Meteorological Visibility Observations: A User's Guide

This Meteorological Observation Guide has been written as part of a NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) Research Experience Placement carried out in the School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh.
Aimed at National 5 to Higher.

The aim of the research project was to investigate specific aspects of how global climate change affects the climate of Britain.

There are two main aims to this project:

1. Conduct visibility observations from Blackford Hill in Edinburgh, observing to see whether in times of anti-cyclonic weather, pollution build up in the atmosphere reduces the observed visibility.

2. Analysis of historical climate models to see how the frequency of anti-cyclones over the UK has changed due to anthropogenic climate change.

This guide is part of the former section. The procedure that follows is the procedure used over the period of the project, and the Blackford Hill example used is the actual visibility observation that was conducted.

This element of the project is transferable to other locations with a suitable vantage point. The work can be carried out by a class group or as part of a specific scientific project for senior pupils.

Author: James Holehouse
Unless otherwise stated all content is released under a CC-BY 4.0 license
Keywords: Anti-cyclonic weather; Meteorological Visibility Observations; hill; Climate Change; Weather; Climate

Cover image is The view over the City of Edinburgh looking towards the north from Blackford Hill by Brian Cameron, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.