Errata and Updates

This page lists important corrections and significant updates to the
AMS Weather Studies Textbook, 3rd ed. and Investigations Manual, 2011-2012.

• Correction to Investigations Manual 5B: Figure 6 of Inv. 5B is incorrect - the level of the 500 mb surface over Massachusetts should be at 5300 meters rather than 5500 meters. To access the correct image, go to the DataStreme Atmosphere course website and click on "Investigations Manual Images". Then select "Fig. 6" in the row labeled 5B.
  
  
• Update to textbook Figures 4.11 and 4.12, and Table 4.4: The March 2009 paper "Earth's Global Energy Budget" by Kevin E. Trenberth, John T. Fasullo, and Jeffrey Kiehl in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society updated energy balance numbers based on new observations and analyses. The following updated figures reflect this new research:
  
  Figure 4.11
  Figure 4.12
  Table 4.4
  
  Please note that these numbers slightly modify the planetary albedo and Bowen ratio.

• There is a typographical error in the Investigations Answer Form provided in the Study Guide binder. Investigation 4A answer choices to No. 2 have an error in the third option. The Investigation Answer Form delivered via the DataStreme Atmosphere webpage is correct.

• Update to textbook Figures 15.12 and 15.13: These figures were taken from the 1990 IPCC Assessment. In recent years, the proxy climate data used to construct these graphs has been questioned, and the scientific consensus is that they are no longer accurate portrayals. The IPCC Fourth Assessment report (2007) provides figures that will be used in the next textbook edition, substituting for 15.12 and 15.13. We encourage you to examine the following graphs:
  
  Records of NH temperature variation during the last 1300 years
  
  NOTE: a full discussion of Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstructions is online at http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch6s6-6.html

DataStreme Atmosphere is part of the Cooperative Program for Earth System Education (AMS/NOAA CPESE) funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).