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GLY 371: Meteorology
Spring 2008 |
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GLY 371: Meteorology
Spring 2008 |
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Welcome to the course homepage for Meteorology. This page will be your first-stop source for all material associated with this course. From here you will be able to follow links to the syllabus, course assignments, review sheets, online reading assignments, and PowerPoint versions of some of the slides used in class. In addition, I will maintain a list of recommended reading from the course textbook (Aguado and Burt, 2007) to help you keep your studying on track. Make sure that you stop by often.
Please respect the copyright of the material posted at this site and do not copy or distribute anything without obtaining prior approval from me. Images are posted here for the sole reason of helping you learn about weather and climate.
| Date | Lecture and laboratory topics | Links to resources | Reading assignments |
| January | |||
| Wed 23 | Atmospheric structure Lab 1: Atmospheric structure |
Syllabus |
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| Fri 25 | Atmospheric evolution & composition | - | Evolution of the Atmosphere
(p. 20-21). Composition of the Atmosphere (p. 6-14). Some Weather Basics (p. 21-26) to end of A Brief History of Meteorology (p. 26). |
| Mon 28 | Energy & radiation | - | Energy (p. 31) to end of Radiation (p. 39). |
| Wed 30 | Seasons & insolation Lab 2: Insolation [COMPUTER] |
- | The Solar Constant (p. 42) to end of The Causes of Earth's Seasons (p. 50). |
| February | |||
| Fri 1 | SNOWDAY |
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| Mon 4 | Beam depletion & energy balance | - | Atmospheric Influences on Insolation (p. 56) to end of The Greenhouse Effect (p. 70). |
| Wed 6 | Temperature Lab 3: Isopleth maps & climates |
- | Global Temperature Distribution (p. 70) to end of Influences on Temperature (p. 75). |
| Fri 8 | Climates | - | Daily and Annual Temperature Patterns
(p. 75-78). Temperature Means and Ranges (p. 80) to end of Some Useful Temperature Indices (p. 86). Defining Climate (p. 453) to end of The Koeppen System (p. 454). Optional: the rest of Chapter 15. |
| Mon 11 | Moisture, chinooks & lake effects | - | Water Vapor and Liquid Water (p. 125-126). Chinooks and lake effect snow (p. 233-4 and 197-8). Lake effects - Buffalo NWS. Lake effect storm season 2007-2008 - Buffalo NWS. |
| Wed 13 | Atmospheric moisture Lab 4: Measuring T & humidity [FIELD] |
- | Indices of Water Vapor Content (p. 126)
to end of The Effects of Curvature and Solution (p. 138). Measurement of Temperature (p. 78-80). Measuring Humidity (p. 138) to end of High Humidities and Human Discomfort (p. 142). |
| Fri 15 | Lapse rates | - | Cooling Air to the Dew or Frost Point
(p. 142-146). Thermodynamic Diagrams and Vertical Temperature Profiles (p. 86-87). |
| Mon 18 | Dew, fogs & lifting mechanisms | - | Forms of Condensation (p. 146) to end of Formation and
Dissipation of Cloud Droplets (p. 152). Mechanisms that Lift Air (p. 157-160). |
| Wed 20 | Atmospheric stability Lab 5: Cooling trajectories & stability |
- | Static Stability and the Environmental Lapse Rate (p. 160) to end of Extremely Stable Air: Inversions (p. 168). |
| Fri 22 | Data collection |
- | Measuring Wind (p. 114-115). Measuring Precipitation (p. 202-206). Data Acquisition and Dissemination (p. 397-400) |
| Mon 25 | EXAM 1 | Review sheet 1 | - |
| Wed 27 | Clouds Lab 6: Station models [FIELD] |
