Lab 4 Temperature
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111
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Dec 6, 2023
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Uploaded by HighnessMorning12743
ESC 111 Lab 4
Temperature
Introduction
In this lab, you will demonstrate the range of temperatures found in the United States and relate
these to the varying geographic locations and related factors. Temperature can be influenced by a
variety of factors such as latitude, proximity to water, elevation, and other factors. This material
was covered in the lectures on temperature and chapter 3 of the textbook.
Where to Get the Data
1.
Go to Northeast Regional Climate Center web page,
http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu
2.
Click on: Weather Station Data
3.
Click on: US Comparative Climatic Data
4.
Click on: Normal Daily Mean Temperature
Visualizing the Data in Excel
What Data Do You Need?
Choose one city from each of the following states:
1.
Alaska
2.
Colorado
3.
Florida
4.
New Jersey
5.
the Dakotas
6.
Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio
7.
Northern coastal California
8.
Southern California
9.
Hawaii or another Pacific island
Making the Line Graph
Using a single line graph in Excel you need to visualize the monthly temperatures (for the full
year) from nine cities. We have made a line graph before in lab 2, but this one will have a few
additional steps as we are displaying nor data then the previous one
and will do some additional
formatting to make things look nice.
When you are in putting the data I recommend using this data structure in Excel:
This will help you keep the information needed organized and easier to plot than other ways to
input the data in Excel. Notice that I have removed the columns for years and annual. This is
because years is the number of years observations were taken for each month to create the
normal daily mean temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and the annual is the average temperature
of this location for the full year. Plotting these values would make your graphs look very odd and
is not needed.
If you want to copy and paste the data into Excel that is doable, but you must use the paste
option
"Match Destination Formatting"
. If you do not do this your values will paste as text and
you will be unable to make a line graph
.
Making and Formatting the Line Graph
To make this figure you are going to want to have your x axis represent the months and your y-
axis representing the temperature. To make this if you want to select your data and insert a line
graph, using the same steps outlined in lab 2. Once completed your graph will look something
like this:
Although this is showing what we want, noticed that it looks a little "gross". We want to change:
●
the y-axis to range from -20 °F to 100 °F
●
Add a legend Dash - in lab 2
●
An appropriate title
●
Labeled axes with units for X and Y
Formatting and axis in Excel
This process is quite simple and will make many of the figures in this class much better. for this
lab assignment you only need to format your y-axis to be within the appropriate range, and to do
this:
1.
Right click on the y-axis
2.
At the bottom click on format axis
3.
Find access options
4.
Input the appropriate values for minimum and maximum
5.
You should also form at the position of the x-axis. Follow the above steps to format the x
axis, but scroll to the bottom, Quick labels, click the drop-down menu for label position,
and select low.
Now that you have formatted the acting appropriately, provided an appropriate title, and included
a legend your graph should look similar to this:
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How to Make a Table in Excel
Now that you have properly visualized your data, we want to also make a summary table that
you can insert into your lab report.
I do not want everything you brought over from the
website in your lab report!
I only need the table that we are going to make now.
What Do I want in this Table?
On a separate sheet make a table with the following columns:
1.
City
2.
State
3.
Yearly average temperature
4.
Monthly maximum temperature
5.
Monthly minimum temperature
6.
Monthly Annual temperature range
How do I Find the Average, Minimum, Maximum, and Annual Temperature
Range?
1.
The first thing you should do is set up your table with each of these column headers
mentioned above, these are labeled 1 through 6.
2.
In the yearly average column for your first city type in:
=average(select temperature cells for first city)
3.
Hit the Tab Key and you should see a number pop up that is the average of the cells you
selected. You will do this for steps 4 through 6 as well.
4.
In the yearly maximum column for your first city type in:
=max(select temperature cells for first city)
5.
In the yearly minimum column for your first city type in:
=min(select temperature cells for first city)
6.
In the annual range average for your first city type in:
=max cell - min cell
*This is the maximum and minimum value you identified in steps 4 and 5*
7.
Here's the fun part! Now that you have calculated the information for all of these cells for
your first City, Select do cells and dragged from the green box down for your remaining
cities. this will auto-populate the cells for you so you do not need to type in the equation
again. This is the power of this program if you have never done this before Oh, and these
functions will make your life easier in future lab assignments. Now that your table is
done it should look something similar to this:
8.
Don't give me a screenshot of your table! Select the information in this table, right click
copy, and then right click paste into your report. This will automatically generate a table
for you in both Microsoft Word or Google Docs. An example of this can be seen below in
which I created my table in Microsoft Excel and pasted into Google Docs.
City
State
Average
Max
Min
Range
Duluth
FA
39.6
65.8
10.2
55.6
Fake 1
FA
57.3
78.3
36.9
41.4
Fake 2
FA
62.4
81.4
41.7
39.7
Fake 3
FA
75.8
79.7
71.6
8.1
Fake 4
FA
48.2
70.8
24.7
46.1
Fake 5
FA
11.7
40.9
-14.2
55.1
Fake 6
FA
46.2
66.1
29.6
36.5
Fake 7
FA
75.0
94.8
55.4
39.4
Fake 8
FA
55.8
78.1
33
45.1
Classifying the General Climate Categories
Considering both the graph and the table, think about how the temperature average and range of
each city relates to the following descriptive terms that account for the gross differences between
them:
●
Northerly/Southerly
●
Maritime/Continental
●
Lowland/Highland
These are factors that are related to each City's local geography,
not climate change
. Remember
that climate data sets are typically a minimum of 30 years, while weather data sets are for the
immediate state of the atmosphere (give or take a few years as well). In your lab report I would
like you to classify these cities based on these general categories covered in the Unit 2 lectures of
your lecture (ESC 110). If you have any questions concerning these broad categories feel free to
reach out to your lecture professor, and we will re-evaluate these types of classifications in Unit
7.
Lab Report
Write up your findings about the variable gasses in the atmosphere in a lab report, following this
format:
Title
●
Brief, but descriptive.
Introduction
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●
What was the topic of this lab?
●
What was the purpose? Focus on the purpose of the work you did and what it
accomplished, not the learning experience.
Methods
●
In this section, you should describe what you did, but do NOT include the actual data or
results. Where did you obtain the data? What information (describe, not the actual data)
did you record (the graphs)? What observations did you make?
Results
●
Write a short paragraph describing the variations in temperature for each location.
Include the graph and table, and
refer to them in your report
. Remember that you chose
9 cities so you should have 9 short paragraphs (2 minimum to 5 sentences max).
Discussion
●
For each location, explain how factors related to its geography result in the actual
temperatures and annual temperature variations observed. Specifically, consider latitude,
altitude, proximity to oceans and prevailing wind direction. Again, refer to the graph and
table in your discussion. You could also add a map, but this is not required. If you are
interested in adding a map feel free to ask for assistance from your lecture professor to
provide you with options at your skill level.
Conclusions
●
Brief summary of your findings.
Include with report:
●
Graph
●
Table.
●
Optional map
All materials for the lab report MUST be submitted as a single pdf file.