The Application Students use the CD-ROM as an integral part of several activities. Likewise, if there is no storm present or the user's network connection is unavailable the user can elect to use archives in place of live information. If questions arise about terminology used in the real-time maps or with concepts about tropical storms they can visit the glossary section of the program. Figure 4, for example, is a Shockwave animation of a glossary definition of the Coriolis Force. An example of a live update to the CD-ROM data during Hurricane Mitch.
Dots indicate the every six hour movement of the storm center.
Interactive glossary explanation of Coriolis Force. Users are able to determine the characteristics of the storm at each interval by rolloing over the location dots. Major cities are also presented so the user can specify which cities should receive tropical storm warnings and watches. Hurricane intensification and movement is influenced by physical features including sea-surface temperature and wind flow above the surface. Based on this information the student is challenged to forecast the position of the center of the tropical storm in 24 hours.