The OPAL Climate Survey

Transcription

1 The OPAL Climate Survey By the Met Office with the Royal Meteorological Society Introduction What impact might we have on the climate, and how good are we at adapting to climate change? The next four fun activities will help us understand how we influence the climate and how the climate affects us. Firstly we will look at contrails, the tracks left in the sky by aircraft, which may be adding to man-made warming. About the Climate Survey The Climate Survey includes four activities. Activity 1 Are aircraft making clouds? Look for contrails left by high-flying aircraft. Activity 2 Which way do winds blow the clouds? Use a mirror to measure cloud motion. Activity 3 How do winds blow at person height? Use bubbles to measure wind speed and direction. Activity 4 How hot or cold do you feel? Compare levels of personal warmth across the country. Feel free to choose any of the activities we hope you will be able to do them all. Surface wind Free wind Aircraft contrail Thermal comfort OPAL Climate Survey activities involve clouds, contrails, wind and thermal comfort outdoors Then we ll be investigating how the environment around us changes the flow of air near the ground. We will also explore how climate influences how hot or cold we feel: do people from Newcastle feel more comfortable at lower temperatures than those from Bournemouth, for example? Instructions for carrying out all the activities are in this guide. The Workbook contains additional background information and should be read before starting the surveys. It also has worksheets for recording your results. This symbol shows you when you need to write something down. o o o Safe fieldwork Don t look directly into the sun, or at the sun through a camera or the cloud mirror. Activity 3 involves running around; keep well away from roads and other busy areas. Take a mobile phone with you in case of emergencies.

2 What does the activity involve? What do I need (*optional) Where can I do it? When can I do it? How often? Who can do it? How long will it take? Activity 1 Are aircraft making clouds? Looking for contrails in the sky Your eyes Outdoors with a good sky view Activity 2 Which way do winds blow the clouds? Using a mirror to show cloud motion Mirror, compass, marker pen Outdoors with sky view Activity 3 How do winds blow at person height? Tracking bubbles to measure wind Bubble kit, compass, watch, tape measure* Outdoors, good open space Anytime during daylight, most usefully between 9am and 4pm As many days as possible Once, but useful if repeated Once, but useful if repeated Individual or group Individual or group Minimum 2 works well in groups Activity 4 How hot or cold do you feel? Comparing personal levels of warmth Thermometer* Outdoors, after 15 mins in the open Once, but useful if repeated Individual but also works well in groups 5 minutes Each of these 3 activities takes about minutes; there are big advantages to doing them all in sequence. The survey starts here Activity 1: Are aircraft 5 minutes making clouds? The aim of this activity is to spot contrails from high-flying aircraft. You will need page 5 of the Workbook. 1 Go outside where there is a good view of the sky the more of the sky you can see the better on as many days as you can. Aim for Tuesdays and Thursdays in particular, so that we can get some days with lots of observations. 2 Look at the sky all around, then look at the Cloud Guide in your pack to tell the difference between low, medium, and high cloud types. 3 Is the sky covered, or nearly covered, by low or medium cloud? If so, write down O for overcast on page 5 of the Workbook. 4 If you can see some good areas of blue sky or high clouds, then have a good look for any contrails. 5 Look at the photographs opposite and note which best describes the contrails you can see A, B, C or D. It doesn t matter whether there is any cloud present or not. Remember report contrails if they are anywhere in the sky; they don t have to be directly overhead. 6 Can you see two or more types of contrail? If so, write them both down, for example BC. 7 Make sure you record your observation, the time/date and the first part of the postcode where you are, on page 5 of the Workbook.

3 A B A No contrails B Short contrails disappearing soon after they are formed. C D C Long contrails stretching out across most of the sky but not spreading out much D Long-lived contrails spreading out to form cirrus-like clouds It doesn t matter what other clouds are present, spotting a contrail is the aim. If you can take a photograph of the sky and any contrails while you are doing the activity, please send it to us at climate@opalexplorenature.org with a note of what contrail type you recorded it as (i.e. A, B, C or D). Selected photographs will be used on the website. End of Activity 1

4 Activities 2, 3 and 4 start here Activities 2, 3 and 4 should be done together if possible. Use page 6 in the Workbook to record your location and the time and date when you start. Then look at your local environment. Which of the categories shown below most closely matches your surroundings? In the centre of a large urban park, you would be in Type I (well-spaced trees), but a few streets away might be Type B (dense mid-rise). A Dense high-rise more than 10 floors F Well-spaced low-rise B Dense mid-rise 3 to 10 floors G Sparsely built C Dense low-rise 1 to 3 floors H Open field. Low plants / shrubs D Well-spaced high-rise I Well-spaced trees or tall shrubs E Well-spaced mid-rise J Woodland Dense (A-C): the buildings are generally taller than the open space between them. Well-spaced (D-F): The area between buildings is greater than the height of the buildings themselves. If the total area of open space is greater than the total built area, this would also be well-spaced.

