AQA · A-Level · Geography
Course version: 7037 · Version from Sept 2018
Weather maps – including synoptic charts (if applicable).
Full specification wording
Cartographic skills: Weather maps – including synoptic charts (if applicable).
Weather maps, including synoptic charts, display meteorological conditions across a specific area at a given time.
Checked against the AQA 7037 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 2 of 5
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Weather maps, including synoptic charts, display meteorological conditions across a specific area at a given time. Synoptic charts use standard symbols to represent atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, and frontal systems. Isobars, which are lines of equal atmospheric pressure, are crucial; closely spaced isobars indicate steep pressure gradients and high wind speeds. For instance, identifying a low-pressure system with associated warm and cold fronts allows you to predict precipitation and temperature changes. Understanding these maps is essential for linking atmospheric processes to observable weather hazards.
What earns the marks
- Identify and interpret standard meteorological symbols on a synoptic chart, including fronts, cloud cover, and wind speed.
- Analyse the spacing of isobars to determine pressure gradients and deduce wind strength and direction.
- Recognise macro-scale weather systems such as depressions and anticyclones from pressure values.
- Predict likely weather conditions based on the passage of warm, cold, or occluded fronts.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Confusing high and low pressure systems.
Put it right: Low pressure brings unsettled, wet weather, while high pressure brings clear, dry conditions.
Misinterpreting wind direction symbols.
Put it right: The tail of the wind arrow points in the direction the wind is blowing from, not where it is going.
Assuming widely spaced isobars mean strong winds.
Put it right by remembering that widely spaced isobars indicate a gentle pressure gradient and light winds.
Exam tips
- Memorise the standard synoptic symbols for warm, cold, and occluded fronts, paying attention to the direction the triangles or semicircles face.
- When describing weather associated with a depression, sequence the changes as the warm front, warm sector, and cold front pass over a location.
- Look at the pressure values on the isobars to confirm whether a system is an anticyclone or a depression.
Try the lesson
The start of the Cartographic skills: Weather maps – including synoptic charts (if applicable). lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
On a standard UK synoptic weather chart, what do the continuous black lines with numerical values (such as 1012 or 996) represent?
Listen
Weather maps, including synoptic charts, display meteorological conditions across a specific area at a given time. Synoptic charts use standard symbols to represent atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, and frontal systems. Isobars, which are lines of equal atmospheric pressure, are crucial; closely spaced isobars indicate steep pressure gradients and high wind speeds. For instance, identifying a low-pressure system with associated warm and cold fronts allows you to predict precipitation and temperature changes. Understanding these maps is essential for linking atmospheric processes to observable weather hazards. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Identify and interpret standard meteorological symbols on a synoptic chart, including fronts, cloud cover, and wind speed. Analyse the spacing of isobars to determine pressure gradients and deduce wind strength and direction. Recognise macro-scale weather systems such as depressions and anticyclones from pressure values. Predict likely weather conditions based on the passage of warm, cold, or occluded fronts. A common slip: Assuming widely spaced isobars mean strong winds. Instead, remembering that widely spaced isobars indicate a gentle pressure gradient and light winds. Exam tip: Memorise the standard synoptic symbols for warm, cold, and occluded fronts, paying attention to the direction the triangles or semicircles face.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Synoptic charts
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Isobars
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Frontal systems
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Meteorological hazards
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See every definition
- Synoptic charts
- Charts that use standard symbols to represent atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, and frontal systems.
- Isobars
- Lines of equal atmospheric pressure, whose spacing indicates the steepness of the pressure gradient and the strength of winds.
- Frontal systems
- Warm, cold, or occluded fronts whose passage across a synoptic map allows short-term weather changes to be forecast.
- Meteorological hazards
- Observable weather hazards to which atmospheric processes can be linked through understanding weather maps.
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