NTRs: weather and climate

[pbuttigieg]

Will be tricky:

• weather is a collection of processes and, possibly, qualities in a region
• climate is more like a BFO:history concerning weather

[cmungall]

Although glossaries and terminologies won't inform us of the ontological treatment, useful to keep us aligned with usage by experts:

EARTh:

 / EARTH:120 ! DYNAMIC ASPECTS
  is_a EARTH:240 ! CONDITIONS
   is_a EARTH:115960 ! environmental conditions
    is_a EARTH:29280 ! atmospheric conditions
     is_a EARTH:13350 ! climate ***  [DEF: "The average weather condition in a region of the world. Many aspects of the Earth's geography affect the climate. Equatorial, or low, latitudes are hotter than the polar latitudes because of the angle at which the rays of sunlight arrive at the Earth's surface. The difference in temperature at the equator and at the poles has an influence on the global circulation of huge masses of air. Cool air at the poles sinks and spreads along the surface of the Earth towards the equator. Cool air forces its way under the lower density warmer air in the lower regions, pushing the lighter air up and toward the poles, where it will cool and descend."]
   is_a EARTH:13790 ! weather ***  [DEF: "The state of the atmosphere at a definite time and place with respect to air temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, cloudiness, etc."]

IPCC glossary:

Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the "average weather", or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system.

http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ipcc_tar/?src=/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/518.htm

[pbuttigieg]

A Met Office guide of interest

[pbuttigieg]

Now that we've matured our process hierarchy, I'm giving this important issue a stab. I've added weather as a quality and climate as a disposition.

We have, in the PATO:quality branch,

environmental variability =def. A condition which inheres in an environmental system by virtue of that system undergoing variation in its composition, the distribution of the qualities its components bear, and/or in the processes which occur within it and which it participates in.
+comment: This class is very general, but the nature of environmental variability is indeed quite variable. This class may be refined once we have more subclasses to consider.

-- weather =def. Environmental variability which inheres in an astronomical body part or in outer space.
-- +comment: This class refers to all weather, including atmospheric and space weather. Please use a subclass for more specificity.

---- atmospheric weather =def. Weather which inheres in an atmosphere.
---- +comment: This class refers to the common usage of "weather", referencing the state of a (part of) an astronomical body's atmosphere.

---- space weather =def. Weather which inheres in outer space

While climate is under disposition as...

climate =def. The disposition of an environmental system, particularly those influencing atmospheres, to manifest a cyclic pattern of weather over time.
+comment: Climate is commonly defined as the weather averaged, or otherwise summarised, over a period of time much longer than the duration of any phenomenon that constitutes weather. The standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose.
+editor note: The current alignment of "climate" under BFO:disposition is drawing from its very useful etymology (Ancient Greek klima, meaning inclination). The climatic conditions currently used to axiomatise biomes (polar, tropical, etc) may be better placed under this class.