Climatology

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Atmospheric sciences [cat.]
Meteorology [cat.] weather [cat.] tropical cyclones [cat.]
Climatology [cat.] climate [cat.] climate change [cat.]
Portal Atmospheric Sciences Portal Weather

Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time,^[1] and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences.

Contents 1 Differences with meteorology 2 History of climatology 3 Different approaches 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Differences with meteorology

In contrast to meteorology, which studies short term weather systems lasting up to a few weeks, climatology studies the frequency and trends of those systems. It studies the periodicity of weather events over years to millennia, as well as changes in long-term average weather patterns, in relation to atmospheric conditions. Climatologists, those who practice climatology, study both the nature of climates - local, regional or global - and the natural or human-induced factors that cause climates to change. Climatology considers the past and can help predict future climate change.

Phenomena of climatological interest include the atmospheric boundary layer, circulation patterns, heat transfer (radiative, convective and latent), interactions between the atmosphere and the oceans and land surface (particularly vegetation, land use and topography), and the chemical and physical composition of the atmosphere. Related disciplines include astrophysics, chemistry, ecology, geology, geophysics, glaciology, hydrology, oceanography, and volcanology.

History of climatology

Early climate researchers include Edmund Halley, who published a map of the trade winds in 1686, after a voyage to the southern hemisphere. Benjamin Franklin, a renaissance man in the 18th century, was the first to map the course of the Gulf Stream for use in sending mail overseas from the United States to Europe. Francis Galton invented the term anticyclone.^[2] Helmut Landsberg led to statistical analysis being used in climatology, which led to its evolution into a physical science.

Different approaches

Climatology is approached in a variety of ways. Paleoclimatology seeks to reconstruct past climates by examining records such as ice cores and tree rings (dendroclimatology). The study of contemporary climates incorporates meteorological data accumulated over many years, such as records of rainfall, temperature and atmospheric composition. Knowledge of the atmosphere and its dynamics is also embodied in models, either statistical or mathematical, which help by integrating different observations and testing how they fit together. Modeling is used for understanding past, present and potential future climates. Historical climatology is the study of climate as related to human history and thus focuses only on the last few thousand years.

Climate research is made difficult by the large scale, long time periods, and complex processes which govern climate. Climate is governed by physical laws that can be expressed as differential equations. These equations are coupled and nonlinear, so that approximate solutions are obtained by using numerical methods to create global climate models. Climate is sometimes modeled as a stochastic process but this is generally accepted as an approximation to processes that are otherwise too complicated to analyze.

See also

• Meteorology
• Tropical cyclone rainfall climatology

References

1. ^ Climate Prediction Center. Climate Glossary. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
2. ^ http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/science/life/biog_galton.html

Wikipedia information about Climatology This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Climatology". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.