ATM S 509/OCEAN 512 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I

Winter 2005
http://www.atmos.washington.edu/2005Q1/509/

MWF 10:30-11:20: Lectures in ATG 310c
Th 1:30-2:20: Lab demonstrations in OSB 107 (led by Eric Lindahl, research engineer in Oceanography's GFD Lab)
Instructor:
Prof. Chris Bretherton
breth@atmos.washington.edu
ATG 710, x5-7414
Office hours: MW 11:30-12:20,
or by appointment.
   		Teaching Assistant:
John Mickett
jmickett@ocean.washington.edu
x5-9080
Office hours Tu Th 2:30-3:20, in OSB 245.

Course description Prerequisites Syllabus Textbook Grading Schedule Homework and Exams Handouts Lab descriptions Matlab scripts Message Board

Course Description

Dynamics of rotating stratified fluid flow in the atmosphere/ocean and laboratory analogues. Equations of state, compressibility, Boussinesq approximation. Geostrophic balance, Rossby number. Poincare, Kelvin, Rossby waves, geostrophic adjustment. Ekman layers, spin-up. Continuously stratified dynamics: inertia gravity waves, potential vorticity, quasigeostrophy.

Prerequisites

A course in basic fluid mechanics, such as AMATH 505/ATMS 505/OCEAN 511

Textbook

Gill, A.E., 1982: Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics. Academic Press [G in syllabus]

Other useful texts:
Cushman-Roisin, B., 1994: Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Prentice-Hall, 320 pp. (recommended; a good basic treatment) [CR in syllabus]
Pedlosky, J., 1979: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics. Springer-Verlag (more mathematically sophisticated and in-depth, esp. for discussions of vorticity, PV, and quasigeostrophic scaling). [P in syllabus]

Syllabus

(updated as term progresses)
Lecture number Date Topic Suggested Reading
(G: Gill, P: Pedlosky, CR: Cushman-Roisin)
1-3 Jan 3-7 What is GFD?. Density of air/water. Compressibility and potential density/temperature). Hydrostatic balance in a fluid at rest. Static stability. G1-2,3.1-3.7; CR 1
4-8 Jan 10-21 Scale analysis. The hydrostatic approximation and pressure coordinates. The Boussinesq approximation. Rotating reference frame. Eqns. of motion for stratified, rotating incompressible flow on a sphere. The f and beta plane approximations. Geostrophic and thermal wind balance. G4, 7.6-7.7; P1, 2.6-2.9, 6.1-6.2; CR 2-3
9-10 Jan 24-26 Shallow water equations (SWE) and two-layer approximation. G5.6-5.8, 6.1-6.3, P3.1-3.6
11-17 Jan 28- Feb 11 Rotating linear SWE on an f-plane. Rossby adjustment problem. Potential vorticity. Inertial oscillations, Poincare waves, dispersion and group velocity, Kelvin waves. G7.2, 8.1-8.6, 10.2-10.5 ; P3.7-3.9; CR 6.2-6.3
18-20 Feb 14-18 Flow over topography. Linear internal inertia-gravity waves in a continuously stratified fluid. Critical levels. G6.4-6.8, 8.4-8.9
21-22 Feb 23-25 Circulation, vorticity and potential vorticity in a continuously stratified rotating fluid G7.9-11, P2.1-2.5
23-24 Feb 28-Mar 2 Ekman layers, Ekman pumping, and Sverdrup transport. G9.6, 9.2, 9.4, 9.12, 11.13, 12.4; P4.1-4.7; 5.1-5.4; CR 5
25-28 Mar 4-11 Rossby waves on a beta plane. Quasigeostrophic scaling in SWE. G12.1-3, P3.10-3.19; CR 6.4-5

Grading

Special days

We-Fr 26-28 Jan, Mo-We 7-9 Mar - I will be out of town.
We will reschedule the March classes; TA John Mickett will teach the February classes.
Vacations - no class

Homework and Exams

Item Due Date Download Solutions
Homework #1 due Fr 14 Jan Homework # 1 solutions
Homework #2 due We 26 Jan Homework # 2 solutions
Homework #3 due Fr 4 Feb Homework # 3 solutions
Take-home midterm due Mo 14 Feb Midterm Solutions
Homework #4 due We 23 Feb Homework # 4 solutions
Homework #5 due Fr 4 Mar Homework # 5 solutions
Take-home final due 5 pm We 16 Mar Final solutions

Handouts

Ekman notes
03/21/2005