Atmospheric Dynamics (U01863)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : GEO-4-MYAD

Introduces the fundamentals which govern atmospheric circulation including steady and unsteady flows and wave motions in the tropics and mid-latitudes and their role in transporting heat. Meteorological data will be used to illustrate phenomena such as cyclones, jetstreams and ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation).

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : At least 40 points at level 9/10 from schedule Q, OR at least 40 points at level 9/10 from schedule N which must include Mathematical Methods for Geophysicists (U01800).

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Meteorology, (School of GeoSciences, Schedule N)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 1 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	14:00	14:50	KB
Lecture	Thursday	14:00	15:50	KB

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course it is intended that the student will be able to:

-show how to derive the Navier-Stokes equations expressed in an inertial frame of reference for inviscid motion of a compressible fluid and for the continuity of mass in the fluid starting from Newton's first law of motion and the conservation of mass

-explain how the Navier-Stokes equations are transformed for a frame of reference rotating with the earth

-demonstrate a grasp of the orders of magnitude of forces and accelerations present in synoptic-scale weather patterns and hence of the geostrophic and thermal wind approximations

-use those approximations to obtain estimates of winds in
synoptic-scale systems from pressure and temperature gradients

-discuss the concept of "potential temperature" and its relevance to the vertical stability of a compressible atmosphere

-discuss the experimental evidence from "rotating dishpan" experiments that degree of departure from zonal symmetry depends on
rotation rate and horizontal meridional temperature gradients

-discuss the typical configuration of meridional circulations in the tropics and their relation to the strength of the sub-tropical jet

-explain the concept of potential vorticity and its usefulness as tool for understanding fluid motion

-discuss the motivation for and limitations of treatment of atmospheric wave motion as a perturbation from a basic flow

-explain those aspects of the observed behaviour of mid-latitude planetary-scale waves which are accounted for by linear theory.