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Synoptic Analysis and Forecasting

An Introductory Toolkit

Synoptic Analysis and Forecasting: An Introductory Toolkit provides the bridge between the introductory fundamentals of a meteorology course and advanced synoptic-dynamic analysis… Read more

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Description

Synoptic Analysis and Forecasting: An Introductory Toolkit provides the bridge between the introductory fundamentals of a meteorology course and advanced synoptic-dynamic analysis for undergraduate students. It helps students to understand the principles of weather analysis, which will complement computer forecast models. This valuable reference also imparts qualitative weather analysis and forecasting tools and techniques to non-meteorologist end users, such as emergency/disaster managers, aviation experts, and environmental health and safety experts who need to have a foundational knowledge of weather forecasting.

Key features

  • Presents the fundamentals of weather analysis and forecasting
  • Offers clear accessible writing aimed at students from a variety of mathematical backgrounds
  • Discusses the reading and interpretation of surface observations and METAR code, processes associated with the motion and intensity of cyclones and anticyclones, and quantitative and/or qualitative diagnosis of processes associated with ascent and descent

Readership

Second- and third-year undergraduate meteorology students; first-year graduate students with an undergraduate degree in a field other than meteorology; professional meteorological users (e.g., broadcast weather presenters, pilots, dispatchers, emergency managers, environmental/air quality experts)

Table of contents

1. Meteorological Conventions2. Surface Observations and Instrumentation3. METAR code4. Upper-air Observations5. Upper-tropospheric Charts6. Lower-tropospheric Charts7. Upper-tropospheric Processes8. Lower-tropospheric Processes9. Putting It All Together10. Fronts and Drylines11. Satellite Imagery12. Radar Imagery13. Thermodynamic Diagrams Basics14. Thermodynamic Diagrams Interpretation15. Weather Forecasting Basics

Product details

About the author

SM

Shawn Milrad

Dr. Shawn Milrad has taught synoptic-dynamic meteorology, weather forecasting, and climate dynamics courses at three universities since 2009, including at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University since 2013. He has also developed innovative student forecasting initiatives and severe weather field courses. The author is strongly committed to the proper teaching and training of weather analysis and forecasting concepts to diverse international audiences. Dr. Milrad’s research focuses on extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, severe convection, and ice storms. In 2023–2024, Dr. Milrad was chosen for a prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award, through which he is currently a guest researcher at the University of Bergen in Norway, studying extreme heat and associated human health impacts. Much of Dr. Milrad’s passion comes from educating and mentoring the next generation of atmospheric scientists and weather-adjacent professionals, such as those in the aviation and emergency management fields. Of Dr. Milrad’s 33 peer-reviewed publications since 2009, 11 had first authors who were his undergraduate research assistants.
Affiliations and expertise
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, USA

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