Synoptic–Dynamic Meteorology in 3D: Introducing an IDV-Based Lab Manual

A central challenge in teaching atmospheric dynamics is to link mathematics to interpretation and understanding of physical processes in the atmosphere. To meet this challenge, dynamical equations are often derived in conjunction with idealized, simplified examples or schematics in order to help illustrate the workings of a given term, equation, or process. Extending such idealized dynamical examples to the real atmosphere adds new challenges and opportunities. Challenges include isolation of a given process amid a complex, nonlinear atmosphere, and difficulty with visualization of increasingly large datasets. The combination of increased computational processing speed, improved visualization capabilities, and freely available web-based data sources presents an opportunity for unprecedented data visualization. When students can examine geophysical data in three dimensions, and in real time, they are able to see dynamical processes at work and more fully appreciate the extent to which theoretical relations hold in the real atmosphere.

We have developed a set of laboratory exercises, many involving 3-dimensional visualization, that are designed to illustrate physical and dynamical processes in the atmosphere. These exercises are built around Unidata’s Integrated Data Viewer (IDV), a freely-available java-based visualization package. An advantage of the IDV is that it allows one to visualize data on remote servers, meaning that large disk storage and data archives need not be locally available. Another important feature of the IDV is flexibility: A plethora of mathematical operations are available, and users can easily develop new formulas to extend their explorations into a given dataset. Lab-manual lessons are built into the IDV itself, via a plug-in feature. The lab manual is structured approximately in parallel with Lackmann’s Midlatitude Synoptic Meteorology textbook; the structure provided by the manual allows students to sequentially step through different dynamical concepts, with the ability to relate the material back to the textbook as needed.

In this talk, we explain how to obtain and utilize the manual, introduce a few of its lessons, and discuss how users can build upon and further develop the manual for their own purposes, and for the community. Initial student feedback has been positive, and students report that their understanding of dynamical concepts is improved by the ability to visualize in three dimensions. Whether these initial perceptions translate into significantly improved test scores remains to be seen.