Observing the Earth using Technology

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Observing the Earth using Technology

• COS 10 Bullet 1
• Describe technology used to investigate Earth.
  (Examples sonar, radar, seismograph, weather
  balloons.)

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The History of Observing Objects from Afar

• Navigators began experi-menting with ways to
  observe the stars and planets during the
  nineteenth century.

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• One example to obtain long-range photographs was
  to attach a camera to a pigeon.

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• During the American Civil War, balloons were
  lifted during battles to see the placement of
  enemy troops.

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• During the First World War, unarmed observation
  planes would take off with a camera strapped to
  the undercarriage.

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• As technology progressed, it became possible to
  use Sonar, Radar, the seismograph, and orbiting
  satellites.

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• SONAR
• SONAR is an acronym for SOund NAvigation and R
  anging. 

SONAR   is a technique that uses sounds under
water to navigate, communicate or to detect other
vessels.
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Exploration by SONAR
Sonar image of the USS Monitor on the ocean
floor.

• Shipping lanes on the nation's waterways are
  continually shifting. Surveyors create maps of
  the bottom of rivers, lakes, and oceans using
  Sonar. No matter the method used, the resulting
  maps are used to aid in maritime navigation,
  scientific research, sports, and mineral
  exploration.

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• Surveyors observe the oceans floor for
  volcanoes and other features that stick up above
  the surrounding seafloor.

http//www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/DigitalData/
Default.htm
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RADAR is an acronym that stands for RAdio
Detection And Ranging.

• Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic
  waves to identify the range, altitude, direction,
  or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as
  air craft, ships, motor vehicles, weather
  formations, and terrain.

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• A transmitter emits radio waves, which are
  reflected by the target and detected by a
  receiver, typically in the same location as the
  transmitter.

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• A weather Radar consists of a parabolic dish (it
  looks like a satellite dish) encased in a
  protective dome and mounted on a tower of up to
  five stories tall.

Exploration by Radar
Example of a Radar image
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• A meteorologist uses images that are received by
  Radar to give information about the weather.
  When looking at a weather map, a meteorologist
  needs to know where the cold air is, where the
  warm air is, where it is raining, what type of
  clouds are in the area, and many more things..
  Forecasts need to be timely and accurate and
  radars give meteorologists detailed information
  very quickly.

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• This is a location map for the Radar sites.

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• Earthquakes generate seismic waves which can be
  detected with a sensitive instrument called a
  seismograph.

http//www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/quakes/seis
mo/
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http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismograph

• This is a Strong Motion seismometer that
  measures acceleration. This model is a K2 made by
  Kinemetrics and part of the Pacific Northwest
  Seismograph Network.

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http//www.answers.com/topic/kinemetrics-seismogra
ph-jpg

• Seismometers measure and record the size and
  force of seismic waves. By studying seismic
  waves, geologists can map the interior of the
  Earth, and measure and locate earthquakes and
  other ground motions.

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http//cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/lessons/indiv/davis/hs
/Seismograph.html

• Ever since people first became curious about
  earthquakes, they have tried to design some kind
  of seismograph. This seismograph can be built
  will some simple materials.

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• A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which
  carries instruments aloft to send back
  information on atmospheric pressure, temperature,
  and humidity by means of a small, expendable
  measuring device called a radiosonde.

Close up of a hydrogen filled balloon at
Cambridge Bay Upper Air station, Nunavut, Canada
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_balloon
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• Twice a day, every day of the year, weather
  balloons are released simultaneously from almost
  900 locations worldwide! 
• This includes 92 released by the National
  Weather Service in the US and its territories. 

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• As the balloon climbs it encounters lower air
  pressure which causes it to expand to many times
  its original size. Eventually the balloon bursts
  and the radiosonde falls back to the surface.

The Balloon-Borne Sounding System or BBSS
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• A radiosonde measures various atmospheric
  parameters and transmits them to a fixed
  receiver.

The radiosonde that falls back to the Earths
surface.
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• As technology progressed, it became possible to
  use orbiting satellites.

The United States launched its first weather
satellite, TIROS 1, in 1960.
http//space.skyrocket.de/index_frame.htm?http//w
ww.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/tiros.htm
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http//noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/genlsatl.html

• GOES (Geostationary Orbiting Environmental
  Satellite) orbit the earth at the same rate that
  the earth rotates. It always sees the same area
  of the earth and stays at the same point over the
  equator.

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• POES (polar orbiting environmental satellite)
  scans the earth from north to south. As the
  earth rotates on its axis, the satellite is able
  to scan an area farther to the west with each
  pass.

http//noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/genlsatl.html
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www.primidi.com/images/cosmic_satellites.jpg
www.newscientist.com/.../dn9311/dn9311-1_600.jpg

• Scientists use the information that they acquire
  from Space for geology studies, agriculture
  studies, meteorology, etc.

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• The moon is Earths only natural satellite.
  Observing the moon can be accomplished by using a
  variety of instruments ranging from the naked eye
  to large telescopes.

Moon as seen through a telescope
Moon as seen with a pair of binoculars
Moon as seen with the naked eye
http//www.netaxs.com/mhmyers/moon.tn.html
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observing_the_Moon
http//www.etsu.edu/physics/etsuobs/starprty/21200
mwc/moontour.html