Trees are really good navigational tools, we will look at a few ways you can use trees to aid your navigation.
Tree Roots
When a tree grows it uses its roots not only to absorb minerals and water from the ground but to act as an anchor keeping the tree itself as upright as possible. When external factors play against the tree, the tree responds by changing its structure to cope. These external factors include wind, the sun, and even the angle of the slope the tree is growing on. If you look at photo 1 which is an Aspen you’ll notice that it has an extra long root that is protruding from the ground. This is a response to the wind pushing the tree. As the wind pushes against the tree it responds by creating larger and thicker roots to counteract the force. As the majority of the wind we get in England is from the south west (prevailing wind) the majority of supportive guy roots point towards a south westerly direction. So photo 1 was taken from the southern side of the tree facing north. This is not a hard and fast way of navigating as other factors can create this root structure such as soil type and erosion. Best tip is to take a sample of 4 or 5 trees for comparison.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Tree leaves.
Tree leaves can aid navigation in many ways, one of the nicest observations, one that many people say ‘oh i never noticed’ is the order leaves fall off a tree. As the autumn arrives and the leaves start to fall. The tree will shed the leaves that are least useful first, the ones on the shady side of the tree. As we know from looking at the sun earlier, the sun is predominantly in the southern skies so the tree will start to shed it’s northern, shady leaves first, maximising the photosynthesising properties of the remaining leaves (see photo 2 as an example).
Sun and shade leaves.
Following the same theme on leaves trees also have shade leaves and sun leaves. Shade leaves are darker and smaller than sun leaves which are larger and lighter in colour.
Photo 3
Lichen
See photo 3 – in this photo is a giant Cedar tree. If you look closely you will notice that it has a line down the middle with two shades of brown, one either side. The left hand side is actually lichen. It likes the sun, it prefers the warm sunny side of the tree so will be found growing on the southern sides of the tree click here for more on sunrise and sunset. This photo was taken from the eastern side of the tree facing west. There are other types of lichens that will be brighter if they are in the sun or prefer either shaded or sunny locations, however it’s rather an unreliable way to navigate so i’ll leave it out for the time being.
You own a compass, GPS, sat nav etc. what’s the point in learning to navigate using other methods? When we have so much technology at our disposal why bother learning extra skills?
The answer is simple… to connect with nature.
It’s not just using natures tools to determine what direction you are heading, it’s about understanding what you are looking at on a deeper level. Once you dive into the depths of nature it opens up a whole new way of looking at everything.
The Sun
Sunrise and sunset
Rises in the east sets in the west. Well, sort of, mostly all of the time. The sun only rises due east and sets due west twice a year. That is on the spring and autumn equinoxes. An equinox is the time of year when day and night are the same duration. Each day the rising and setting point changes a little.
On summer solstice, when the day is the longest (June 20th 2020) the sun will rise at 49 degrees and will set at 311 degrees. At winter solstice, when the day is its shortest (December 21st 2020) the sun will rise at 128 degrees and set at 232 degrees. So throughout the year that is a difference in rise of 79 degrees and set of 104 degrees respectively.
Southern facing
As we are in the northern hemisphere the sun will always be in the southern half of the sky. And will be due south in the middle of the astronomical day (not midday 12:00). Looking at the compass in the picture you can see that the margin for error in winter is a lot less than in the summer in winter the sun only moves 104 degrees across the sky, in comparison to the summer where it can move 262 degrees, so adjust accordingly.
Using your watch to find south
Not totally natural but a neat trick so ill include it. If you point your hour hand of your watch at the sun, then bisect the difference between the hour hand and the 12 o’clock position and it will point you roughly south.
Stars
The best way to find north in the night sky is to find the location of the north star, Polaris. You will first need to familiarise yourself with the constellation of Ursa Major or as i know it, the Plough, it is also known as the great bear and the big dipper. Once you have found this constellation you need to find it’s two stars named Dubhe and Merak (Stars 1 and 2 in the diagram). These stars are going to be used as navigational pointers to find Polaris. Measure the distance between star 2 and star 1 and then follow an imaginary line 5 times that distance from star 1. That will take you directly to the north star which, as you quite rightly assumed, gives the location of north.
‘Looks like it’s going to rain, you should take a brolly’…
I believe that most people can subconsciously, and to some extent consciously, feel the change in the atmosphere as the sun closes its eyes and the dark clouds obscure it in the sky. The impending rain storm is coming.
Can we better predict what’s going to happen in the skies based on what we can see now? To answer that question we must first remind ourselves of the basics of clouds and what causes them to form in the first place.
What are clouds?
Clouds are the formation of water vapor that as it rises expands and cools. It then condenses to form what we see as clouds.
