Tag / humidity

by shannonchance

Irish Weather

We’ve had 2-3 weeks of glorious weather here in Dublin. People seemed stunned. A few people even started complaining that it had been 75 degrees for too long. Too hot, some said. And truly, we did have a day of high humidity — almost unknown in this fair city.

The past few days ushered in a return of regular irish weather. In Ireland, experiencing “all four seasons in one day” isn’t unusual.

Above, I’ve uploaded some photos from my stint across town and back today.

The photo below was taken from my seat atop a double-decker bus. It offers a glimpse of Dublin city traffic… and shows you why I don’t bike here more often!

This photo, taken from my seat atop a double-decker bus, offers a glimpse of Dublin city traffic... and hints as to why I don't bike here more often!

Yes, we ARE passing that truck!

by shannonchance

Why Winter is Comfy in Dublin

The weather was chilly this morning as I boarded the bus at O’Connell Street to go interview potential Fulbrighters — but it was much warmer than in much of the USA!
…when I downloaded these images last night, it was five hours later in Dublin than at home, and of course much farther north as well.
It has been warmer in Dublin than at my Portsmouth, Virginia home…
The red dots on this map show the locations of Portsmouth (left) and Dublin (right). (Base map was downloaded from a Regnum Christi blog post.)http://live.regnumchristi.org/2011/07/where-are-you-from/

The red dots on this map show the locations of Portsmouth (left) and Dublin (right). (Base map was downloaded from a Regnum Christi blog post.)

Winter weather in Dublin is often much like that in the costal region of Virginia where my house is.  The nearby water helps mitigate temperature extremes in each location.  (That’s partly because water heats up during the day and releases that energy slowly at night — keeping costal areas warmer than inland areas during winter.)

Like Portsmouth, Dublin rarely sees snow.  When a dusting comes, it quickly dissolves.

Both places near the brink of calamity with the slightest hint of ice or snow. The cities and drivers simply aren’t prepared to deal with it.

What’s interesting about all this is that Dublin is so very far north. It’s much farther north than, say, Fargo, North Dakota, where my friends have reported recent wind chills of minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit!?!! Yet it never gets that cold here!

In summer, however, Dublin doesn’t get nearly as warm as Portsmouth.

In 2003 Dave and I were in Ireland for the extended “heat wave” where temperatures reached 75 degrees Fahrenheit for at least two weeks.

This chart shows the blend of temperature and humidity that most people in the States find comfortable. (Image from Shiller, M. (2004). Mechanical and electrical systems. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing.)

This chart shows the blend of temperature and humidity that most people in the States find comfortable. (Image from Shiller, M. (2004). Mechanical and electrical systems. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing.)

These factors affect human thermal comfort. (Image from the book Shiller, M. (2004). Mechanical and electrical systems. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing.)

These factors affect human thermal comfort. (Image from the book Shiller, M. (2004). Mechanical and electrical systems. Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing.)

The humidity is terrible at home in the summer.  But here, the level of humidity is always quite comfortable.  The air doesn’t tend to hold a lot of water.  When it reaches the point of saturation that would be uncomfortable to most people, it drops the water in the form of rain.  So, Dublin gets some rain most days, but the shower doesn’t usually last long.  I don’t carry an umbrella because a lightweight coat and hat do a fine job keeping me dry.

Based on the chart above (that I use in the Architectural Ecology classes I teach at Hampton University), the humidity level in Dublin must stay between 20-75%.  Mother Nature must naturally remove the water as rain when humidity reaches a point over 75% here.  How generous of her!

Overall, Dublin enjoys a pretty good balance of the factors show in the drawing to the right (humidity, temperature, sun, and wind).

The weather was chilly this morning as I boarded the bus at O'Connell Street to go interview potential Fulbrighters -- but it was much warmer than in much of the USA!

Incidentally, the humidity in this picture is from the warm, wet breath of people riding the bus this chilly morning. The wet air tends to get trapped inside the bus.  And, it seems to be a bit more humid up top on the double deckers, perhaps because heat rises.

A great benefit of all this is that my laundry almost always dries within the day when I hang it inside the apartment — I have a clothes dryer here, but thankfully no need for it!  The air is dry enough here to absorb the water in the clothes as soon as I hang them.  It takes much longer for laundry to dry in my house in Portsmouth, even when the air conditioner is running overtime to such the water form the air.

