CoMo Science

What is this? 036

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What part of the world is this?

Australia

What is the island to south of the main landmass?

Tasmania

What do the numbers represent?

Atmospheric pressure

What do the lines represent?

Lines connect areas of equal pressure. These lines are called isobars.

What unit is the pressure measured in?

millibars

What do H and L represent?

High and low pressure regions.

What does TC represent?

Tropical cyclone.

Although you likely wouldn’t know that TC represents a tropical cyclone, this can be inferred from the fact that the pressure at TC is much lower than even the pressure at L.

What is the pressure at TC?

988

This number is not found on the map, but can be inferred from the line labeled 992 and the fact that each line represents a change of 4 from its neighboring lines.

What do A, B, and C represent?

These are not standard symbols and likely added to the map for educational purposes. Their purpose can only be guessed at.

A may be indicating the cyclone.

Since B and C are between the same isobars, they may be indicating regions that have the same pressure.

What type of map is this?

This is an isobar map, a type of contour map.

Has the cyclone hit the mainland yet or is it just about to hit?

It is just about to hit.

Cyclones are the same as hurricanes. Hurricanes form near the equator and move away from the equator. Their movement is affected by the Earth’s rotation. Because Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, the movement will be opposite from the direction that it is in the Northern Hemisphere where hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean and curve to the west to hit the Eastern US. So this hurricane was formed north of Australia (near the Equator) and is moving south and curving to the east.

What is incorrect about this map?

The isobars jump from a pressure of 1016 to 1008 near the low pressure system. All of the other isobars indicate a change of 4. There should be another isobar in between 1016 and 1008.

Goals of this image:
  • Reading a map
    • Recognizing regions of the world
    • Recognizing this is in the Southern Hemisphere
  • Reading contour maps
    • Understanding the lines represent lines of equal pressure
    • Understanding the circles represent high and low areas
    • Finding the missing isobar
  • Understanding weather systems
    • Recognizing the numbers represent pressures
    • Realizing they must be in millibars to be realistic pressures
    • Cyclones are areas of very low pressure
    • The direction cyclones move depends on which hemisphere they are in and comparing to your knowledge of how they affect the US

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