Weather forecasting
hideWeather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since at least the nineteenth century. Weather forecasts are made by collecting quantitative data about the current state of the atmosphere and using scientific understanding of atmospheric processes to project how the atmosphere will evolve.
Once an all human endeavor based mainly upon changes in barometric pressure, current weather conditions, and sky condition, forecast models are now used to determine future conditions. Human input is still required to pick the best possible forecast model to base the forecast upon, which involves pattern recognition skills, teleconnections, knowledge of model performance, and knowledge of model biases. The chaotic nature of the atmosphere, the massive computational power required to solve the equations that describe the atmosphere, error involved in measuring the initial conditions, and an incomplete understanding of atmospheric processes mean that forecasts become less accurate as the difference in current time and the time for which the forecast is being made (the range of the forecast) increases. The use of ensembles and model consensus help narrow the error and pick the most likely outcome.
There are a variety of end uses to weather forecasts. Weather warnings are important forecasts because they are used to protect life and property. Forecasts based on temperature and precipitation are important to agriculture, and therefore to traders within commodity markets. Temperature forecasts are used by utility companies to estimate demand over coming days. On an everyday basis, people use weather forecasts to determine what to wear on a given day. Since outdoor activities are severely curtailed by heavy rain, snow and the wind chill, forecasts can be used to plan activities around these events, and to plan ahead and survive them.
For more information about Weather forecasting, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with weather forecasts
UA developing network to improve weather forecasting
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 22, 2009 |
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An interdisciplinary team of University of Arizona researchers is building a network of soil moisture probes to improve short-term and seasonal weather forecasting.
People's misperceptions cloud their understanding of rainy weather forecasts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Apr 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If Mark Twain were alive today he might rephrase his frequently cited observation about everyone talking about the weather but not doing anything about it to say, "Everyone reads or watches ...
Tech advancements improving accuracy in predicting weather
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 28, 2009 |
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Study weather reports online, and you might want to give up on meteorology. "Deadly" storms fizzle, while weaker-looking fronts devastate. Temperatures often soar above predicted highs or plummet below predicted lows.
NASA, NOAA set to launch NOAA-N Prime satellite
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 22, 2009 |
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NASA is preparing to launch NOAA'S latest polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite, called NOAA-N Prime, providing an essential resource for NOAA's weather forecasts and improving the U.S. search ...
Search results for weather forecasts
NASA Assessing New Roles for Ailing QuikScat Satellite
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 24, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA mission managers are assessing options for future operations of the venerable QuikScat satellite following the age-related failure of a mechanism that spins the scatterometer antenna. ...
Open shop for environmental data
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new way to access and reuse environmental data from diverse sources has been devised by European researchers. They foresee a future where environmental data and services are offered on the open market.
Digital cloud may rise over London (w/ Video)
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An international group of artists, engineers and architects have proposed an enormous "digital cloud" to turn London's skyline into an overhead display of data and images.
Ida now a coastal low assaulting the Mid-Atlantic
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Ida is one stubborn girl. Her remnants have moved out to sea and reformed as a powerful coastal low pressure system that's been raining on the mid-Atlantic since Tuesday night, November 10. The Geostationary ...
A lightning strike in Africa helps take the pulse of the sun
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
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Sunspots, which rotate around the sun's surface, tell us a great deal about our own planet. Scientists rely on them, for instance, to measure the sun's rotation or to prepare long-range forecasts of the Earth's ...
NOAA deploys new 'smart buoy' off Annapolis
Nov 11, 2009 |
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NOAA deployed the seventh in a series of "smart buoys" to monitor weather conditions and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay today. The buoy, located at the mouth of Severn River near Annapolis, Md., will be used by commercial ...
Noise Evidence Could Expand Hurricane Record
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 10, 2009 |
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As sea-surface temperatures rise across the globe, some scientists believe that hurricane frequency and intensity may increase. A fresh technique offers promise to generate new data from long-dead storms, ...
Climate studies to benefit from 12 years of satellite aerosol data
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Aerosols, very small particles suspended in the air, play an important role in the global climate balance and in regulating climate change. They are one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in climate change ...
Making Climate Forecasts More Useful to Farmers
Nov 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate forecasts are becoming more useful to farmers and ranchers, thanks to research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their cooperators.
Texas A&M prof to predict weather on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and ...
List of search results for weather forecasts
