Use of Weather Maps
Data collected by land locations coding in METAR are conveyed worldwide via phone lines or wireless technology. Within many nations' meteorological organizations, this data is then plotted onto a weather map using the station model. A station model is a symbolic illustration showing the weather occurring at a given reporting station. Meteorologists created the station model to plot a number of weather elements in a small space on weather maps. Maps filled with dense station-model plots can be difficult to read, but they allow meteorologists, pilots, and mariners to see important weather patterns.
Weather maps are used to display information quickly showing the analysis of various meteorological quantities at various levels of the atmosphere, in this case the surface layer. Maps containing station models aid in the drawing of isotherms, which more readily identifies temperature gradients, and can help in the location of weather fronts. Two-dimensional streamlines based on wind speeds show areas of convergence and divergence in the wind field, which are helpful in determining the location of features within the wind pattern. A popular type of surface weather map is the surface weather analysis, which plots isobars to depict areas of high pressure and low pressure.
Read more about this topic: Surface Weather Observation
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