zzzDavidYeomans-GrADSresults

=**Basic parts:** = ==**1. Download and read...** ==

Since I'm new to all this, I was greatly assisted by Angela and her GrADS code page === ===

===**2. Calculate zonally averaged P and v over longitude, and plot the resulting latitude-time series.** ===

Here is the latitude-time sections of P and v in the zonal mean, and at 90W: Global precip appears to peak in June

Precip at 90 deg W has bimodal peaks in June and September. The highest values are north of the Equator in what looks like may be the ITCZ.

Meridional wind averaged over longitude appears to peak just south of the Equator during June/July/August.



===**3. Average air temperature over both lat and lon, to make a 12-month time series. Which season has the warmest global mean surface temperature? Can you understand why?** ===

Global mean surface temperature displays a nice cycle on an annual timescale:

We can infer that the average global temperature is greater during the Northern Hemisphere SUMMER months because of the much greater land mass - to - water mass ratio present there as opposed to in the Southern Hemisphere. Since land has a lower heat capacity than water, the sun is able to heat it more efficiently during the months it receives the highest incoming SW radiation.

===**4. Make a map of the temporal (i.e. seasonal) standard deviation of precipitation, expressed as a percentage of the annual mean precipitation. This might be one definition of a "monsoonal" climate.** ===



It appears that the greatest seasonal variabilities in precipitation occur over parts of the Sahara desert, India (Indian monsoon), and off the coast of South America (yearly fluctuations in wind patterns causing seasons of convection and seasons of subsidence?)

===**5. What is the space-time standard deviation of 'air' (temperature)?** ===

The total space-time standard deviation of global temperature I calculated was 15.23 degrees C.