Instructor: James Voogt, SSC 2401
Phone: 661-2111 Ext. 85018
email: javoogt@uwo.ca
Office hours (Fall term
2005): Tues and Thurs:
Course Description and Objectives:
This course provides an introduction to the physical processes underlying weather and climate on time and space scales ranging upwards from the local to the global, with a particular emphasis on the formation of mid-latitude cyclones. This course is a prerequisite to GEOG 308 (Micrometeorology) and GEOG 331 (Human Impacts on Weather and Climate). Laboratories include use of meteorological data, maps, charts, simple instrumentation, graphical tools and numerical computation.
Format:
Instruction is through two lecture hours and two laboratory hours per week.
Evaluation:
The material covered in lectures and labs will be evaluated in a quiz and a final exam. Selected laboratory assignments and questions will be marked. In accordance with university policy, missed exams cannot be made up except on written medical grounds and notification prior to exam date.
Marked Laboratory Assignments 35 % 1
Quiz 15 %
Final exam 50 %
Notes:
1. No late labs will be accepted after the due date. Exceptions can be made for documented medical and other significant reasons beyond your control. Arrangements must be made, if possible, with your teaching assistant BEFORE the due date.
Course Texts and Laboratory Manual:
There are many suitable textbooks for this course. None are perfect. None are “bad”.
The course text for this year is:
Ackerman and Knox. 2003. Meteorology:
Understanding the Atmosphere, Thomson Brooks/Cole,
This is a new text to Geography 208a this year. This book should provide a readable text for students of all backgrounds in the course. I would like your feedback on this textbook.
Students may also continue to use earlier versions of the course text (Aguado, E. and Burt, J.E. 2004. Understanding Weather and Climate 3rd Edition; or earlier editions) or other related texts (e.g. Meteorology Today Ahrens, C.D.). I will retain reading references to Aguado and Burt (2004) for this year; students who wish to use other texts should consult with the instructor on relevant readings.
The laboratory manual contains the laboratory exercises and additional reading material. It is required and is available for purchase from the bookstore.
Course Prerequisites:
The official course prerequisite is GEOG 020E or an 020-089 level Applied Mathematics, Mathematics or Physics course. You are responsible for ensuring that you have successfully completed all course prerequisites, and that you have not taken an antirequisite course.
Prior Assumed Knowledge:
There are several areas in the course where I will assume you have some prior knowledge (covered in Geog 020E). These topics are covered in the course text for those who need a refresher or who have not taken Geog 020E. The topics are:
Solar Radiation and the Seasons: Chp. 2: 44-47.
Global Atmospheric Circulation: Chp. 7 188-199.
Reserve Texts (Available in Weldon Library):
Danielson, E.W., J. Levin, and E. Abrams. 2003.
Meteorology 2nd edition WCB/McGraw-Hill,
Stull, R.B. 2000. Meteorology for
Scientists and Engineers 2nd edition. Brooks/Cole
Supplemental
The following readings supplement those in the course text and will complement the lecture and lab materials. They are not required. Note the following codes used in the table below (full references available under Supplemental Texts):
BA98 = Bohren and Albrecht 1998.
D03 = Danielson et al 2003.
O87 = Oke 1987. ST96 =
Sturman and Tapper 1996, WH77 = Wallace and
1. Introduction: WH77: Chp 1: 1-24. D03: Chp 2.
2. Radiant Energy: O87: 8-27, 339-346, 366-374. WH77: 279-292, 296-298.
3. Energy balance and temperature: O87: 34-36, 310-314, 61-63, 358-362. WH77: 287-296, 316-321, 330-354. D03: Chp. 3.
4. Atmospheric thermodynamics, humidity and stability: ST96: Chp 4 D03: Chp 4, Chp 5. WH77: Chp 2. BA98: Sections 6.6 – 6.9
5. Clouds and precipitation: WH77:215-238. D03: Chp 5 and 6.
6. Atmospheric dynamics: WH77: 128-141, D03: Chp 7.
7. Air masses and fronts: WH77: 111-128, D03: Chp 8.
8. Mid-latitude cyclones and weather forecasting: WH: 250-254. D03: Chp 9.
9. Severe weather: Thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes: D03: Chp 11 and 12.
10. Local Scale Weather: D03: 281-298, 447-448.
Supplemental Texts:
The following references provide some specific materials for sections of the course. You may see reference to these in the lab manual or in my class presentations. These are available from the UWO Library System (but are not on reserve).
Bader, M.J. et al. 1995. Images in
Weather Forecasting.
Barry, R.G. and R.J. Chorley 2003.
Atmosphere, Weather, and Climate 8th Ed..
Bohren, C.F. and B.A. Albrecht 1998.
Atmospheric Thermodynamics,
Lynch, D.K. and W. Livingston 1995.
Color and Light in Nature.
Oke, T. R., 1987.
Boundary Layer Climates, 2nd ed.,
Ruddiman, W.F. 2001. Earth’s Climate
Past and Future. W.H. Freeman and Co.,
Sturman, A.P. and N.J. Tapper 1996.
The Weather and Climate of
Wallace, J.M. and
Web Resources:
There are many web sites with weather and/or climate information. Here are just a few that are of general interest to the course.