5 Activity 2: 15 minutes In this Activity we will measure the direction in which clouds are moving, which tells us the wind direction at the height of the clouds. To do this you can make an instrument called a nephoscope (or cloud mirror) from a mirror and a compass. 1 Make the cloud mirror. Included in the pack is a plastic mirror. Mark the four main compass directions on the mirror with a pen as in the pictures opposite (a marker pen works best). 2 Find an outdoor location where you can see the sky clearly and where you can sit still for up to five minutes. 3 Place the cloud mirror and the compass (included in your pack) flat on the floor. Position Which way do winds blow the clouds? Twist the compass to align N with the red half of the needle the compass so that it is pointing north. Twist the mirror so that the N on the mirror is lined up with north on the compass. If you are not familiar with using a compass, see How to use a compass on page 4 of the Workbook. 4 Sit down so you can see a cloud in the mirror. It doesn t matter where you sit around the mirror. 5 Find an easily recognisable part of a cloud and mark this on the mirror. 6 Follow this cloud feature and repeatedly mark it on the mirror until you have drawn a track. The track should roughly form a straight line. 7 Try to sit very still during the tracking. If possible, use a stationary object (e.g. the top of a building or a tree) to help you keep your head in the same place. 8 The direction the line came from is the wind direction at cloud height. Record this as one of the 8 main directions on the compass (on page 6 of the Workbook). In this example the cloud moves from the SE to the NW so the wind direction is from the SE. Stationary object in corner of mirror Cloud has moved towards the NW so wind direction is from the SE If you haven t already done so, please note the time, date, location and describe your local environment by answering questions 1-5 on page 6 of the Workbook. Tips on cloud tracking Clouds change their shape and even break up as they travel so it can be difficult to identify a stable feature. Larger features tend to be more reliable. A couple of practices will help. Cumulus clouds (see Cloud Guide in the pack) work best because they have clear features and appear to move quickly, but you can try to track any cloud which has a distinct feature. It s important that you keep the mirror still, so place it on a firm surface. You could also tape the mirror down or get a partner to hold it while you write on it so it doesn t move.

6 Activity 3: How do winds 15 minutes blow at person height? Having measured the wind direction at cloud height in Activity 2, we will now measure the wind speed and direction at person height, using soap bubbles. You will need a bubble blowing kit (see page 4 of the Workbook), something to time the bubbles (e.g. a watch or stopwatch) and a compass. Choose an area of open ground, a safe distance from roads or private property. If you haven t already done so, please note the time, date, location and describe your local environment by answering questions 1-5 on page 6 of the Workbook. Bubble chase to measure wind direction 1 Place a marker at your start location. 2 Blow some bubbles then pick one to follow. 3 Chase your chosen bubble, without getting in its way, until it pops or floats somewhere you cannot follow. 4 Blow another bubble from where you end up and follow that one. 5 Repeat steps 2 to 4 ten times if possible. Start point of first bubble End point of first bubble 6 Wherever you end up, look back at where you have come from. 7 Now use your compass to work out the direction back to the starting point (see page 4 of the Workbook for help on how to use a compass). Start point of first bubble Looking back with compass on ground This will give you the Start average wind direction, because wind direction refers to where the wind is blowing from. No compass? Don t worry. Visit Google Maps (maps.google.com) to print a detailed map to mark your start and end locations, and then use the OPAL website to enter your data and calculate the wind direction. 8 Record the wind direction on page 6 of the Workbook. Remember: wind direction is the direction wind is blowing from. Finish Turbulence: If you are in an area where there is a lot of turbulence (see page 3 of the Workbook for details) the bubbles may not move very far from the release point, or may go all over the place! Please don t try to estimate a wind direction if the final point is within about 3 metres of where you blew the bubble; just put T (for turbulence) instead of the wind direction.

