Earth Wind Map

[SailFastTri]

Here's the info about the author, where it is hosted, where the data comes from and what the site us about. All it takes is a little internet trace detective work .

Cameron Beccario | LinkedIn

The following is from https://github.com/cambecc/air#! to describe the project.

air

"air" is a project to visualize live air quality data provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The main components of the project are:
•a scraper to extract air data from ??????
•a postgres database to store the data
•an express.js server to serve this data and other static files to the client
•a client app that interpolates the data and renders an animated wind map

An instance of "air" is available at �京風速. It is currently hosted by Amazon Web Services and fronted by CloudFlare.

"air" is a personal project I've used to learn javascript, node.js, when.js, postgres, D3 and browser programming. Some of the design decisions were made simply to try something new (e.g., postgres). Undoubtedly, other decisions were made from a lack of experience. Feedback welcome!

[DeepFrz]

It goes better with Genesis Live 73.

[Parmenter]

If you click on a point on the globe it gives wind strength at that point in Knots or kph.

Thanks, very cool.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Amazing. I wouldn't want to be anywhere east of Newfoundland at the moment.

Del the winds are at the 1000 hpa level so not what you would measure on the ground or what your local weather station would forecast.

Having kept my boat there for years Newfoundland was the first place I looked.

I thought 1000hpa was ground level. If not, how high is it? Do you know what IS ground level? EDIT...it is right on the "about" page, duh, 1000hpa is about 100meters.

Just playing around I went to various levels. Looking at the 10hpa level I saw that there were very fast circulations around The North Pole, but almost calm over South. That was very different from my expectation.

Can anyone explained that? A Winter/Summer thing?

[Delancey]

I spent a couple summers in the Canadian Arctic. 24 hours of sunlight makes for a big mass of warm air that tends to just sit there. At least where I was, there were a lot of long hot (+95f) windless days, not what you would think of when you think arctic. This inverts with the change of the seasons.

North Pole at 10hpa

earth wind map

South Pole at 10hpa

earth wind map

Meteorologists worldwide have for a long time measured atmospheric pressure in bars, which was originally equivalent to the average air pressure on Earth; the bar was divided into a thousand millibars to provide the precision meteorologists require. After the introduction of SI units, many preferred to preserve the customary pressure figures. Consequently, the bar was redefined as 100,000 pascals, which is only slightly lower than standard air pressure on Earth. Today many meteorologists prefer hectopascals (hPa) for air pressure, which are equivalent to millibars, while similar pressures are given in kilopascals in practically all other fields, since the hecto prefix is rarely used. Since official metrication, meteorologists in Canada use kilopascals (kPa),[9][10] although in some other countries hectopascals are still in use.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
As of 17 November 2011 the hectopascal is used in aviation as the altimeter setting.
1 hectopascal (hPa) ≡ 100 Pa ≡ 1 mbar.
1 kilopascal (kPa) ≡ 1000 Pa ≡ 10 hPa ≡ 10 mbar.

1000 (hPa) is equal to one bar which is air standard atmospheric pressure at sea level, as you go down in hPa's the pressure is dropping which means you altitude is rising. Not sure where 10 hPa put you in terms of height, maybe jet stream?

[Delancey]

Couple cyclones going on right now in the Indian Ocean. First at 850 hPa and then higher up at 500 hPa. The centers correspond but the winds at different altitudes are dramatically different.

[Delancey]

Trying to wrap my head around how the winds are moving vertically. Can anyone explain what is happening along the diagonal line in this view of the cyclones in the Indian Ocean?

[DeepFrz]

The lower the altitude, generally speaking, the winds will be slower and shifted CCW to higher altitude winds. In low pressure areas the air is rising which causes the air to rush in from surrounding areas to take the place of the lighter, rising air. Coriolis affects caused by the rotation of the earth puts the spin on to the inrush winds. The opposite effects are seen from high pressure areas. That line stretching to the south east could be a high pressure ridge. But that is just a guess and would need to be confirmed by weather maps.

[DeepFrz]

Actually those blue areas of light winds must be high pressure areas.

I'm not sure if the wind direction shift at lower altitudes is the same in the Northern and Southern hemisphere or if they are in opposite directions. IE: CCW in the Northern hemisphere and CW in the Southern hemisphere. I would think that likely but those who know will probably set me straight on that point.

[Delancey]

These are right now in the Southern Hemisphere as far as rotation goes. As far as the ridge goes, I am trying to understand which direction up or down the winds are moving on either side if it.

If I have it correctly the color correlates to the wind speed. Blue being low and red being high. Hence the center if the cyclones are blue and the immediate area around them red to yellow.

[Delancey]

I mean, cyclone, low pressure. The wind it traveling towards the center along the ground to the middle of the storm where it goes up and out.

I see winds headed towards the ridge, then what? They goes up and over? Along the width of the ridge? Which direction are they headed on which side?

[Delancey]

Pole view tropopause map. So the thickness of the troposphere varies, being greater at the equator and thinner at the poles. But does it also vary in thickness across a given latitude? Resultant from the Coriolus effect? Producing these tendrils that form the ridges?

[Delancey]

Is the variation of the thickness of the troposphere strictly a function of it being flung out at the equator by the spin of the earth, or does the temperature and density of air masses a factor, or both?

I understand it is as little as 4-1/2 miles thick at the poles in the winter and more like 7 miles thick in the summer whereas it's more like 12 miles thick at the equator.

[hpeer]

Delancey,

Great image, helps put words around this discussion.

Going back to your post of the 10kPa polar views....
The Borth polar cell is strong, the South non exsistant.

I can see why they would change summer to winter, but to go away? That is new to me.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Delancey

I mean, cyclone, low pressure. The wind it traveling towards the center along the ground to the middle of the storm where it goes up and out.

I see winds headed towards the ridge, then what? They goes up and over? Along the width of the ridge? Which direction are they headed on which side?

If it goes up and out in the center, doesn't it follow that it's coming down and in along the ridge???