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Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I
ATM S 509/OCEAN 512

MWF 10:30-11:20, ATG Rm. 310C
Lab Section: F 11:30-12:20
This schedule will be updated as the quarter progresses.  

Week 1:
Mon 1-07-08:
What is GFD?  Review of equations of motion.  Equation of state.  Thermodynamic equations for fluids.  
Slides
Readings: Vallis 1.1-1.4. Gill 3.1-3.3, 4.1-4.3, 4.6-4.8.

Wed 1-09-08:
Thermodynamic equations for fluids (continued).  Potential temperature/density.  Hydrostatic balance in a fluid at rest.  Adibatic lapse rates.
Slides
Readings: Vallis 1.5-1.6. Gill 3.5, 4.4.

Fri 1-11-08
Static stability.  Moisture, latent heating and equivalent potential temperature.
Slides
Readings: Vallis 2.9.  Gill 3.4-3.8.  

Week 2
Mon 1-14-08
Sound waves.  Incompressibility.  Advection/diffusion of a tracer. 
Slides
Readings: Vallis: 1.8-1.11. Gill 4.9.

Wed 1-16-08, Fri 1-18-08:
Equations of motion in a rotating frame of reference.  Coriolis and centrifugal forces.   Inertial oscillations.
Slides
Readings: Vallis 2.1.  Gill 4.5.

Week 3
Wed 1-23-08, Fri 1-25-08:
Inertial oscillations (continued).   Equations of motion in spherical coordinates.   The primitive equations.  
Readings: Vallis 2.2.1-2.2.6. Gill 4.12.   Durran paper on inertial oscillations.   Link to those cool early 60s fluid dynamics films.

Week 4
Mon 1-28-08:
F- and beta-plane approximations.   The Boussinesq equations.   The anelastic equations.  
Readings: Vallis 2.3-2.5.

Wed 1-30-08:
Hydrostatic approximation.   Effect of stratification on hydrostatic balance.  
Slides
Readings: Vallis 2.7.

Fri 1-30-08:
Pressure coordinates.  
Readings: Vallis 2.6. Gill 6.17.

Week 5
Mon 2-4-08, Wed 2-6-08:
Geostrophic and thermal wind balance.  
Monday and Wednesday's Slides

Readings: Vallis 2.8, Gill 7.6-7.7.

Fri 2-8-08:
Shallow water equations.   Vorticity and potential vorticity in the shallow water equations.  

Readings: Vallis 3.1-3.4, 3.6.  Gill 5.6, 7.10, 5.7.
Pictures from this week's lab: 1 2 3

Week 6
Mon 2-11-08:
Linear motion in the shallow water equations.   Poincare waves.  

Wed 2-13-08:
Poincare waves (continued). Kelvin waves.  
Slides
Monochromatic Poincare Wave Movie
2-Wave Packet Poincare Wave Movie

Fri 2-15-08:
Kelvin waves (continued).   Geostrophic adjustment.  

This week's readings: Vallis 3.7-3.8.  Gill 7.1-7.5, 8.1-8.3, 10.4. 

Week 7
Wed 2-20-08, Fri 2-22-08:
Geostrophic adjustment (continued). Energy in the shallow water equations. 1.5-layer and two-layer equations.

Readings: Vallis 3.2-3.3.  Gill 6.2-6.3.  
Geostrophic adjustment movie

Week 8
1.5-layer and two-layer equations (continued).   Equatorial Kelvin waves.   Rossby waves on a beta plane.  Quasigeostrophy.   Ekman layers.  Ekman pumping.  

Readings: Vallis 5.7, 5.1-5.3.  Gill 12.1-3. Vallis 2.12.  Gill 11.5, 9.1-9.6, 12.4-12.5.

Week 9
Ekman layers (continued). Internal gravity waves in a continuously stratified fluid.  

Readings: Gill 6.4-6.8, 8.4-8.9.
Ekman layer slides.
Photos from this week's lab: 1 2 3 4 5

Week 10
Internal waves (continued). Group velocity and phase velocity. Convection in the nonhydrostatic and hydrostatic Boussinesq equations.

Readings: Above plus Vallis 2.10.

Link to cool internal gravity wave movie and figures.