The Summary Report

In Part I, Part II, and Part III of the Final Project (An Investigation): "Why Does West Coast Precipitation Vary from Year to Year?", you investigated some aspects of the variability in precipitation recorded at several West Coast weather stations since the 1950-1951 rainy season, testing the idea that some of the variability might be due to El Niño and La Niña events and their potential influence on the position and strength of the jet stream. Now you need to summarize your investigation and its results.

Summary Report Template. I have prepared a template in the form of a Microsoft Word document that you can use for this purpose. (You can download this document at http://funnel.sfsu.edu/courses/metr104/S12/labs/FinalProject/M104_FinalPrjct_SumRpt_Template.S12.doc.) To simplify preparation of your summary report you can edit the template directly, simply inserting your numerical results and your plots, and replacing the italicized questions posed in the template with a corresponding narrative. (If you can't use the template for some reason, you can create your own summary report from scratch, but it should follow the outline provided by the template. A PDF version of the template is available. A hand-written summary report with accompanying plots is acceptable if it is neat and legible.)

The summary report template includes the following:

• Five sections:
  
  
  1. Introduction
  2. Analysis of Precipitation Records [corresponding to Part I of the Final Project]
  3. Statistical Connections to El Niño and La Niña Events [corresponding to Part II of the Final Project]
  4. Jet Stream Patterns during El Niño and La Niña Events [corresponding to Part III of the Final Project]
  5. Conclusions
     
     
  In each of the template's five sections, one or more bulleted questions or instructions are posed to you, in italics. Replace the italicized questions and instructions with your brief responses to each one, written to create a coherent narrative for your summary report. (The original questions in italics should no longer appear—your narrative should provide the structure provided initially by those questions.)
  
  There is no minimum length for the narrative, but by addressing the questions and instructions posed to you (even though the questions and instructions posed in the template won't appear explicitly in your final report), your narrative should communicate the steps you took in your investigation, why you took them, the results of your efforts, and your conclusions from them. If you are concise and to the point, this need not be excessively long.
  

• (Mostly) blank tables for data:
  
  
  • Table 1: Station Summary (in Section II)
  • Table 2: El Niño and La Niña Events: 1950-1951 to 2011–2012 (in section III)
  • Table 3A: Probabilities that at Least the Number of El Niño Events Observed to Occur in Wet or Dry Years at Individual Weather Stations, Would Have Occurred by Random Chance (in Section III)
  • Table 3B: Probabilities that at Least the Number of La Niña Events Observed to Occur in Wet or Dry Years at Individual Weather Stations, Would Have Occurred by Random Chance (in Section III)
    
  
  You should enter your own data in these tables.

You will add the following items to the template:

• In Section II of the report, include a histogram chart of monthly average precipitation for each of your four stations. You can find these charts in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing precipitation data that the instructor analyzed for you. (Click on the tabs along the bottom of the main spreadsheet window to access the analyses for the various cities.) You can drag and drop (or copy and paste) these charts from the Excel spreadsheet into your Word document (instructions below), or print them and include them with a hard copy of your summary report. You can access the Excel spreadsheet containing the precipitation data at the following Web address:
  
  
  • http://funnel.sfsu.edu/courses/metr104/S12/labs/FinalProject/PrecipData/M104_FinalProject_PrecipData_WCoast_PartlyAnalyzed.S12.xlsx
    
    or if you have a version of Microsoft Excel older than 2007:
    
    
  • http://funnel.sfsu.edu/courses/metr104/S12/labs/FinalProject/PrecipData/M104_FinalProject_PrecipData_WCoast_PartlyAnalyzed.S12.xls
    
    
  (To copy a histogram chart from Excel into Word, open both at the same time and simply drag the chart from Excel and drop it into Word, or:
1. click on the chart to select it;
2. copy it (press the <command-c> keys on a Mac or <control-c> keys on a Windows PC), or pull down the "Edit" menu and select "Copy");
3. click on the spot in the Word document where you want to copy the chart;
4. pull down Word's "Edit" menu and select "Paste Special";
5. in the "Paste Special" dialogue window, select "Microsoft Excel Chart Object" and click on the "OK" button.)
   
   
• In Section IV of the summary report, include the three composite rainy-season 300 mb jet stream plots (with captions) created in Part III of the Final Project.
  
  

Evaluation. Your Summary Report for the Final Project is worth 15% of your course grade. Scoring of the report will be based on the following:

• Completeness and accuracy of the data analysis and the presentation (plots, tables) (50%):
  
  
  • Histogram charts of monthly average precipitation for each station.
  • El Niño/La Niña event data in Table 2.
  • Probability analysis of the statistical relation (if any) between El Niño/La Niña events and wet/dry years at each station (Tables 3A and 3B).
  • Rainy season composite 300 mb jet stream plots.
    
    
• Completeness and coherence of the narrative (50%):
  
  
  • Addresses all bulleted questions and instructions in the template.
  • Narrative flows logically and is understandable.
  • Writing is grammatically correct and avoids both excessive informality and excessive jargon.