Chapter 1 Large Data Set (AS)

Question 1

What is daily mean temperature measured in?

Answer 1

degrees Celcius (°C) to 1 d.p

Question 2

What is daily total rainfall measured in?

Answer 2

millimetres (mm) to 1 d.p

Question 3

What is daily total sunshine measured in?

Answer 3

hours (hr) to 1 d.p

Question 4

What is daily maximum relative humidity measured in?

Answer 4

percentage (%) to the nearest integer

Question 5

What is daily mean windspeed measured in?

Answer 5

• knots (kn) to the nearest integer
• Beaufort Conversion (calm, light, moderate etc…)

Question 6

What is daily mean wind direction measured in?

Answer 6

• degrees (°) to the nearest 10
• cardinal direction (N, S, SE, NSN, etc..)

Question 7

What is daily maximum gust measured in?

Answer 7

knots (kn) to the nearest integer

Question 8

What is daily maximum gust direction measured in?

Answer 8

• degrees (°) to the nearest 10
• cardinal direction (N, S, SE, NSN, etc..)

Question 9

What is cloud cover measured in?

Answer 9

oktas, where one okta = one eighth of the sky covered

Question 10

What is daily mean visibility measured in?

Answer 10

decametres (Dm / dam) to the nearest 100

1 Dm = 10m

Question 11

What is daily mean pressure measured in?

Answer 11

hectopascals (hPa) to the nearest integer

1hPa = 100 Pa = 1 millibar

Question 12

What is a trace (tr) value?

Answer 12

A trace value is less than 0.05mm of daily total rainfall. In calculations it can be rounded to 0.

Question 13

How can you estimate if a given day is misty or foggy?

Answer 13

A daily maximum relative humidity of over 95% indicates mist or fog.

Question 14

Where is missing data (‘n/a’ or ‘-‘) found in the data set?

Answer 14

• The first half of May 1987 has missing values in UK locations for total daily total sunshine, mean windspeed and maximum gust.
• Other ‘n/a’ and ‘-‘ values can also be found haphazardly around the data set.

Question 15

What four variables are recorded for the three international locations?

Answer 15

The three international cities only contain data for daily mean temperature, daily total rainfall, daily mean pressure and daily mean windspeed.

Question 16

Which five locations are near the coast?

Answer 16

Jacksonville, Perth, Camborne, Hurn, Leuchars

Question 17

How could Perth being in the Southern hemisphere affect data comparison?

Answer 17

Perth experiences the opposite season to the other locations in the data set.

Question 18

Which variable is discrete?

Answer 18

Cloud cover is the only discrete variable in the data set.

Question 19

What variables were affected by the Great Storm of 1987 in the UK?

Answer 19

• Daily mean wind speed, daily maximum gust, daily total rainfall.
• The Great Storm has less of an impact on daily total sunshine and cloud cover because it’s usually cloudy and less sunny in October anyways.

Question 20

When was the Great Storm of 1987?

Answer 20

15th and 16th of October

Question 21

How many days are covered in the data set in total?

Answer 21

184 days

Question 22

Where is Leuchars?

Answer 22

Leuchars is on the East Coast of Scotland.

Question 23

Where is Leeming?

Answer 23

Leeming is in North Yorkshire. It is not on the coast.

Question 24

Where is Heathrow?

Answer 24

Heathrow is in Greater London. It is not on the coast.

Question 25

Where is Hurn?

Answer 25

Hurn is in Dorset, inset from the coast by about 6km.

Question 26

Where is Camborne?

Answer 26

Camborne is a coastal location in Cornwall.

Question 27

Where is Beijing?

Answer 27

Beijing is in Inland China.

Question 28

Where is Jacksonville?

Answer 28

Jacksonville is a coastal location in North-East Florida.

Question 29

Where is Perth?

Answer 29

Perth is a coastal location in Western Australia.