Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions/week, 1.5 hours/session
Prerequisites
12.800 Fluid Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean
Course Description
This course discusses the dynamics of the atmosphere, with emphasis on the large scale.
Topics
- Zonally-symmetric circulations: Hadley cells in the inviscid limit, the relation to monsoons
- Internal gravity waves: forcing by mountains, propagation, effect on mean flow
- Rotating stratified dynamics: potential vorticity, quasigeostrophic dynamics, Rossby waves (including vertical and horizontal propagation on the sphere)
- Vertical motion and the omega equation
- Growth of disturbances: wave activity and E-P fluxes, the Charney-Stern condition, the Eady model for baroclinic instability, non-modal growth
- Available potential energy of the atmosphere
- The general circulation: the role of eddies, circulation in isentropic coordinates, and the transport of tracers
Textbooks
James R. Holton and Gregory J. Hakim. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, 5th edition. Academic Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780123848666.
Geoffrey K. Vallis. Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics: Fundamentals and Large-Scale Circulation, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781107065505.
Other References and Resources
Jose P. Peixoto and Abraham H. Oort. Physics of Climate. American Institute of Physics, 1992. ISBN: 9780883187128.
Problem Sets and Projects
Problem sets were given out roughly every two weeks. Project presentations took place in the last week of class. Students had 12 minutes for the presentation and 3 minutes for questions.
Grading
The final grade was based on problem sets (60%), the project written report (20%), and the project class presentation (20%).