Each water droplet can vary in size from 1 – 100 microns (a human hair is 75 microns across) so very very small. That said the combined weight of all those water droplets means the average cumulus cloud weighs in at a whopping 1 million tonnes approximately. So how does it stay aloft i hear you ask? Well, the density of a cloud is around 1.003kg per m3 which makes it 0.4% lower than the surrounding air, making the cloud lighter allowing it to float.
What makes it rain?
The tiny water droplets float around in the cloud and bump into each other sticking to each other, something we call cohesion. All this cohesion makes the water droplets larger and this means they are less able to fight the pull of gravity and when the pull is too much, they fall from the sky, creating rain. Rain drops can vary in mass from drizzle at 0.004mg and the largest during a storm at 300mg.
What are the different types of clouds?
Clouds can be arranged into 3 broad categories, high, middle and low altitude clouds. High clouds form between 16000 and 43000 ft. Middle clouds form 6500 and 23000 ft and low clouds form below 6500 ft.
Now I’m not usually a fan of Latin names for objects when someone is trying to learn something new. After all the Maasai tribe of Kenya and northern Tanzania don’t know the latin names for all the animals and plants but have an exceptional knowledge of plants and wildlife that would put most of us to shame. In this case there aren’t really any common names for clouds so latin it is! It does not take too long to learn and actually follows a fairly straightforward pattern.
High level clouds are formed mainly of ice crystals due to the temperature and altitude in which they form. You can tell if the clouds are high altitude clouds as they do not obscure the sun (or make it opaque).
Cirrus – Means a ringlet or tuft.
Cirrostratus – Stratus means to flatten out or to be covered with a layer.
Cirrocumulus – Cumulus means accumulation or a heap/pile.
Middle level clouds are made up of water and sometimes, if it’s cold enough, ice. They quite often block out sunlight, but this is not a hard and fast rule.
Altostratus – Alto means height or upper air.
Altocumulus – Cumulus means accumulation or a heap/pile.
Low level clouds clouds tend to contain water, but can also be comprised of snow if the weather gets cold enough. Low clouds always block out sunlight.
Stratus – Saddle or Layer.
Stratocumulus – A layer of cumulus.
Nimbostratus – Nimbus means dark cloud or rain.
Cumulus – Accumulation.
Cumulonimbus – An accumulation of rain.
Right Latin lesson over, it’s all well and good knowing the name for something but what could it or does it mean? It’s really important to give name knowledge a purpose or what’s the point in learning the names for things?
Cirrus – is the most common high altitude cloud it is a sign of fair and pleasant weather to come.
Cirrostratus – A thin sheet like cloud that can cover the entire sky. It can be used to predict rain or snow if it’s cold enough within the next 12 – 24 hours.
Cirrocumulus – This cloud like the cirrostratus is a layer but differs because of its patchy appearance. When you see this cloud, it means that the weather is stable for now however it could be a prelude to stormy skies. If this cloud does precipitate it is rare that the droplets will reach the surface.
Altostratus – Forms ahead of a warm or occluded front. A warm front means light rain or snow and an occluded front is where a cold front and warm front have caught up with each other, joined together, which can cause strong winds and heavy rain. As the front passes Altostratus deepens and becomes Nimbostratus. Seeing this cloud can be an indicator that the weather is going to change for the worse.
Altocumulus – This cloud brings settled weather. If it does produce rain it is unlikely that the rain will reach the surface.
Stratus – If the weather is warmer it brings rain if it’s colder then it will bring snow. A low level grey blanket cloud that can sometimes be seen as fog.
Stratocumulus – Rarely produces rain. This cloud is usually seen at the tail end of bad weather, however can be a prelude to worse weather approaching.
Nimbostratus – Dark, low uniformly grey clouds. Widespread light to moderate precipitation. If you can see this one it’s probably already raining.
Cumulus – Fair weather cloud. A rounded top and a flat bottom this cloud means that it’s all going to be ok. However, this cloud can sometimes develop into Cumulonimbus which means you should probably think about heading indoors.
Cumulonimbus – Towering bad weather cloud with extreme weather, torrential rain, hail, lightning, but short lived so it’s not all that bad…
Using clouds to predict the weather is such an accessible activity to all people, you can even stay indoors or in your office if you like. Look out of the window, decide what type of cloud it is and see if your weather prediction comes true.
There are of course many types of clouds that fall in between these types and each can be affected by additional factors, temperature, wind direction and strength, atmospheric pressure. This article is designed to be a starting block for you to take some knowledge and develop it further.
If you want more information or have a question that needs answering. Please get in touch via social media or the website.
