Geography and Atmospheric Science Fundamentals

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  • In-Class Questions: The lowest 5 will be dropped.
  • HW #1: Due date extended.

The Science of Geography

  • Geographers use spatial analysis to examine how Earth's processes interact over space and time.
  • Etymology:
    • Geography comes from Greek words:
      • geo → “Earth”
      • graphein → "to write"
    • Geography involves writing about, or mapping, the Earth.

The First Law of Geography

  • "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."
    • Waldo Tobler

Areas of Geography

  • Geography studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, cultural activities, and the interdependence of these over space and time.
  • Divisions:
    • Physical and Life Sciences
      • Geomorphology
      • Hydrology
      • Biogeography
      • Landscape Ecology
      • Meteorology
      • Climatology
      • Glaciology
      • Oceanography
      • Soils
    • Socio-Ecological Sciences
      • Environmental Planning
      • Natural Hazards
      • Cartography
      • Land Use
      • Natural Resource Geography
      • Conservation Geography
    • Social and Cultural Sciences
      • Population Geography
      • Remote Sensing
      • Environmental Geography
      • Medical Geography
      • Cultural Geography
      • Economic Geography
      • Historical Geography
      • Geographic Information Systems
      • Political Geography
      • Urban Geography
      • Behavioral Geography
    • Synthesis of Physical and Human

The Scientific Method

  • A process by which scientists work together to develop an accurate (reliable, consistent, and objective) representation of the world.
  • Attempts to minimize bias or prejudice in testing an idea.
  • Ensures reproducible results that can be scrutinized by others.
  • General Process:
    1. Question
      • Formulate a question based on preliminary observations and knowledge.
      • Example: Can contrails affect surface temperature?
    2. Hypothesis
      • An educated guess regarding the answer to your question.
      • A hypothesis must be testable.
      • Example: Contrails suppress daytime temperatures by reflecting sunlight but lead to higher nighttime temperatures by absorbing radiation emitted upward by the surface.
    3. Prediction
      • Typically, a statement about what you expect to happen when you test your hypothesis (i.e., upon analyzing your data).
      • Your prediction should logically follow from your hypothesis.
      • Example: If the production of contrails ceases, the daily temperature range should increase.
    4. Experiment
      • The procedure you take to obtain the data that will be used to test your hypothesis.
      • Could be an active process (e.g., a model experiment) or a passive process (collecting data surrounding an event that is already occurring).
      • Example: Gather data on the daily temperature range before and after jets were grounded Sept. 11-14, 2001.
    5. Analysis
      • Examine your data to evaluate your prediction, thereby informing on your hypothesis.
      • Example: Over the United States, the average temperature range increased during the grounding period by an amount larger than any seen in the previous 30 years.
    6. Conclusion
      • Evaluation of your hypothesis.
      • Not final!
      • Results may cause you to revise and repeat your analysis or form new questions.
      • Your analysis may support your hypothesis, but there is always the possibility that new information will come to light that disproves it.
      • Example: Changes in daily temperature ranges are consistent with the hypothesis.

Units of Measurement: The International System (SI)

  • Comprised of a unit and a prefix.
  • Unit:
    • What are we measuring?
      • Length → meters [m]
      • Mass → grams [g]
      • Pressure → pascals [Pa]
      • Temperature → kelvin [K]
  • Prefix:
    • Order of magnitude of our measured quantity.
      • Kilo (10310^3) → Kilometer = 1000 m
      • Hecto (10210^2) → Hectopascal = 100 Pa
      • Deca (10110^1) → Decagram = 10 g
      • Deci (10−110^{-1}) → Decimeter = 0.1 m
      • Centi (10−210^{-2}) → Centimeter = 0.01 m
      • Milli (10−310^{-3}) → Millimeter = 0.001 m
  • A kilometer is three orders of magnitude larger than a meter.