Windrose Plots

We have been studying the pattern of wind and how that affects the environment.

 The bottom picture are the wind patterns of 1990 and the one on the right are patterns in 1992. We can see that in this area there has been much change in the wind over the two years, which shows a some sort of change in the weather pattern or event.

 In this area, both the 1990 and 1992 wind patterns were similar by the Jackson-Hartfield airport. This indicates that there probably wasn't a major change in the weather patterns.

Solar Trajectory Lab

By measuring the shadows of my roommate at different times of the day, more specifically morning, afternoon, and evening, I was able to catch a glimpse of the solar trajectory path. I measured the height of my roommate (68 inches), the different lengths of her shadow in inches, the ordinance of each of those shadows, and took the tangent of her height over the length of her shadow to calculate the sun's position.

Height:            Length:        Angle:                                          Direction:
27 inches         32 in                27/32=.844= 40 degrees          North 175
27 in                49 in                27/49=.551= 29 degrees          NE 147
27 in                134 in              27/143=.202= 11 degrees        NE 96
27 in                100 in              27/100=.270= 15 degrees        NW 122
27 in                56 in                27/56=.482= 26 degrees          NW 139
27 in                35 in                27/35=.771= 38 degrees          NW 161

*Data from class example

Volume of Rainfall

In our first lab, we calculated that during a two inch rainstorm, about 88,000 gallons of water fall on the Willet Science Center parking lot. Just to give some perspective, a swimming pool holds about 10,000 gallons of water; so, almost 9 swimming pools of water fell on just that one parking lot! This stresses the importance of having a good drainage system for any sort of construction project. Can you imagine the castastrophe that would result from that much water pooling on that parking lot??

Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson is an American Marine Biologist and Conservationist. She began her professional career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of fisheries and was an avid writer of nature by the 1950's. By the late 1950's, she turned her sights to nature conservation, where she received significant recognition for her book Silent Night. This book opened the eyes of many Americans who were unaware of the detrimental effects the synthetic pesticides have on the environment. Her book led to the nationwide ban on the pesticide DDT among other pesticides and created grassroot movements leading to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.   

For more information about Rachel Carson, visit
http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OVP/24hours/carson.html