Disciplinary characteristics of synoptics

Meteorological science is an applied discipline which combines theory with practice closely. The development of meteorology began with the demand of agriculture and navigation for weather forecast, and accurate weather forecast has always been the main goal of meteorological research. Because of the complexity of controlling atmospheric motion factors and the randomness of atmospheric motion itself, weather forecast is not as accurate as that of the sun, moon and stars, but it is basically practical and plays an important role in economic construction. Especially since 1950s, due to the application of computers and meteorological satellites, the accuracy of weather forecast has been greatly improved.

Synoptic science is a discipline that summarizes the laws or models of synoptic science based on actual observation data and studies it on the theoretical basis of dynamic meteorology. Meteorology differs from physics. Most weather phenomena cannot be observed in the laboratory. On the contrary, the whole atmosphere should be regarded as a "laboratory". On the basis of collecting a large number of observation data from all over the world, we should use weather maps and other tools to carry out research.

Meteorological science is a local discipline. Due to the fluidity of the atmosphere, the weather changes in different places are closely related. Even though there are many universal laws, due to different geographical factors, the weather in different places has its own characteristics. Therefore, in meteorological research, we should not only consider the movement law of the whole atmosphere, but also consider the great influence of local factors such as geography, topography and land and sea distribution.

Meteorology mainly studies atmospheric motion phenomena such as atmospheric circulation, weather system and weather process, and comprehensively summarizes the laws of atmospheric motion; Study the structure, occurrence, development and movement of weather systems at different scales in the atmosphere, and establish physical images of the occurrence and development of various weather systems; Study the interaction between various weather systems, the physical mechanism of atmospheric circulation and the evolution of weather processes; Study the weather forecast method, that is, according to the analysis of weather maps and other related tools, study how to predict the future weather in various places.

The study of meteorology is based on meteorological observation data, so meteorological observation is the basis of its development. The phenomenon of atmospheric movement discovered by synoptics provides a research topic for dynamic meteorology. The research results of dynamic meteorology provide a theoretical basis for meteorological research and are directly applied to weather forecast.

Meteorology is different from climatology. Meteorology mainly studies instantaneous atmospheric physical phenomena and their short-term changes, while climatology mainly studies long-term average atmospheric physical phenomena and their long-term changes. But they are interrelated, for example, weather climatology is the product of the combination of the two. Weather forecast has promoted the development of applied meteorology for friends from all walks of life. However, various requirements in applied meteorology promote the research and development of meteorology.