- | Cloud Types (p. 169-180). Cloud Coverage and Observation (p. 180-183). Cloud key - pdf dichotomous key. Cloud boutique - Plymouth State College, MA. Cloudman - more cloud pictures in the galleries. Meteograms - Unisys |
| Fri 29 | Precipitation | - | Growth of Cloud Droplets (p. 190) to end of Distribution and Forms of Precipitation (p. 202). |
| March | |||
| Mon 3 | Satellites and radar | - | Satellite Images and Radar Images (p. 414-415). Doppler Radar (p. 324-325). Radar and satellites - NWS |
| Wed 5 | Pressure Lab 7: Forces controlling the wind |
- | The Concept of Pressure (p. 93) to end of Horizontal Pressure Gradients in the Upper Atmosphere (p. 104). |
| Fri 7 | Wind | - | Forces Affecting the Speed and Direction
of the Wind (p. 105) to end of Cyclones, Anticyclones, Troughs and
Ridges (p. 114). Single-Cell Model (p. 214) to end of The Three-Cell Model (p. 216). |
| Mon 10 | SPRING BREAK | - | - |
| Wed 12 | SPRING BREAK | - | - |
| Fri 14 | SPRING BREAK | - | - |
| Mon 17 | Global circulation | - | Semipermanent Pressure Cells (p. 216) to end of The Upper Troposphere (p. 226). |
| Wed 19 | Air masses & fronts Lab 8: Isobaric & frontal analysis |
- | Chapter 9 (p. 255-272). |
| Fri 21 | Mid-latitude cyclones | - | Chapter 10 (p. 279-302). [Ignore discussions
of vorticity.] |
| Mon 24 | MLCs; Lightning | - | Start of Chapter 11 (p. 307) to end of Lightning Safety (p. 314). |
| Wed 26 | Thunderstorms Lab 9: Surface weather analysis |
Lab 9 | Thunderstorms: Air Mass and Severe (p.
314) to end of Drylines (p. 326). Weather Maps and Images (p. 407-415). |
| Fri 28 | Tornadoes video |
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| Mon 31 | Thunderstorm winds | - | Downbursts, Derechos, and Microbursts (p. 326) to end of Geographic and Temporal Distribution of Thunderstorms (p. 329). |
| April | |||
| Wed 2 | Tornadoes Lab 10: Severe thunderstorms |
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Tornadoes (p. 330) to end of Nonsupercell
Tornado Development (p. 335). |
| Fri 4 | Tornado safety | - | The Location and Timing of Tornadoes (p. 335) to end of Waterspouts (p. 347). |
| Mon 7 | EXAM 2 | Review sheet 2 | |
| Wed 9 | SCHOLARS' DAY | - | |
| Fri 11 | Wind systems | - | Major Wind Systems (p. 230-238). |
| Mon 14 | ENSO | - | Air-Sea Interactions (p. 238-249). |
| Wed 16 | Weather forecasting Lab 11: Air-sea oscillations |
Lab 11 | Weather Forecasting - Both Art and Science (p. 389) to end of Forecast Procedures and Products (p. 407). |
| Fri 18 | Forecasts 2 |
- | - |
| Mon 21 | Hurricanes | - | Start of Chapter 12 (p. 352) to end of Hurricane Movement and Dissipation (p. 370). |
| Wed 23 | Hurricane impacts Lab 12: Hurricanes |
- | Hurricane Destruction and Fatalities (p. 370-4). |
| Fri 25 | Hurricane forecasts | - | Hurricane Forecasts and Advisories (p. 375) to end of Recent (and Future?) Trends in Hurricane Activity (p. 382). |
| Mon 28 | Inversions & smog | - | Atmospheric Pollutants (p. 429) to end of Atmospheric Controls on Air Pollution (p. 440). |
| Wed 30 | Natural climate change Lab 13: Climate proxies |
- | Start of Chapter 16 to end of The Time Scales of Climate Change (p. 477). Changes in Land Configuration and Surface Characteristics (p. 491) |
| May | |||
| Fri 2 | Ice ages |
- | Past Climates (p. 478) to end of Changes in Earth's Orbit (p. 491). Methods of Determining Past Climates (p. 502-506). |
| Mon 5 | Global warming | - | Urban Heat Islands (p. 440-445). Changes in Atmospheric Turbidity (p. 492) to end of General Circulation Models (p. 502). |
| Sat 10 | EXAM 3 @ 10:30 am | Review sheet 3 |
| Photo credits: |
Snow Crystals at Caltech |
NASA Earth Observatory - Natural Hazards |