Hurricane Heat Engines
By: Caleb & Joshua
Want to find out more about Tropical storms? You hurri-came to the right place!
Where do hurricanes form?
How hurricanes form?
How are hurricanes categorized?
What is the purpose this s'more?
To examine authentic sea surface temperature data to explore how hurricanes extract heat energy from the ocean surface.
Map data analysis
Is there evidence of a change in sea surface temperature (SST) in the data maps? Explain what the evidence of change in SST is.
There is a change, the SST decreases. The hurricane works by using the warm moist air as a kind of "fuel." The air condenses into clouds, and wind start turning around the center, which is the eye.
Describe the change between the hurricane passage and the effect on SST?
Areas in the Hurricane’s wake have a lower temperature, because it takes the energy from the water, and heat is created by energy. The energy is used up as it dumps the water, and blasts strong winds, taking the heat energy out of the water.
What other effects on SST may be occurring?
Other things that may affect SST is the season, the weather, and time of day. The season can affect it because of the tilt, although the equator is barely affected. The weather affects it because if it is cloudy, than some of the Suns rays are mitigated, and don't reach the surface. Less rays mean less energy transferred to the water, and that means less heat. Time of day is the last listed factor. If it is night, a part of the ocean doesn't get light, which means that it doesn't get heat energy.
Map and graph data analysis
1. The ocean water temperature changed because the hurricane took as much heat from the water as it could while it was active. It also left the water cold when it died off then the water warmed back up but it never warmed back to where it was, and the water eventually got cold again due to seasonal changes.
2. The ocean water temperature never returned to its original temperature but the highest it got after the storm was close to 28.75 degrees Celsius and it was this about 12 days after the storm