Exam #1 Outline

HOW DO YOU LEARN BEST?
TAKE THE VARK TEST AND FIND OUT.
IT'S QUICK, EASY, AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH
A STUDY STRATEGY FOR LEARNING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY!
---> VARK TEST <---

The National Weather Service (NWS) runs numerical weather models that generate guidance information
for weather forecasters. This IBM supercomputer (below) at the NWS can make
more than 450 billion calculations per second.

Several different prediction models are used to predict atmospheric phenomena and they
don't always agree. Take, for example, this image of model predictions
for the track of hurricane Rita:

Science Seeks to Minimize Bias to avoid
the unforseen, such as the Challenger Disaster

Entropy is a measure of the inability to perform work
Irreversible processes in nature cause a loss of some of the ability
to perform work, or an increase in entropy of the universe.
The entropy of the universe, like "Times Arrow", is
continuously increasing.
Increase in entropy = Increase in disorder

NUTRITIONAL LABEL ON CHEESE FROM CENTRAL AMERICA

Notice that the label states the amount of chemical energy stored within one
serving of the cheese and is expressed in kJ.

What is the Future of Cartography and GIS?
An interactive Internet GIService built on a fully distributed
architecture. No need for expensive GIS software. No need to
download GIS data. Obtain your data, build your map, and perform
your analysis using a standard web browser from your home!
Check out these examples of Internet GIS and Web-Mapping...

A foundational understanding of earth-sun
relationships will provide a basis for gaining
knowledge about the spatial and seasonal variations
of solar insolation receipt on earth.

Airline

Flight

Departure

Arrival

United

Flight 892
NOT DEPARTED
Details

Seoul, South Korea (ICN)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	1:50 PM
Estimated:	1:50 PM

Reason: --
Gate: 45

San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	8:32 AM
Estimated:	8:32 AM

Reason: --
Gate: INTL
Baggage claim: --

Flight 573
NOT DEPARTED
Details

San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	10:50 AM
Estimated:	10:50 AM

Reason: --
Terminal 3 Concourse f
Gate: 68

San Diego, CA (SAN)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	12:19 PM
Estimated:	12:19 PM

Reason: --
Terminal 1
Gate: 12
Baggage claim: --

United

Flight 892
NOT DEPARTED
Details

Seoul, South Korea (ICN)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	1:50 PM
Estimated:	1:50 PM

Reason: --
Gate: 45

San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	8:32 AM
Estimated:	8:32 AM

Reason: --
Gate: INTL
Baggage claim: --

Flight 501
NOT DEPARTED
Details

San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	12:28 PM
Estimated:	12:28 PM

Reason: --
Terminal 3 concourse f
Gate: 69

San Diego, CA (SAN)
Sat, Jul 22

Scheduled:	2:01 PM
Estimated:	2:01 PM

Reason: --
Terminal 1
Gate: 12
Baggage claim: --

C. Solar Declination
Defined as the line of latitude over which the sun
is directly overhead on any given day. Solar declination
changes day to day due to the 4 main characteristics
of the Earth's revolution around the Sun.
What are the 4 main characteristics?

Flashlight Animation of variation in
sunshine intensity with changes in
the declination

Josef Stefan 1835-1893
Picture from Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland
School of Mathematics and Statistics

Ludwig Boltzmann 1844-1906
Picture from Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland
School of Mathematics and Statistics

Insolation varies with:
1. Sun Angle temporally on a diurnal and seasonal basis at a given location
2. Sun Angle latitudinally on a given date
3. Daylength both temporally and latitudinally

The atmosphere is very thin relative to the size of Earth.
View an image of Earth from space to see just how thin
the atmosphere is relative to the size of Earth.