![]() ![]() To predict hurricane intensity, for example, we have to know how the transfer of heat through the ocean surface is affected by wind speed. 9, 2009, becoming the first unmanned robotic glider to cross an ocean basin. ![]() Following the path of Christopher Columbus’s Pinta, the Scarlet Knight crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed in Baiona, Spain, on Dec. In 2009 Hurricane Bill passed to the north during the Scarlet Knight’s mission, producing large waves that battered the glider and challenging scientists trying to reach it for an inspection. Robotic gliders allow researchers to collect data in severe weather conditions without risking lives. But hurricanes are complex, and there are many ingredients in the recipe for any given storm. Recognizing this relationship between the ocean and the atmosphere and understanding the physics behind hurricanes allows researchers to build computer models to predict a storm’s behavior. In fact, the total amount of heat energy being pumped into an average hurricane is equivalent to about half the worldwide electrical generating capacity! As the rising water vapor reaches clouds an incredible amount of heat is released, warming the air and driving the hurricane’s circulation. When seawater evaporates from the surface, it takes heat with it. That heat energy is derived from the ocean. It’s a massive, natural machine for converting heat energy into mechanical energy-in this case wind. Now, as a professor and research scientist at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, I study these very processes.įrom a physics standpoint, a hurricane is a heat engine. There is usually very little explanation of why it’s happening or the physics behind it.īut, if we want to predict what a hurricane is going to do tomorrow or in the next few days, we have to understand the physical processes-from the microscopic to the global-that control its behavior. Unfortunately, most information about weather and hurricanes, whether in textbooks or on television, is merely descriptive: this is the sequence of events that we observe, and they lead to a hurricane. At the time, I just wanted to understand how various things in nature worked. I became interested in weather phenomena when I took physics in high school. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |