Meteorology For Pilots E-Book

Mike Wickson

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

This new third edition of 'Meteorology for Pilots' has been modified to satisfy all aspects of the meteorological requirements necessary to be JAR compliant. It also discusses the latest data concerning global warming and its consequences, especially in relation to the El Nino effect.For aviation the study of meterology provides knowledge and awareness of the atmosphere, which is, after all, the medium within which the pilot works. A proper study of the subject will provide the basis that can enable a pilot to appreciate properly the weather forecast given to him for a flight - and indeed to forecast for himself. Technical aircraft safety is now approaching the highest standards, whilst safety affected by particular weather conditions remains a large problem.Clearly a proper study of meteorology can only assist the pilot in providing safe passage.

Leseprobe

AN AIRLIFE PILOT’S HANDBOOK

METEOROLOGY

FOR PILOTS

Airlife

England

First published in the UK in 1992 by Airlife Publishing,an imprint of The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury,Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

Revised editions 1997 and 2001

This revised e-book edition first published in 2015

© K.M. Wickson 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2015

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendation are made without any guarantee on the part of the Publisher, who also disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.

ISBN 978 1 84797 961 2

LIST OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

1

THE ATMOSPHERE:

Exosphere. Ionosphere. Mesosphere. Stratosphere. Troposphere. Aviation Portion of the Atmosphere. Tropopause. Standard Atmospheres.

2

WEATHER REPORTING:

Surface Reports. Upper Air Data. Radio and Satellite. Communications. Synoptic Chart.

3

PRESSURE:

Pressure Measurement. Corrected Pressure Values. Variations in Pressure. QFF.

4

DENSITY:

Variation at the Surface. Effect of Water Vapour. Variation with Height. Density and Flight. Density Altitude.

5

ALTIMETRY:

Circuit Flying. En-route Flying. Flying in Controlled Airspace. ‘D’ Value and Pressure Variations. QFE, QNH, QNE.

6

WORLD AND SYNOPTIC PRESSURES:

Isobars. Anticyclone. Depression. Ridge of High. Trough of Low. Col. Secondary Low. Pressure System Movement. Pressure Gradient.

7

TEMPERATURE:

Scales. Temperatures on the Earth’s Surface. Solar Radiation. Latent Heat. Angular Elevation of the Sun. Latitude. Season of the Year. Diurnal Variation. Effect of Cloud. Effect of Wind. Nature of the Surface. Location Effect. Origin of the Air. Temperatures in the Atmosphere. Terrestrial Radiation at Night. Inversion and Isothermal Layer.

8

HUMIDITY:

Water Vapour in the Air. Evaporation and Condensation. Dewpoint. Sublimation. Saturation Vapour Pressure. Latent Heat. Relative Humidity. Diurnal Variation of Relative Humidity. Measurement of Humidity. Dry Air.

9

VERTICAL MOTIONS OF THE AIR:

Adiabatics. Variable SALR. Descending Air. Stability. Instability. Conditional Instability. Stability in Practice. Turbulence Near the Surface. Thermal Turbulence. Mechanical Turbulence. Friction Layer. Turbulence in Clouds. Turbulence Description.

10

CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION:

Cloud Types. Layer Clouds. Heap Clouds. Cloud Amounts, Base and Tops. Cloud Formation. Turbulence Cloud. Convection. Advection. Orographic Lifting. Frontal Lifting. Convergence. Convective Instability. Precipitation.

11

LOW LEVEL WINDS:

Surface Wind Forces. Geostrophic Wind. Gradient Wind. Cyclostrophic Wind. Wind in the Friction Layer. Diurnal Variation of the Surface Wind. Sea Breezes. Practical Effects. Katabatic/Anabatic Winds. Fohn Wind. Valley or Ravine Wind. Low Level Jets. Trade Winds and Monsoons.

12

VISIBILITY:

Surface. Flight and Oblique Visibility. Hill Fog. Radiation Fog. Advection Fog. Steaming Fog. Frontal Fog. Visibility from the Air. Visual Illusions. Approaching to Land with a Shallow Fog Layer. Visibility with a Deep Haze Layer. Runway Visual Range. Optical Phenomena. Halo. Corona. Brocken Spectre. Mirage. Aurora Borealis. Effect of Ice Fog. Green Water. Blue Jets, Sprites and Elves.

13

AIR MASSES AND FRONTS:

Air Masses Affecting UK and Europe. Polar Maritime. Polar Continental. Tropical Continental. Tropical Maritime. Arctic. Returning Polar Maritime. Fronts. Intertropical Convergence Zone. Mediterranean Front. Polar Front. Arctic Front. Frontal Factors. Minor Fronts. Cold Front. Warm Front. Other Fronts.

14

DEPRESSIONS:

Polar Front Depressions. Movement of Polar Front Depressions. Weather with Passage of a Polar Front Low. Occlusions. Occlusion Weather. Back Bent Occlusions. Time Periods. Southern Hemisphere. Orographic Depressions. Thermal Depressions. Dust Devils. Polar Air Depressions. Thermal Lows Over Land in Mid-Latitudes. Thermal Lows over Inland Seas. Thermal Lows over Land in Low Latitudes. Thermal Lows over Sea in Low Latitudes: The Tropical Cyclones. Easterly Waves.

