Primer for Practical 03 (GGR112 Fall 2023)
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School
University of Toronto, Mississauga *
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Course
112
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
3
Uploaded by HighnessOtter6186
GGR112 | Fall 2023
Lab 3
Lab 3: Measuring Meteorological Variables and Data Presentation
Figure 1: A winter view of our Environmental Dataset stations on campus.
Introduction:
Monitoring meteorological variables to generate time series data is a simple but valuable scientific technique.
Continuous long-term records of temperature data have informed our understanding of climate change and led to the
development of climate models that permit forecasting of both short-term weather variations as well as long-term shifts
in the climate. The collection of this data been made much easier by automated logging technology and computer based
data analysis. The challenge of measuring weather conditions lies in situating the station so that a single-point
measurement is representative of an entire site. The goal of any weather station is to accurately represent the
conditions at a given location. For example, our local weather in Mississauga and Toronto is measured at Pearson
Airport – a site surrounded by industrial buildings and major highways. It is data from this site that is reported on your
weather app or in the news. This single point measurement is intended to be representative of the GTA; of course, it is
likely that conditions at the airport are considerably different than those near the lake or on campus or at your house.
Objective:
In the previous lab you were familiarized with the influence of materials and solar radiation on micro-meteorological
conditions. In this lab, you will assess site conditions at our weather stations and their surroundings and use your
observations to explain and interpret time-series data from these instruments. This lab serves as an introduction to
using Microsoft Excel for data manipulation and graphing. You will learn to graph and interpret meteorological datasets
to infer which station they came from, understand mean and standard deviation, and explore the relationship between
temperature and relative humidity.
Materials:
There are three small weather stations on campus (Figure 1), located in three distinct environments, which have
measurements of air and soil temperature, relative humidity and soil water content since September 2009. The campus
also has a main weather station on Principal’s Road (Figure 2) where meteorological data have been collected since the
late 1970’s and automatically (with a data logger) since the 1990’s. We will use air temperature and humidity data from
the three small weather stations, and barometric pressure and precipitation data from the main UTM weather stations.
For this practical you will evaluate the influence of site conditions on the climatology of the three smaller stations, and
you will hone your Excel skills by visualizing and interpreting the data.
GGR112 | Fall 2023
Lab 3
•
Air temperature and relative humidity data for the Field, Pond and Forest site
•
Barometric pressure and precipitation data from the UTM main weather station
•
Pocket anemometer, hygrometer and thermometer
•
Excel Formula Reference Sheet (
https://goo.gl/nW9Pdu
)
•
Map of locations and waking route
•
Excel instructional videos (see Quercus - Assignment 3 page)
o
Calculating the mean and standard deviation
o
How to create a time series graph
o
How to create a combination time series and bar graph with secondary axis
Field Data Collection:
Figure 2 - A map of the UTM campus indicating the location of three small climate stations at the pond (teal), field (yellow), and forest (red), as well
as the main UTM weather station (blue).
GGR112 | Fall 2023
Lab 3
During your practical session, you will embark on a campus tour with your TA to the meteorological stations on campus.
At each site, take notes on environmental factors (e.g., canopy cover, vegetation type and height, water bodies, etc.)
you believe may significantly influence the daily pattern of air temperature and relative humidity. In addition to written
notes, it is recommended that you collect cell-phone photographs to aid with your interpretations of possible climatic
differences between the three sites. Finally, during your walking tour, you will carry a pocket anemometer/hygrometer,
which will allow you to see real-time changes in humidity and temperature as you walk between sites. Record these data
in your field notes to help with your interpretations. This will hone your ability to relate environmental characteristics to
measured climate variables.
When discussing and thinking about the characteristics of each site, consider the following starting points for your
observations; be sure
not
to limit your focus to just these:
•
How does solar radiation affect this site?
o
For example, is the site likely to receive sunlight throughout the day, intermittently, not at all? Look for
obstructions that might provide shade.
o
Think back to the second practical, what is the ground cover and how might that affect temperatures or
humidity levels?
•
Plants contain a significant quantity of water, which can both moderate peak temperatures and increase relative
humidity. Their presence is likely to have some influence on parameters during summer conditions.
o
The type, height and distribution of vegetation might exert a significant influence both parameters.
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