The use of climatological indices in university teaching has generally been limited to large-scale classification which regionalizes climates in a way that students can understand systematic locations of the various regimes. However, climatological indices have rarely been used by students or policy-makers to solve or understand real-time environmental problems; these are impacted by shorter-term variations in the weather. This paper will address several uses of climatological indices to solve such problems.
Synoptic classification lends itself well to climatological indexing, as air masses can be identified at particular locales and their environmental impacts can be assessed. There are now numerous air mass-based classifications that can be used for these purposes, and one of the most recent is the spatial synoptic classification (SSC), developed at the University of Delaware. This index characterizes each day throughout the year into one of seven air mass types, and can be applied to all first-order weather stations throughout North America. Thus, air masses which are related to various environmental impacts can be pinpointed, and once identified, can be described in detail to students, the general public, and policy makers.
One such use is the development of heat-health watch/warning systems, which identify for particular cities air masses which are historically associated with elevated human mortality. Two such systems are presently in place for Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and policy-makers are utilizing the air mass classification to determine when to call health alerts. Of course, this information, including index development and health impact, can easily be imparted to students. In fact, we are now designing a new system based on this air mass index to identify weather situations conducive to high levels of asthma distress.
We have also developed a method to map air masses on a daily basis across the entire country. Further, the mapping procedure is animated, and permits the viewer to watch the air masses move across the continent. Thus, air masses historically associated with high levels of mortality, asthma distress, pollution, or other environmental problems can be tracked across the area, which provides a much clearer picture of how weather affects our lives. An example of our animation procedure is presently on our website, and teachers, policy-makers, and the general public can access this information for their own purposes. It is hoped that the use of air mass classification to understand the impact of climate on the human condition will increase in the classroom, as it provides a relatively simple abstraction of the true meteorological situation across space