In this Extreme Weather (Wx) Check, you will take your learning to the next level by synthesizing and applying the weather concepts explored in Modules 4 and 5 to answer questions about scenarios in both everyday life and aviation.
Instructions
Step 1: Choose two questions to answer, one from each question set below.
Step 2: Use mainly course resources – textbook readings and module lesson content – to develop your answers, vs. doing an internet search. Regardless of the source, provide references for the information used in formulating your answers.
Step 3: Place your answers within a separate document that includes your name at the top. Number each answer to clearly indicate which question is being answered. (e.g., Question A1). Do not include the question statements in the document.
Your answers will be scored on completeness, correctness, clarity, conciseness, and the degree of synthesis and application of the related concepts, not on how many words they contain. More is not necessarily better! This is not an essay assignment.
Please read through all sections before proceeding to the next page, and refer back whenever necessary.
Question Set A
Question Set B
Question Set A: Weather Applications in Everyday Life
Suppose you are a flight student at Embry-Riddle in Prescott, Arizona, and you are on the flight line observing a colorful sunset sky. While enjoying the sunset, you look up to observe altocumulus clouds moving across the sky from northwest to southeast, and you quickly determine that, at the level of the clouds, lower pressure is northeast of your location. Synthesize and apply related concepts from Module 5 to explain how you utilized Buys-Ballot’s Law and the observed cloud movement to make this determination. It may help to make a sketch of the scenario. In your explanation, include a discussion of all of the forces acting on air at the mid-levels of the troposphere to justify why the law works correctly.
Suppose you are a student living on campus at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Florida. The latest weather report states that a strong surface low-pressure system is approaching Daytona Beach. You and other students go outdoors and note that the wind is blowing from the southeast. After a quick determination, you tell the other students that the low-pressure system is currently centered roughly west-southwest of Daytona Beach. Synthesize and apply related concepts from Module 5 to explain how you utilized Buys-Ballot’s law and the observed wind direction to make this determination. It may help to make a sketch of the scenario. In your explanation, include a discussion of all of the forces acting on surface air to justify why the law works correctly.
Please proceed to the Question Set B section.
Question Set B: Weather Applications in Aviation
On a typical summer afternoon, fair weather cumulus clouds are commonly observed over the flight line of both the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle on the east coast of Florida and the Prescott campus of ERAU in central Arizona. However, the bases of these clouds are typically observed to be closer to ground level in Daytona, Florida in comparison to those in Prescott, Arizona. Synthesize and apply related concepts from Module 4 to explain this observation.
Synthesizing and applying related concepts from Module 4, describe the specifics of a weather scenario, including atmospheric stability conditions, cloud types, and precipitation types, in which a pilot, flying at 18,000 feet above ground level, could experience the following:
ice build-up on the leading edges of the aircraft wings
ice damage to the aircraft wings
Suppose it is August, and you are the pilot of an aerial firefighting aircraft currently assigned to a wildfire over the mountains of central Idaho. Synthesize and apply concepts from Module 4 regarding atmospheric stability to explain why your job is more safely and effectively performed in the morning hours versus the afternoon hours.
You are a passenger in a window seat of a commercial aircraft currently flying at 39,000 feet. You look out the window and observe a solid layer of altostratus covering the sky about 20,000 feet below you, stretching as far as you can see. A minute later, you see a distinct hole in the cloud layer, with some stray fall streak cirrus clouds directly above the hole. Synthesize and apply related concepts from Module 4 regarding precipitation processes to explain how the visible hole in the cloud layer was produced.
