satellites measure cloud top temperatures with a high degree of accuracy. On the morning of
February 7, 2018, a satellite measured a radiance of 3.648 W/m
2
/micrometer at the top of thunderstorm clouds over
west-central Georgia. Use this value and the equation below to solve for the temperature at the top of these
thunderstorm clouds. Then, use the sounding on the next page to find the height of the top of the clouds by finding
the altitude (on the y-axis of the sounding) that matches the temperature in °C you solved for using the equation
below. Convert the height from km to feet. How high above the ground were to tops of these thunderstorm clouds?
Show all your work.
(1.44x10^4)/10.5xln(((3.74x10^8 W/m^2/micrometer^4)/10.5^5 x 3.648 W/m^2/micrometer)+1)=
204.998 K
68.152 C
The tops of these thunderstorm clouds were ~250 km above the ground.
T
=
C
2
λ
*ln
[
C
1
λ
5
∗
E
+
1
]
E = radiance measured by the satellite = 3.648 W/m
2
/micrometer
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
ATMS 120: Fall2023
λ = infrared wavelength of the satellite channel = 10.5 micrometers
T
= temperature (K), this is what you are solving for.
c
1
= 3.74*10
8
W/m
2
/micrometer
4
c
2
= 1.44*10
4
micrometer K
Hint:
All of the units given for this problem are in SI units. Therefore, you do not need to convert the units before
you solve for the temperature. Your final answer will have a unit of Kelvin, so you need to convert this to °C to
complete the problem.
Part #5: Minnesota Storms – 1 point each
Examine the radar image below, which shows storms that passed near Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 11, 2022. Please answer the following questions.
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
ATMS 120: Fall2023
1.
Did the radar detect any hail in the image above? Please explain how you arrived at your answer.
The radar detected hail in the areas that are showing up red. I know this because areas of ice show up red
due to the cool temperature.
2.
The storms near Clearwater were producing 41 dBZ radar reflectivity echoes at the time this image was
created. If Clearwater continued to receive rainfall at this intensity for the next 30 minutes, how much rain
(in inches) would you expect to fall?
0.25 inches would be expected to fall if Clearwater continued to receive rainfall at the intensity of 41 dBZ
for 30 minutes.
3.
Outside of the storms, there are a lot of radar echoes that have a radar reflectivity value less than 20 dBZ.
Most of these weak radar echoes are non-meteorological (i.e., not precipitation) radar echoes. What do
meteorologists call these types of radar echoes? Meteorologists call the non-meteorological radar echoes ‘Ground Clutter’.
4.
What is the cone of silence AND next what city is it located in this radar image? The cone of silence is the black circle that shows up on a radar that illustrates the eerily calm center of a
hurricane. It is located next to Saint Bonifacius on this map.
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
ATMS 120: Fall2023
Part #6: Hurricane Ian on radar – 3 points
Below are two radar images. The top image is radar reflectivity and the bottom image is radial velocity. All
hurricanes rotate around their clear eyes in the center of the storm. In what direction was this hurricane rotating –
clockwise or counterclockwise? Explain how the radial velocity image can be used to prove your answer.
This hurricane was rotating counter-clockwise, as the blue on the radar radial velocity image shows the precipitation
being blown upwards/left towards the radar, while the red shows the precipitation being blown down/right away
from the radar.
Part #7 Radar Beam Path – 2 points
UIUC is about 62 miles from the nearest NEXRAD radar in Lincoln, IL. The image below shows the path the radar
beam takes through the atmosphere as a function of distance from the radar dish. The y-axis represents the height of
the radar beam (m) and the x-axis represents the ground distance from the radar (km). What is the altitude of the
radar beam as it scans over the top of Alma Mater on campus? Watch your units.
The altitude of the radar beam as it scans over the top of Alma Mater is ~800 m above ground.
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
NOAA Archives
Radar
Radar
Radar Radial Velocity Image
Radar Reflectivity Image
Hurricane Ian (2022) Eye of Ian
Eye of Ian
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
ATMS 120: Fall2023
Part #8: Virga – 2 points
Virga is precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates before it hits the ground. This happens when rain or
snow falls into a very dry layer of air near the ground. In the diagram below, there is a radar beam that is passing
through virga. If you were going to use the radar to estimate how much rain would fall at Point A, state and explain
whether the radar would overestimate or underestimate the rainfall total at Point A.
If you were going to use the radar to estimate how much rain would fall at Point A, it would probably overestimate the total rainfall at that point. The radar would sense the precipitation from high above and note that as the estimated
precipitation to fall down onto Point A, but a lot of that precipitation is Virga as stated, which indicates that the estimated rainfall will evaporate before it even reaches Point A.
Part #9: Supercells – 1 point each
Examine the radar image below and answer the following questions.
1.
Draw an arrow labeling the hook echo.
2.
Draw an arrow labeling the region of this storm that is producing hail.
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
ATMS 120: Fall2023
© 2023 Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign