Watching the weather

Introduction

Measuring and recording the weather is essential for many reasons: to accumulate an accurate record of the past; to provide a picture of what is happening now and a warning of extreme events; and to give the right starting point for predicting the future, in other words a weather forecast. It is also essential to later check those predictions and to improve them. Formal observations have long been recorded at weather stations around the globe and aircraft and satellites are of ever-increasing importance in monitoring the atmosphere. These observations are collated and distributed globally by the World Meteorological Organisation. This course describes how some of these measurements are made and what they can tell scientists about the atmosphere. Meteorology is an observational science and measurements are vital for understanding the weather.

This OpenLearn course provides a sample of level 1 study in Environment & Development [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]