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/home.rxml
http://fraser.cc/BadScience/BadMeteorology.html
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html
COURSE OUTLINE
The following topics will be covered in the course, as time permits.
1. Introduction:
Course overview, quantities, dimensions and units.
Atmospheric energy, temporal and spatial scales of the atmosphere.
2. Radiant Energy:
Electromagnetic spectrum, radiation laws, short- and long-wave
radiation, radiation balance.
Atmospheric Optics- fundamentals and clear sky
phenomena.
3. Energy Balance and Temperature:
CO2 and the "Greenhouse" effect, global warming, atmospheric temperature profile,
heating/cooling, inversions, measurement of temperature.
Energy budgets.
4. Atmospheric Thermodynamics and Humidity:
Equation of State, Hydrostatic Equation, First Law of Thermodynamics.
Latent heat, measures of humidity, adiabatic processes, lapse rates.
Stability (classic local static stability, non-local stability).
Tephigrams and vertical analysis of the atmosphere.
5. Clouds and Precipitation:
Condensation, fog, aerosols, cloud formation and appearance, cloud microphysics, precipitation
mechanisms, water balance.
6. Atmospheric Dynamics:
Atmospheric pressure and pressure charts, height charts.
Equation of motion, forces, gostrophic winds, gradient winds, cyclostrophic winds, geostrophic
wind shear and thermal "winds".
Large scale circulations (El Niño and La Niña), surface effects and local winds (sea and land
breezes).
7. Air Masses and Fronts
Air mass characteristics and source regions.
Fronts: stationary, cold, warm, occluded, characteristics and identification.
8. Mid-latitude Cyclones and Weather Forecasting
Polar front theory, cyclogenesis, cyclones and the jet stream, upper level waves, vorticity,
conveyor belt model.
Approaches to forecasting, limits of forecasts.
9. Severe Weather: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Hurricanes
Classification, formation, impacts, identification and forecasting.
10. Local Scale Weather: Lake Effect Snow and Urban Weather
Lake Effect Snow – formation and identification from weather imagery
Urban Weather – urban heat islands and urban impacts on weather.
Lecture / Laboratory Timetable
M = marked lab
|
Wk |
Date |
Lecture Topic |
|
Laboratory |
|
1 |
Sep. 8 |
Introduction |
|
|
|
2 |
Sep. 13 |
The Atmosphere |
Chapter 1 |
Lab 1: Weather and Climate Data |
|
2 |
Sep. 15 |
Shortwave Radiation |
Chp 2: 36-47, Lab 2, (Optics: Chp 5: 147-156) |
|
|
3 |
Sep. 20 |
Longwave Radiation |
Chp 2 47-50, Lab 2 |
Lab 2: Radiation |
|
3 |
Sep. 22 |
Energy Balance |
Chp 2: 50-53 Lab 2,
|
|
|
4 |
Sep. 27 |
Atmospheric Thermodynamics |
Lab 3 |
Lab 3: Atmospheric Humidity M |
|
4 |
Sep. 29 |
Humidity |
Chp 4: 85-94 Lab 3 |
|
|
5 |
Oct. 4 |
Humidity |
Lab 3 |
Lab 4a: Atmospheric Soundings: Tephigrams |
|
5 |
Oct. 6 |
Soundings |
Chp 3: 74-79 Lab 4a,b |
|
|
6 |
Oct. 11 |
Static Stability |
Lab 5 |
Lab 4b: Atmospheric Soundings: Indices and Forecasting Severe Weather M |
|
6 |
Oct. 13 |
Non-local Stability |
Lab 5 |
|
|
7 |
Oct. 18 |
Fog and Cloud Formation |
Chp 4: 94-112 |
Lab 5: Atmospheric Stability |
|
7 |
Oct. 20 |
Precipitation Formation |
Chp 4: 112-123 |
|
|
8 |
Oct. 25 |
Atmospheric Dynamics |
Chp 6 Lab 6 |
Quiz |
|
8 |
Oct. 27 |
Atmospheric Dynamics |
Chp 6 Lab 6 |
|
|
9 |
Nov. 1 |
Large Scale Flows |
Chp 7 199-205 |
Lab 6: Winds M |
|
9 |
Nov. 3 |
Air Masses and Fronts |
Chp 9 Lab 8 |
|
|
10 |
Nov. 8 |
Mid-latitude Cyclones |
Chp 10 Lab 8 |
No labs! |
|
10 |
Nov. 10 |
Mid-latitude Cyclones |
Chp 10 Lab 8 |
|
|
11 |
Nov. 15 |
Mid-latitude Cyclones |
Chp 10 Lab 8 |
Lab 7: Surface Weather Chart Analysis M |
|
11 |
Nov. 17 |
Weather Forecasting |
Chp 13, Lab 7, Lab 8 |
|
|
12 |
Nov. 22 |
Weather Forecasting |
Chp 13, Lab 7, Lab 8 |
Lab 8: Forecasting M |
|
12 |
Nov. 24 |
Thunderstorms |
Chp 11. |
|
|
13 |
Nov. 29 |
Hurricanes |
Chp 8: 223-245 |
Review |
|
13 |
Dec. 1 |
Lake Effect Snow |
Chp 9 258-262 |
|
|
14 |
Dec. 6 |
Urban Weather / Review |
|
|
* See specific labs for further reading from select sources.