Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The system spawning a tornado outbreak in four USA states was refueld with water vapor from Hudson Bay.

November 18, 201502.30.19z
 UNISYS Enhanced Infrared north and west hemisphere satellite

This is new and unbelievable. (click here for 12 hour loop)

There is such a thing as lake effect, but, this is unprecedented from my point of view. That is enormous water displacement to the upper troposphere.

November 18, 2015
13.30.18z
UNISYS water vapor satellite of north and west hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

Currently it appears to be limited to an inland bay. The evaporation of fresh water out of ocean salt water is more taxing in calories. But, this Hudson Bay incident has to be viewed as a very important sign of the urgency of reducing greenhouse gases in the troposphere.  


November 18, 2015
13.30.18z UNISYS enhanced infrared GOES East satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

I do this everyday, this posting has nothing to do with up coming climate conference. While this is vitally important to note, this has nothing to do with the upcoming meeting.

Now, getting back to the question, the presence of non-volatile compounds dissolved in seawater have a tendancy to lower the vapour pressure. That is, the less of the water will evaporate off at a given temperature, because the non-volatile dissolved solids (salts) in seawater are strongly ionic and have a tendancy to 'hold onto' the water in the liquid. The net effect is that a higher temperature will be reached before the vapour pressure of sea water equals the surrounding atmospheric pressure (1 atm). This increase in boiling point temperature over that of pure water is called the Boiling Point Elevation (BPE) of sea water (at that temperature and salinity, S).

There needs to be a determination of the loss of surface water (in vapor) to the upper troposphere and the stratosphere compared to what is returned to Earth's surface.

The difference in temperature between fresh water and sea water can be very small increments while the boiling point remains whole degrees differences (ie 1.0 in contrast to 0.1),

The water vapor leaving is probably in excess to the water vapor returning. Upper troposphere has the habit to return in hail events and huge events such as the tornado outbreak, but, once the water vapor enters the tropopause it is lost to return

This seems rather simplistic, but, a very simple monitoring can be conducted locally as well as NASA's assessment of atmospheric interaction. I'll get some pictures. This is important for local farmers.

This is a rain gauge. It doesn't get easier than this. It has to be placed in the open where rain falls. Do not place it under eaves of houses or under a canopy. There are rain gauges that can be a standing application rather than a hanging application simply because it can be blown at angles during accompanying wind that will effect the amount of rain collected.

To the left is an evaporation pan. It is created for scientific use because the bottom and sides of the pan are molded for accuracy of the contents in the pan. Yes, a regular pot can be used in an open space, but, it will not be as accurate as an evaporation pan designed for scientific measurements. 

Local agricultural agents can help a great deal in setting up such a personal monitoring stations. The measurement of the evaporation pan is best if made with a very thin tape measure normally found in hardware stores.The thinner the measuring tape the more accurate the measure

Those are minimal requirements to set up a personal rain measuring stations. They can be fun and there are central reporting stations that can be provided by the same agricultural agent.

Today in the USA there are citizens that have very extended records back to 50 years or more. Those folks are definitely important for those that study these issues. Americans are very resourceful and well educated people. They are capable of understanding complex issues and reporting from a personal rain station is just one of them.