Category Archives: Wind

Where Do All My Balloons Go?

By: Andrew K. Mirza Turbulence! If you have ever travelled by aeroplane, then you may have experienced atmospheric turbulence during the flight: It is when the captain switches on the seat-belt sign; requests all passengers return to their seats and … Continue reading

Posted in Atmospheric dispersion, Boundary layer, Greenhouse gases, Numerical modelling, Turbulence, Wind | Leave a comment

Our changing energy system: what happens at times of high demand?

 By: Hannah Bloomfield It is getting near to Christmas, which means the decorations are coming out, the nights are drawing in, and even Scrooge has conceded that it’s probably time to put the heating on. In winter the UK has … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Energy meteorology, Wind | Leave a comment

Probing the atmosphere with sound waves

By: Javier Amezcua Summer is a quiet time for both the University of Reading and the town itself. The buzzing that fills campus during term time is gone, the population decreases and activities are reduced. Some people find it relaxing … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Stratosphere, Wind | Tagged | Leave a comment

Is it a normal season this year for tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific?

By Xiangbo Feng  The Western North Pacific (WNP) is the most active area for tropical cyclones (TCs).  The number of TCs occurred in the WNP so far (end of October) this year is 26 – just the average number of … Continue reading

Posted in Atmospheric circulation, Climate, Climate modelling, earth observation, ENSO, Equatorial waves, Historical climatology, Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), Numerical modelling, Seasonal forecasting, Tropical cyclones, Waves, Weather forecasting, Western North Pacific, Wind | Leave a comment

Smoke, science, and sharks

By Ross Herbert In the August of 2017 the Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Interactions and Forcing – Year 2017 (CLARIFY) measurement campaign took place on a tiny island in the middle of the southeast Atlantic Ocean where we were surrounded by whales, sharks, … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric circulation, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Clouds, Data collection, earth observation, Energy budget, Environmental hazards, Greenhouse gases, Measurements and instrumentation, Microphysics, Numerical modelling, Solar radiation, Weather forecasting, Wind | Tagged | Leave a comment

How the Hadley Cells work

By Gui-Ying Yang The Hadley Cell, named after British meteorologist George Hadley who discovered this tropical atmospheric overturning circulation, is one of the basic concepts in weather and climate. Figure 1 shows the zonal mean overturning circulation in a latitude height … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, earth observation, Equatorial waves, extratropical cyclones, Tropical convection, Waves, Wind | Tagged , | Leave a comment