Learn to understand how weather can be predicted

Climate Science II- Weather Prediction helps you learn about how to understand weather patterns, which will help you understand how to forecast weather and atmospheric conditions.

You will learn to understand long and medium term forcasting and weather patterns.

This course is ideal for professional development, for people who rely on having a greater understanding of weather patterns, including farmers, horticulturalists, or people who spend a lot of time outdoors for their hobbies or interests.

Lessons in this course:

Lesson 1: What to Measure
What is Weather Forecasting?
Weather Warnings
Weather forecasting
Impacts to people
Impacts for farming
Weather factors
Cloud cover
Minimum temperature
Maximum temperature
Dry bulb temperature
Wet bulb temperature
Wind speed
Wind direction
Precipitation
Absolute humidity
Relative humidity
Dew point
Mean sea level pressure
Station level pressure
Water vapour pressure
UV index

Lesson 2: Tools for forecasting
Equipment
Weather stations
Weather balloons and drones
Satellites
Recording, Storing and Processing Data
High Performance Computers
Numerical Weather Forecasting
What should be in a minimal weather station?

Lesson 3: Types of Forecasting
Persistence Forecasting
Climatological Forecasting
Use of a Barometer
Looking at the Sky
Nowcasting
Numerical Weather Prediction models
Statistical Forecasting
Analogue Forecasting
Ensemble Forecasting

Lesson 4: Weather Models
Introduction
Weather models data sets and global weather models
ECMWF
GFS
How Weather Models are Built
Grid size
Problems with the Grid
How do parameterisations work?
Model Uncertainty
Data Assimilation
Mesoscale/Regional models
The Human Element of Weather Modelling

Lesson 5: Predicting Temperature
Diurnal temperature variation
Forecasting maximum temperature
Forecasting minimum temperature
Effect of snow cover
Severity of frost
Forecasting grass minimum temperature
Minimum temperature on road surfaces
Heat Stress Determination
Urban Heat Island

Lesson 6: Predicting Rain
Introduction
Convection and Showers
Forecasting convective cloud
Forecasting showers
Forecasting cumulonimbus and thunderstorms
Layer clouds and precipitation
Layer cloud formation
Condensation trails
Orographic rainfall
Formation of stratocumulus
Precipitation associated with layered clouds
Snow

Lesson 7: Air Conditions
Introduction
Air Quality
Air Pollution and Its Effect on Climate
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Airborne Chemicals
Air Particles
Pollen and Allergies
Radon
Wind and Turbulence
Mechanical Turbulence
Thermal Turbulence
Frontal Turbulence
Wind shear
Humidity
Visibility

Lesson 8: Practical Applications
Introduction
Severe Weather Alerts
Aviation
Marine
Agriculture
Forestry
Utility Companies
Private Sector
Military
Medicine and Human Health
Waves and surges