Things to keep in mind

1. Write in complete sentences.
2. Make sure your paragraphs have a topic sentence and that the rest of the sentences
relate to that topic sentence.
3. Watch your spelling.
4. Proof-read your work
5. Follow the format and style guidelines/instructions.

Grade for Assignment

50% Meteorology
25% Format (Described Above)
25% Style (Proper Sentences/Spelling etc.)

Details of the Assignment

The title of the paper MUST be "California Advection Fog" and the paper MUST have the following organization and section numbers/headings.

i. General Rules

All ideas that are not your own, not common knowledge or not the direct result of the study need to be "referenced". Not to do so is considered plagiarism and is intellectually dishonest. Generally speaking, the rules regarding plagiarism are stringent. The penalties are as well. For example, at San Francisco State University (as at other major univerisities) the penalty for plagiarmism range from failing grade on the assignment to dismissal from the university.

You will indicate references in your writing assignment in the manner required in the meteorological (and, in general, science) literature.

Scientists have adopted an easy way to indicate references that dispenses completely with the need for footnotes. NO FOOTNOTES. NO DIRECT QUOTES. In this writing assignment, you need to indicate references only in sections (2) and (3).

At the university level, references to encyclopedia-type summary articles are NOT allowed. Encyclopedia articles are "pre-digested" unreferreed, capsule summaries, often with improper or inadequate foundation, and often not even remotely written by experts within the field. Since a fundamental tenet of the scientific method is that the researcher ADDS to the body information already known about the subject, primary sources are required. The exception would be refereed Compendiums published by groups of experts within a field.

It is very simple to reference an idea. Suppose you want to remark on the fact that tornadoes are not as rare in California as previoiusly thought, and that you learned that from reading an article by someone named Smith. In the text, you simply paraphrase the observation made by the author and indicate the author or authors by last name and date.

Here are some examples: (Note: none of the examples mentioned below is an actual one).

REFERRED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Here is an example of a proper reference of a journal article. Journal titles are italicized (or underlined if you don't have italics). Quotation marks below indicate examples....not quotations.

"...An explosion of knowledge regarding tornadoes in California occurred in the 1990s because researchers using the proper principles of the scientific method finally turned their attention to the occurrence of such storms in the state (Smith, 1989)..."

Then, in the Reference section of the paper the full reference appears, as shown below.

Smith, J., 1989: The use of the scientific method in the study of tornadoes in California. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1342-1368.

TEXTBOOK/BOOK CITATIONS

On the other hand, textbook citations are different. Suppose you read that tornadoes are rare in California on page 16 of a textbook. Then you would say in your text:

"...Jones (1986, p. 16) has shown that the fact that tornadoes are perceivied as infrequent in California is due to poor application of the principles of the scientific method in the study of such storms in the state..."

or

"...Tornadoes are not as rare in California as previously thought (Jones, 1986, p. 16)...."

And in the reference section: (Book titles are underlined)

Jones, P., 1986: California Weather. McMillan Press, 364 pp.

ii. For This Assigment

For this first writing assignment, you will not be using any "journal" articles. You will only be using the textbooks. In the Reference section of your paper, these references must be used and listed as follows:

Gilliam, Harold, 2002: The Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region. UC Press., 106 pp. Williams, J., 1997: The Weather Book. USA Today. , 212 pp.

Remember, each of these must appear at least once in the body of your text, using the format described above.

You may refer to but do need not reference my lectures either in the text or the Reference section.

Illustrations

i. General Rules

Illustrations are often worth lots of words. If you choose to use figures, maps or diagrams in your writing assignment, you need to keep the following in mind:

1. You must directly refer to the figure in the text. No figures should appear in your paper unless you specifically refer to them and discuss them in the text.

2. Number the illustrations sequentially and label them Fig. 1, Fig. 2 etc. and refer to them that way in the text.

3. If the figure is not your own, then you need to reference it in the following manner:

"The relative rareness of tornadoes in California is illustrated in Fig. 1 (taken from Smith, 1989). The reader will note that..."

ii. For this assignment:

You will be required to refer to illustrations (called "figures") to help clarify your work. Paper figures that MUST be numbered consecutively and must include at least FOUR of the following (not necessarily in the order listed below). Figures should be placed to the rear of the paper.

1. The figure showing the cross-section from the Pacific to the interior of the US
2. visible satellite image for 1930 UTC 25 September 2002
3. infrared satellite image for 1930 UTC 25 September 2002
4. the sea-surface temperature map of the eastern Pacific for 24 September 2002 (you can assume that this is representative of the conditions on 25 September)
5. temperature timeline at Fort Ord (Monterey) for 25 September 2002
6. Sealevel weather map (isobars) at 2000 UTC 25 September 2002

All figures* MUST be referred to specifically in your text. In other words, somewhere in the text should be something like: "...fig. 1, the visible satellite image for 1930 UTC 25 September 2002, shows the..."  or  "...fig 2, the infrared satellite image for 1930 UTC 25 September 2002 shows the..."

Remember, for each figure you use should be explanatory text in the body of your paper to help the reader why you are using the figure. Each figure should be attached to the back numbered consecutively in the order in which they are covered in the text. A figure caption should be provided for each, directly underneath the figure.