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Coriolis Effect
The Coriolis Effect has a major influence on wind direction. In this exercise you will view videos, play a game, read and answer questions to help in visualizing the Coriolis Effect. You will also find the rotational speed of the earth near Indianapolis!
Begin by watching these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcPs_OdQOYU (Transcript 1)
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1904/es1904page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization (no transcript needed)
Now, try this game!:
http://www.montereyinstitute.org/noaa/lesson08/l8ex1.htm (no transcript needed)
Read the following web pages and watch the animation at the end of the second page, "Moving Air Parcel", which shows how the Coriolis Effect creates geostrophic wind:
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/wwhlpr/coriolis.rxml?hret=/guides/mtr/fw/geos.rxml
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/geos.rxml (See Transcript 2 for animation).
Read the following explanations of the Coriolis Effect:
An intuitive explanation (using Northern hemisphere examples):
Moving from the north pole toward the equator: This is the easiest direction to visualize and one you have seen in the above videos. Imagine a plane leaving the north pole and aiming directly for a certain location. The entire time it is flying south toward its destination, the earth's surface is moving out from underneath it, toward the east. The plane will end up west of (or from the plane's point of view, to the right of) its intended destination.