Meteorology

Here I will give you an introduction into basic meteorology. I will cover three different topics:

1.) Some basics using the example of a thunderstorm

2.) Global wind and weather

3.) Dynamic vortices

Recently I became aware of my own lack of knowledge when it comes to basic meteorology – and I felt somewhat ashamed. What actually is a high pressure/low pressure region? Why is high pressure connected to sunny, low pressure to rainy weather? No idea! Meteorological literacy, the art to read a weather chart, is becoming more and more essential in modern times. So I bought a textbook on meteorology (Brigitte Klose, Heinz Klose, Springer Verlag, 2016) and started to read.

I do not claim to have understood/memorized the entire book, of course. Nevertheless, here I try to summarize some basic meteorological concepts. Hopefully this summary, simple as it is, can help you grasping a basic knowledge of the factors driving our weather. Alternatively, you may also help me improving texts and graphics. Either way: have fun going through my files!

These slides are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. In case of using several of my slides, one citation is sufficient.