Copy the monthly average maximum temperature and the annual average into the table below in the row for R.
City
SF R
3. Analyze your data. Which months show the greatest degree difference between the two cities? Why might this be so? Why is San Francisco not consistently cooler than Richmond?
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Part III: Specific Oceanic Conditions
Given what you have learned so far in this activity, what would your predictions be about the salinity, temperature, and density of water of the coast of these two cities during the summer months? The winter months?
Using data and interactive tools from NASA’s Aquarius satellite, you will test your predictions!
>> Go to NASA’s “Aquarius Portal,” available under Study Resources for Module 4 in the Investigate section of Logistics at PolarHusky.com.
>> On the main page, find and select “Annual Cycle” and click the button for the Interactive Tool. Click the square to maximize the popup window.
>> Move your mouse over the map. You will see a “crosshair.” Look below the map and you will see two boxes under “Location.” These show the latitude and longitude for your cursor.
Find the West Coast of the United States, and slowly move your mouse up and down the coast until the cursor shows approximately 37.61°N latitude, the location of San Francisco.
Then click the mouse button in the ocean close to the coastline.
Repeat this step on the East Coast until you reach approximately 37.50°N latitude, the location of Richmond.
Click “plot.” The computer will generate a chart of the average salinity at the surface over the year.