Figures
v
Preface
vii
Contents
Acknowledgments
Units of Measurement
Introduction
Wind
▼
▼
▼
ix
x
1
3
Latitude and Longitude
3
Angle of the Sun’s Rays
4
Insolation
5
Atmospheric Pressure
Coriolis Force
6
10
Prevailing Winds
12
Winds of the Upper Troposphere
Measurement
15
Reporting
17
To summarize
26
Waves and Sea States
Waves
29
29
Currents
32
Tides
34
Observation
37
Reporting
40
To summarize
Weather
48
51
Climate versus Weather
Air Masses
Fronts
51
52
53
Northers
Clouds
Fog
15
55
56
62
Sea Ice
64
Cyclones
Waterspouts
65
68
Weather Observation
70
iii
Reporting
76
To summarize
79
Offshore Operations
Drilling Units
Fixed Rigs
83
83
87
Regulating Agencies
89
Wind, Waves, and Weather Effects
To summarize
Glossary
111
Review Questions
Answers
iv
108
143
135
90
Figures
1. Offshore operations are being carried out over a large part
of the earth.
1
2. Operations in the hostile environment of Alaska
2
3. Radiation pattern in the earth-atmosphere system
4. Basic hydrological cycle
▼
▼
▼
5
7
5. Average atmospheric pressure at the earth’s surface
6. Effect of Coriolis force on masses in motion
9
10
7. Circulation of the air in the Northern Hemisphere
11
8. Simplified general circulation of the prevailing winds
9. A cup anemometer
10. A wind rose
12
16
18
11. Wind warning displays on the United States coastline
12. Weather map showing fronts and pressure patterns
13. Wind direction and speed symbols
14. Sea, fetch boundary, and swell
15. Wave description
21
22
23
29
30
16. Prevailing ocean currents
32
17. The sun-earth-moon tidal force system
18. Beaufort scale with sea characteristics
19. Beaufort numbers 0-10
36
40
41–42
20. Page from Worldwide Radiofacsimile Broadcast Schedules for
Kodiak, Alaska
45
21. Satellite image of clouds in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and
South Atlantic Ocean
47
22.
National Weather Service Internet sites
23. U.S. Navy and other weather Internet sites
24. Air mass source regions
47
47
52
25. Cross section of fronts
53
26. Common types of clouds organized according to their heights in
the sky
56
27. Cirrus clouds
57
28. Cirrostratus clouds
57
29.
Cirrocumulus clouds
58
30.
Altostratus clouds
31.
Altocumulus clouds
32.
Mamma
33.
Stratus clouds
34.
Nimbostratus clouds
60
35.
Stratocumulus clouds
61
36.
Cumulus clouds
58
59
59
60
61
v
Table
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vi
37.
Cumulonimbus clouds
62
38.
Wind moves counterclockwise around a cyclonic system
in the Northern Hemisphere.
65
39.
Pilot chart containing storm tracks representing average
cyclonic activity for the month of July
66
40.
Waterspout over Big Pine Key, Florida
41.
A standard thermometer
42.
An aneroid barometer
43.
A digital hygrometer
71
44.
A sling psychrometer
72
45.
A hurricane track supplied by a contract weather service
46.
A jackup drilling rig
47.
A semisubmersible drilling rig
48.
A drillship
49.
A fixed platform rig
50.
A tension-leg platform rig
51.
The Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star working the ice
channel near McMurdo, Antarctica
93
52.
A mobile arctic caisson rig
53.
An iceberg floats in the North Atlantic somewhere off the
coast of Greenland
95
54.
Helicopters transport personnel to and from offshore rigs.
102
55.
Boats carry personnel and equipment to and from the rig.
104
56.
A personnel basket transfers personnel from a rig to a boat.
104
57.
A covered lifeboat
58.
An escape capsule
68
70
71
78
84
85
86
87
88
94
105
106
1. Beaufort Scale with Corresponding Wind Speeds
17