How do weather services get sky conditions above the surface?

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they estimate
windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up with educated
guesses for these, but one might still be way off. Certainly experience would
be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten radiosondes
for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call high-resolution
measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane between radiosondes.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off. Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.


Bertie

On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:27:31 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th' terraists
with the following claims :

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off. Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.

Bertie

Maybe they use dopplar radar to tell the height of the clouds, eh?
Otherwise I assume some sort of math involving triangulation and other
difficult things.


--
"Those who can make you believe absurdities,
can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16052

§ñühwØ£f wrote in
news
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:27:31 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th'
terraists
with the following claims :

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and
the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights
and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off.
Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane
between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.

Bertie

Maybe they use dopplar radar to tell the height of the clouds, eh?
Otherwise I assume some sort of math involving triangulation and other
difficult things.



Nah, it's easy. They compare the temperature to the dewpoint add in th
edry adiabatic lapse rate and voila, you get the cloudbase. Observation
is used for terminal areas, otherwise, though, it's still done the old
fashioned way for the most part. These days, al info is mixed together,
whihc gives a much better actual and forecasting capability.

bertie

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
§ñühwØ£f wrote in
news
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:27:31 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th'
terraists
with the following claims :

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and
the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights
and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up
with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off.
Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane
between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.

Bertie

Maybe they use dopplar radar to tell the height of the clouds, eh?
Otherwise I assume some sort of math involving triangulation and
other
difficult things.



Nah, it's easy. They compare the temperature to the dewpoint add in th
edry adiabatic lapse rate and voila, you get the cloudbase.
Observation
is used for terminal areas, otherwise, though, it's still done the old
fashioned way for the most part. These days, al info is mixed
together,
whihc gives a much better actual and forecasting capability.

bertie

Are you an ex weather observer or summat? I had a friend who was ex USAF
weather observer then he got a job in elko doing weather observation &
moved
He was always talking about clouds & stuff trying to explain what was
happening up there...

§ñühw¤£f wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
§ñühwØ£f wrote in
news
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:27:31 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th'
terraists
with the following claims :

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and
the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights
and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up
with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off.
Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane
between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.

Bertie

Maybe they use dopplar radar to tell the height of the clouds, eh?
Otherwise I assume some sort of math involving triangulation and
other
difficult things.



Nah, it's easy. They compare the temperature to the dewpoint add in
th
edry adiabatic lapse rate and voila, you get the cloudbase.
Observation
is used for terminal areas, otherwise, though, it's still done the
old
fashioned way for the most part. These days, al info is mixed
together,
whihc gives a much better actual and forecasting capability.

bertie

Are you an ex weather observer or summat? I had a friend who was ex
USAF
weather observer then he got a job in elko doing weather observation &
moved
He was always talking about clouds & stuff trying to explain what was
happening up there...


Nah,, I'm a pilot. We have to learn the basics of how it's done. It's
interesting, but not riveting for me, anyhow. Handy to know a bit abou
tit in my line of work, though.

Bertie

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:17:32 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th' terraists
with the following claims :

§ñühw¤£f wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
§ñühwØ£f wrote in
news
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:27:31 +0000, Bertie the Bunyip aided th'
terraists
with the following claims :

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

§ñühwØ£f writes:

I would a55ume that they have planes in the air at some point and
the
aircraft report the ceiling height of teh clouds and then they
estimate windspeed from observaton stations on the ground.
I'm just guessing. I knew a weather observer once.

That makes sense. I wonder how they estimate things like heights
and
distances, though. I suppose experience would help to come up
with
educated guesses for these, but one might still be way off.
Certainly
experience would be useful in recognizing specific cloud types and
patterns.

One article I read (I think it was Wikipedia) mentioned just ten
radiosondes for the entire Caribbean, that's hardly what I'd call
high-resolution measurement. You could almost fit a hurricane
between
radiosondes.


You are an idiot.

Bertie

Maybe they use dopplar radar to tell the height of the clouds, eh?
Otherwise I assume some sort of math involving triangulation and
other
difficult things.



Nah, it's easy. They compare the temperature to the dewpoint add in
th
edry adiabatic lapse rate and voila, you get the cloudbase.
Observation
is used for terminal areas, otherwise, though, it's still done the
old
fashioned way for the most part. These days, al info is mixed
together,
whihc gives a much better actual and forecasting capability.

bertie

Are you an ex weather observer or summat? I had a friend who was ex
USAF
weather observer then he got a job in elko doing weather observation &
moved
He was always talking about clouds & stuff trying to explain what was
happening up there...


Nah,, I'm a pilot. We have to learn the basics of how it's done. It's
interesting, but not riveting for me, anyhow. Handy to know a bit abou
tit in my line of work, though.

Sure, the basics; thats a funnel cloud, thats a hurricane, sheep arn't
supposed to fly...


--
"Those who can make you believe absurdities,
can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16072