15

UPPER WINDS:

Upper Level Pressure Systems. Constant Pressure Charts/Contour Charts. Wind Finding. Radiosonde. Thermal Wind Concept. Thickness Charts. Thermal Winds – Global. Wind Charts. Jet Streams. Subtropical Jets. Polar Front Jets. Other Jet Streams.

16

AVIATION HAZARDS:

Wake Turbulence. Mountain Waves. Rotor Streaming. Low Level Windshear. Inversions. Thunderstorms/CB. Microbursts. Fronts. Other Less Important Causes of Windshear. Techniques to Counter Worse Effects. Windshear Indicators. Clear Air Turbulence. Cumulonimbus – Thunderstorms. Types of Thunderstorm. Development. Mature Stage. Dissipating Stage. Summary of Thunderstorm Hazards. Tornadoes. West African Tornadoes. Airframe Icing. Effects. Conditions Where Icing Can Occur. Supercooled Water Droplets. Clear Ice. Rime Ice. Rain Ice. Pack Snow. Hoar Frost. Factors Affecting Icing Severity. Icing Description. Icing Recognition. Engine Icing. Piston Engine Icing. Carburettor Icing. Turbine/Jet Engine Icing. Tropical Cyclones.

17

PRACTICAL FORECASTING FOR PILOTS:

Landing Forecasts. Simple Route Forecasting. Detailed Route Forecasting.

18

CLIMATOLOGY:

General Circulation. Climatic Zones. Dominant Weather Factors. Heat Equator. Equatorial Trough. ITCZ. Monsoons. GLOBAL FACTORS – Temperature. Land and Sea Surfaces. Topography. Sea Currents. Upper Air Temperatures. Tropopause Heights. Icing Limits. Pressure. Surface Pressures. Upper Level Pressures. Wind. Surface Winds. Upper Winds. Jet Streams. Weather. Average Cloud Amounts. Precipitation. Thunderstorms. Visibility. CLIMATE IN ROUTE AREAS – Africa: North America: Atlantic North: Atlantic South/South America: Arabian Gulf Region: Bangladesh/Burma/Malaysia/Thailand: Northern Europe and the Mediterranean: India/Pakistan: North Polar Area: North Pacific and the Rim: South Pacific and the Rim: Russia and the Adjacent Republics.

19

SATELLITE WEATHER PICTURE INTERPRETATION AND USE OF AIRBORNE WEATHER RADAR:

Meteostat. Visual Imagery. Infra-Red Images. Cloud Images Over Sea Surfaces. Weather Images. Other Data. Airborne Weather Radar Equipment. Display System. Display Interpretation.

APPENDICES

‘A’ Station Circle Decode of Figures and Symbols

‘B’ Decode of Symbols used in Climatology Figures at Chapter 18

‘C’ El Nino: La Nina

LIST OF FIGURES

Drawings by J. E. Hitchcock

FIGURE No.

1.1

Five Layers of the Atmosphere

1.2

Simplified Average Tropopause Heights in the Flying Atmosphere

1.3

Cross Section Diagram of the ISA

2.1

Example of a Station Circle Display

3.1

A Simple Mercury Barometer

3.2

An Aneroid Barograph

3.3

QFE Values for stations at Different Elevations

3.4

Correction of QFE values at Figure 3.3 to MSL

3.5

Typical Graph of the Diurnal Variation of Pressure

4.1

Decrease of Pressure with height at Different Temperatures

4.2

Density Changes with Height and Latitude

5.1

An Altimeter

5.2

Altimeter Errors for an Aircraft Flying towards High Pressure

5.3

Altimeter Errors for an Aircraft Flying towards Low Pressure

5.4

Starboard Drift Law

5.5

Aircraft Flying with Different Altimeter Settings

6.1

Basic World Pressures

6.2

Hadley Cells

6.3

Plan View of an Anticyclone

6.4

Cross Section View of an Anticyclone

6.5

Plan View of a Depression

6.6

Cross Section View of a Depression

6.7

Ridge of High Pressure

6.8

A Ridge between two Lows

6.9

Trough of Low Pressure

6.10

An area of Col

6.11

Secondary Low Pressure

6.12

Secondary Low over Northwest France

6.13

Steep and Slack Pressure Gradients

7.1

The Stevenson Screen

7.2

The Affect of Latitude on Insolation

7.3

Graphs of Mean Temperatures by Latitude

7.4

Diurnal Variation of Surface Air Temperature

7.5

Temperature/Height diagram for Inversions and Isothermal Layers

8.1

Graph of the Humidity Mixing Ratio for Saturated air at Different Temperatures

8.2

Graph of the Diurnal Variation of Relative Humidity

8.3

A Wet and Dry Bulb Hygrometer

9.1

Adiabatic Cooling of Lifted Air

9.2

Variation of SALR with Temperature

9.3

Stability of Lifted Air

9.4

Instability of Lifted Air

9.5

Conditional Instability of Lifted Air

9.6

Mechanical and Thermal Turbulence on the Approach to Land

10.1

A Modified Temperature Regime in a Turbulent Layer

10.2

Formation of Turbulence Cloud

10.3

Temperature/Height Diagram for Turbulence Cloud Formation

10.4

Simple Temperature/Height Diagram for Convection Cloud Formation

10.5

Developed Temperature/Height Diagram for Convection Cloud

10.6

Orographic Cloud Formations

10.7

Frontal Cloud Formations

10.8

Convergence at a Front

10.9

Non Frontal Convergence at a Trough of Low

10.10

Convergence Causing Lifting

10.11

Convective Instability