Webinar #55 - Thursday, December 1, 2016

Climate through a PRISM: Exploring the spatial patterns of climate across the United States

Chris Daly
Oregon State Univ/PRISM
Corvallis, OR


(Biography)

The United States is home to a rich diversity of climates. From the mountains and deserts of the West to the humid southeast and all points in between, the spatial patterns of climate in our country are fascinating to see and study.  A computerized climate mapping system that allows us to visualize these patterns is called PRISM.  PRISM ”fills in the gaps” between weather stations to create continuous maps by applying knowledge about how climate varies across mountains, valleys, coastlines, and other features that affect precipitation, temperature, and humidity.  This talk will introduce the PRISM climate mapping system and how it works, discuss how features on the earth’s surface affect climate, and explore some of the country’s interesting climatic features and gradients.  For those who would like to explore further on their own, I will point to some online resources, including the PRISM Portal developed exclusively for CoCoRaHS observers.  If you like maps, you will enjoy this talk!



View the Webinar by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCDgQS78FZk&feature=youtu.be



View Chris' presentation slides (16.5MB)





Resources:

PRISM