749 Atmospheric Radiative Transfer
Prerequisite: Physics 745
Quantitative description of electromagnetic energy, derivation of the equation of radiative transfer; applications to nadir and limb geometries; scattering, absorption and emission processes, Earth radiation balance considerations, Earth radiation budget satellite data studies.
750 Atmospheric Measurements
Prerequisite: Physics 749
An overview of the chemistry, physics, and structure of the atmosphere, including the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower atmosphere. Basic principles of atmospheric remote and in-situ sensing using satellite limb and nadir emission, solar occultation, lidar sounding and in-situ sensing from aircraft, balloons, and rockets. Measurement error analysis methodology.
760 Introduction to the Structure and Dynamics of the Earth's Atmosphere
Prerequisites: Undergraduate Calculus and Calculus-based Physics
The structure of the global atmospheric circulation and its seasonal variability will be described. Emphasis will be placed on introducing basic terminology, concepts, and establishing familiarity with observational data that illustrate the observed climatological features of the atmosphere. Phenomena (stratospheric sudden warmings, quasi-biennial and semi-annual oscillations) that represent departures from the long-term mean state of the atmosphere will be presented. Thermodynamic and physical, properties of the atmosphere and their relevance will be discussed: composition; pressure, density, temperature, and water vapor relationships; potential temperature; thermodynamic energy equation; hydrostatic balance; lapse rate; and static stability. Atmospheric motions (from synoptic to global-scale) will be discussed with an introduction to the governing primitive equations. Concepts of circulation, vorticity, divergence, geostrophic balance, and thermal wind will be treated. The zonally-averaged equations of motion will be developed in both the -conventional and transformed-Eulerian mean form. The advantages and disadvantages of different coordinate systems will be discussed. Throughout the course, observational data will be used as illustrative examples of the topics under discussion.
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Prerequisites: Physics 760 or permission of the instructor.
The basic governing equations for a rotating, compressible fluid on a sphere will be developed from first principles with discussion of the following topics: noninertial reference frames; apparent forces; conservation properties; and scale analysis. The fundamental importance of circulation, vorticity, and divergence will be discussed. The concept and significance of potential vorticity conservation will be introduced. Shallow-water and quasi-geostrophic approximations to the primitive equations and their application will be demonstrated. The concept and role of various atmospheric oscillations (wavelike disturbances) will be introduced. Linear perturbation theory will used to elucidate the structure and characteristics of Rossby waves, internal gravity waves, inertio-gravity waves, and Kelvin waves. Observational examples of each of these wave disturbances will be presented and discussed. The importance of hydrodynamic instabilities (baroclinic and barotropic) in atmospheric motions will be discussed. Throughout the course, 'stress will be placed on gaining an underlying physical understanding of fundamental atmospheric processes.
|
