Atmospheric Sciences 101: Weather
Autumn 2012

Syllabus

THIS IS A GUIDE ONLY AND IS SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE CHANGE

EOM denotes Essentials of Meteorology. Page numbers have been updated to 6th edition through 17 Oct. lecture so far  Links are enrichment, not required reading.

 

In addition to lecture material, we will have short current weather discussions every Monday and Thursday.

 
Lecture/Topic Month Day EOM reading Links
1. Composition and structure of our atmosphere Sep 24 Ch 1 pp. 1-14
2. Weather vs. climate, temperature.   25 Ch 1 pp. 15-24
3. Heat transfer and radiation, Climate of Seattle area. 26 Ch 2 pp. 28-36 Animation software for simulating atoms/molecules in a gas (uses Java)
4. The greenhouse effect. 27 Ch 2 pp. 37-46 Time lapse of infrared water vapor imagery
5. The seasons. Global temperature variations Oct 1 Ch 2 pp. 46-54
6. Air masses. Daily temperature variations 2 pp. 58-79, 214-224
7. Air pressure, adiabatic expansion, lapse rate 3 pp. 33, 118 (thru Fig. 5.2), 150-155
8. Pressure gradient force. Pressure maps. 4 Ch 6 pp. 156-159
9. Coriolis effect and geostrophic balance 8 Ch 6 pp. 160-174
10. Local circulations I: turbulence, wind shear, mtn waves. 9 Ch 7 pp. 178-181 Mountain lee wave visible satellite loop (6.4 MB)
11. Local circulations II: thermal circulations 10 Ch 7 pp. 182-192
12. Formation of jet streams; the general circulation 11 Ch 7 pp. 193-202 Northern hemisphere 500 mb height loop, 7 days ago to 5 days ahead
13. Winds and ocean currents, El Nino 15 Ch 7 pp. 203-207 NOAA El Nino Theme Page
14. Extratropical cyclones and fronts 16 Ch 8 pp. 225-233 12 day 500/1000mb loop of extratropical cyclones evolving in jet stream
15. Upper atmospheric cyclone structure 17 Ch 8, pp. 234-242
MIDTERM 1 (closed book/note-thru 11 Oct lecture) Oct 18
16. Year-to-year wintertime variability in midlatitudes 22 Ch 7 pp. 196-197 Maps of recent monthly US temps and precip
17. Humidity 23 Ch 4  pp. 77-89 More on the molecular structure of water and ice
18. Condensation and fog 24 Ch 4  pp. 89-96
19. Types of cloud (+ 30 min cloud slide show)   25 Ch 4  pp. 96-108 Cloud Atlas
20. Conditional instability and cumulus clouds 29 Ch 5  pp. 111-120
21. Formation of rain and snow 30 Ch 5  pp. 121-130
22. Other types of precipitation, cloud seeding, radar 31 Ch 5  pp. 131-137
23. Precipitation patterns, floods, droughts Nov 1 pp. 343-349, 398
24. How are weather forecasts made? 5 Ch 9 pp. 231-248
25. Forecast error and predictability of weather 6
26. Thunderstorms and thunderstorm systems 7 Ch 10 pp. 257-270
27. Cloud electrification, lightning and thunder (+35 min video) 8 Ch 10 pp. 271-276 24-hour loop of U.S. lightning strikes
NO CLASS - Veterans Day Holiday 12
28. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (+ 20, 7 min videos) 13 Ch 10 pp. 276-290 Supercell and Tornado Photos
29. Hurricanes and tropical cyclones I (+ 20 min video) 14 Ch 11 pp. 293-300 NOAA Hurricane Research Division FAQs about hurricanes.
MIDTERM 2 (closed book/note-thru 8 Nov lecture) Nov 15
30. Hurricanes and tropical cyclones II 19 Ch 11 pp. 301-314
31. Sky color, mirages 20 Ch 15 pp. 403-413
32. Rainbows, halos, coronas 21 Ch 15 pp. 413-422 Rainbow light paths
NO CLASS - Thanksgiving 22
NO QUIZ SECTION - Thanksgiving 22/3
33. Air pollution   26 Ch 12 pp. 317-340
34. Ozone hole 27 Ch 12 pp. 324-327, 330
35. Paleoclimate and climate variability 28-29 Ch 13 pp. 373-391
36-37. Anthropogenic climate change and its impacts. Dec 3-4 Ch 13 pp. 391-399
Catch-up/enrichment 5-6 No notes or readings
FINAL EXAM, 8:30-10:20, Kane 210 Dec 10
 

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