7 Bubble race to measure wind speed Two people are needed for this: a blower to blow bubbles and a timer to time them using a stopwatch or watch. Activity 4: How hot or cold 15 minutes do you feel? Activity 4 is about how weather, climate and local environment affect how hot or cold people feel. If you haven t already done so, please note the time, date, location and describe your local environment by answering questions 1-5 on page 6 of the Workbook. 1 Place a marker at your start location and another marker 10 metres away in the general direction the wind will carry the bubbles. This is your finishing line. If you Start Finish haven t got a tape measure, use 10 adult paces. If there is not enough space for 10 metres you can use a shorter distance, but make sure you record this in the Workbook. Answer the questions on pages 7-8 of the Workbook covering how the weather feels to you what you would prefer to feel how well your clothing insulates you from the weather You will need to have spent at least 15 minutes outside before answering the questions so that your body has got used to being outside. 2 The blower blows some bubbles, and the timer picks one to follow. 3 The timer uses the stopwatch or watch to measure how long it takes the bubble to reach the finishing line. 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 ten times. Bubble Timer using a watch As an optional activity, you can use the separate chart on the back of the Thermometer card (included in the pack) to compare the clothes you are wearing with what you might expect to need for the conditions you are in. If you are in a group, you can compare your results with your group members, and then visit the OPAL website to compare with other people. 5 Record the ten bubble flight times on page 7 of the Workbook. If none of the bubbles reach the 10 metre mark please write T for turbulence (see page 3 of the Workbook for details). The survey ends here Designed by FSC Publications

8 How will your results be used? The activities of the OPAL climate survey tell us about aspects of weather and climate that cannot be measured or analysed by standard methods. By putting this new information together we will be able to use it to better understand how people, weather and climate interact. Activity 1 Contrails only form where the temperature is cold enough (below about -40 C) and the air is humid and where there are planes, of course! The computer models (see box) used to forecast weather can also tell us where we would expect contrails to form. We will compare your observations of contrails with where the computer model expects them to be, and show this on the OPAL website. This helps us to see how good the computer model is. Activities 2 and 3 Activities 2 and 3 estimate wind direction at two levels in the atmosphere. These measurements can be compared with each other, and with those predicted by the computer model used in weather forecasting so that we can see local effects. Describing the type of environment around you (trees, buildings, etc) will also help us to understand how it alters the speed and direction of the wind near the ground. Activity 4 Global climate change is predicted to result in milder winters and hotter summers across the UK, with more frequent heatwaves. Research has shown a strong link between thermal comfort levels and climate. People from colder climates may be comfortable at lower temperatures than people from warmer climes. We will show results of this activity on the OPAL website, showing how people s thermal comfort varies in different parts of the UK. The results will help us to better understand how sensitive people are to climate, and how adaptable they may be to climate change. What is a climate model? In Activities 1 and 3 we mention comparing your results with weather or climate models but what are models? To forecast weather for the next few days, or predict how climate will change over the next few decades, we use models. They are massive computer programmes, run on super-computers, that represent what goes on in the atmosphere, oceans and on land, and calculate how this changes over time. To have confidence in what models predict, we check their forecasts against what actually happens ( model validation ) and this is one of the aims of the survey. The OPAL Climate Survey is the fifth national survey from the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project. You can also take part in other OPAL surveys, including the OPAL Soil Survey, the OPAL Air Survey, the OPAL Water Survey and the OPAL Biodiversity Survey by downloading materials from OPAL has received a grant from The Big Lottery Fund to encourage people to get in touch with nature by enabling them to explore and study their local environments. Through partnerships nation-wide, OPAL is running fun, free projects which anyone can get involved with. OPAL wants to inspire a new generation of environmentalists by encouraging people to spend more time outdoors understanding the world around them. Credits: Text: Geoff Jenkins 1, Mark McCarthy 1, Helen Bye 1, Carlo Buontempo 1, Rachel Thomas 1, Linda Davies 2, Nathan Sparks 2, Roger Fradera 2, Sarah Baldwin 2, Amy Fowler 3, Sarah West 4, Louise Parker 5, Simon Norman 5 Images: Geoff Jenkins, Mark McCarthy, istockphoto, Alan Scragg, Nathan Callaghan, Simon Norman. 1 Met Office, 2 Imperial College London, 3 University of Lancaster, 4 University of York, 5 Field Studies Council