Explore Climate Science

• Understand how weather can be predicted
• Knowing the likelihood of weather conditions can help you plan
• A valuable course for farmers, event organisers; anyone who needs to be working in the outdoors

Weather forecasting uses information and modelling about climactic conditions to predict atmospheric conditions including temperature, rainfall, wind, humidity, cloud cover and pressure. The prediction of these conditions is based on probability such as the probability that there will be rainfall on a given day. These probabilities are determined through complicated meteorological models that account for atmospheric conditions along with historical data and climactic patterns. 

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. What to Measure
2. Tools for forecasting
3. Types of Forecasting
4. Weather Models
5. Predicting Temperature
6. Predicting Rain
7. Air conditions
8. Practical Applications

Aims

• Determine where and when to measure factors affecting weather in order to predict weather conditions with relative and economically viable probability in any designated place.
• Describe the use of different tools and equipment used to measure and analyse weather conditions.
• Compare different types of forecasting to select the most appropriate type for situations encountered.
• Explain how weather models are constructed and what they mean.
• Explain how temperature ranges might be predicted.
• Describe how rainfall is predicted in the short, medium, and long term.
• Predict air conditions including humidity, turbulence, visibility, pollutants,
• Apply an understanding of weather forecasting in practical ways to different industries.

This course is focussed on Weather.

Our Climate Science I course is focussed on climate. In that way the two are different. Weather is not the same as climate.

• Weather is an event - defined by a particular period of time (usually weeks)
• Climate refers to the patterns in environmental conditions that manifest across much longer periods of time.

Both are concerned with many of the same factors (ie. temperature, rainfall, air pressure, humidity, wind etc) but they differ in the time frames they are concerned about. Weather prediction is an application of science that impacts the lives of many people. Weather forecasting is simply an attempt to predict the atmospheric conditions at some point of time in the future. How we do this is fascinating. By learning how to use modelling, it is possible to predict near-term and even long-range weather patterns. Knowing weather patterns is a very practical tool to be applied when planning for events and work.

Weather prediction has a very real practical application across most, if not all human endeavour, and that makes this course a valuable area of study for many disciplines.