Here, there’s no need for AC (except, of course, in buildings that were designed without regard for climate… who would overlook that!?!).

by shannonchance

Mixing Soup Under a Fine Dublin Sky

Fulbrighting is in full gear here!

The weather is grand — chilly but sunny.  And, surprisingly, it was a day without rain.  That hardly ever happens.  We usually get at least a few drops every day.  As they say, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes” … it’s certain to change.  They also say Ireland has four seasons in a day.  Dave and I have definitely experienced that.

I’ve learned never to leave the apartment without a small umbrella and a waterproof jacket of some sort.  There’s little humidity in the air here in Dublin.  Gavin joked yesterday that humidity tends to fluctuate between 0% and 100%.  (Scientifically speaking it’s probably more like 30% and 100% since 0% would be unGodly dry, but the idea is right on.  A hundred percent is, of course, when the air can no longer hold the water and it rains or snows.)  I’ll include a few random photos of the Dublin sky, snapped as I walked to various buildings at DIT today (the buildings are spread out all over town).

In the past couple of days, Sima, Gavin, Brian Bowe (their doctoral supervisor), and I have been trading articles on design theory, design process, and qualitative research methods in preparation for our work.  We’re exploring differences and similarities between phenomenology and phenomenography.  Fascinating, eh!?  Well, fortunately, we think so!  (I’m trying to make time to read a stack of articles and chapters while also preparing to give a conference presentation next week and making final reviews of the article that will be published next month by SCUP, the Society of College and University Planners.)

Among other activities today, I met with Gavin to discuss definitions of “design” and their relationship to epistemology (the way individual understand “knowledge” and what it means “to know”).

Computer Science lecturer Damien Gordan walked past and joined the conversation (see photo).  I’m looking forward to talking with him again soon.  So energetic!

Chatting with Damian Gordon from Computer Science, who, like us, also does educational research.

Everyone here is amazingly welcoming.  Gavin’s office-mate, Kevin, gave me a his own personal HP printer (his wife has just purchased a new one).  The librarian at Bolton Street, Brian Gillespie, checked me out a book using his library card, since mine’s in the works. The Head of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design asked me to submit a paper for his upcoming conference.

I could go on… but there’s even more exciting news.

In a few days, Gavin, the Dean of the College, and I will all fly to Thessaloniki, Greece for a conference sponsored by SEFI (the society of European engineering educators).  Gavin will be presenting two papers and I will be presenting two as well.  One of the papers we wrote together, so we’ve got a total of three presentations to deliver between the two of us.  Strangely, all three of these presentations fall in the same time block.  We’ll get to see exactly how many places we can each be at one time!

When the conference ends, Gavin will zip back to Dublin mid-week to teach classes.  I don’t have to be in a specific class next week, and my flight choices all required a lengthy stop-over.   So… I took full advantage of the opportunity.  I chose Rome as my through destination and I scheduled a stop over for three nights on the way back.  I’ll return to Dublin in time to work Saturday and Sunday.

I have a huge amount of homework to complete for the following week (the same week my Mom and her two neighbors are arriving for a visit).  But I can’t fall behind in my work.  Gavin and I must stay on our toes in order to complete our study in time for the January 7 journal deadline.

Oh, yes, Sima phoned today to discuss lecturing schedules and research plans.  She’s been following the blog and she called with a very excited tone.  She’d not noticed the BYOF sandwich board right outside their building, and neither had the other lecturers.  They learned about it from my blog and got a big laugh.

I should have taken a photo in the window of that pub yesterday.  The students were just back and they hadn’t packed lunches either.  So, there were plenty of students in the pub, but few had BTOF (Brought Their Own Food).

On a parting note, I also had to stop for some produce today and I leave you with the following delightful image+thought=idea.  The veggie assortment pictured below was labelled as “soup mix.”  How cool!

‘Course I’m gonna steam my veggie assortment instead… and I think I’ll do that right now!  Apologies for any typographical errors… but I need to go eat… and work on that SEFI presentation… YIKES!

Soup Mix — Irish Style!