It is no secret that conditions in the ocean are influenced by conditions in the atmosphere (air) above the ocean. We know, for example, that the wind is a major force on the ocean's surface currents, and the heat of the sun unevenly warms the ocean, creating differences in water density and movement around the globe. And as we all know, storms such as hurricanes can have brief, but very forceful, impacts on the ocean. For these reasons, COOLroom scientists operate a meteorological (weather) tower, or "Met Tower", at the Rutgers Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, New Jersey.



The Met Tower gathers the following atmospheric information:

- Temperature

- Humidity (how damp the air feels)

- Relative Humidity (the extent to which air is saturated with water vapor)

- Solar Radiation (a measure of how sunny it is)

- Wind Speed and Direction

As any sailor, boater or surfer knows, wind has a strong effect on the surface of the ocean. Wind speed and direction are constantly measured by the Met Tower, and updated on the COOLroom web site every 15 minutes. Use the graphing tool below to learn how scientists plot the wind speed and direction.

Click to select a compass direction and create a vector. The color of the vector represents the speed of the wind, and corresponds to the color scale at the bottom. To change the speed of the vector, click on the slide control for the color scale and drag it to the left or right. Then click on the same, or a different, compass direction to change the speed and/or direction of the vector. Notice that the size of the vector changes, too - the greater the wind speed, the larger the vector.

On the COOLroom there are special pages for meteorological weather data for boaters to plan their expeditions and for realtime wind data.