FALL 2002 ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES COURSES

FALL COURSE OVERVIEW (details below)

ATM 401/601 (3 credits) INTRODUCTION TO ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
stacked with CHEM601

Instructor: Prof. Nicole Mölders

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2-3:30 p.m. NSCI 165 (Natural Science Facility)

Introduction to atmospheric science includes the thermodynamics and dynamics of properties of constituent gases, energy and mass conservation in the atmosphere, internal energy and entropy in dry and moist processes (cloud physics and cloud microphysics), water vapor in the atmosphere, static and conditional stability, non-internal equations of motion, hydrostatics, geostropy, and general circulation. Chemistry discussions includes thermodynamic equilibrium and kinetic processes in the atmosphere, role of photolysis and gas phase oxidation processes, heterogeneous and aqueous chemistry, origin of the ozone, layer, fundamentals of biogeochemical cycles (e.g., CO2, H2O, nitrogen, etc.). Radiation discussion includes solar and terrestrial radiation, major absorbers, radiation balance, radiative equilibrium, radiative-convective equilibrium, basics of molecular, aerosol, and cloud adsorption and scattering. Interactions of the global energy, water, and trace gas cycle are discussed.

This class is mandatory for all atmospheric science students (master and Ph.D.) as it provides the fundamentals for the other mandatory classes of the atmospheric science program.

 Prerequisite: graduate standing, fundamentals of calculus, basics in physics, chemistry or another related physical science. Students attending at the graduate level should be able to program in FORTRAN, C or another programming language, and apply plot software (e.g., EXCEL, idl, etc.).

For more information contact Prof. Mölders

ATM 693 (1 Credit) WEATHER DISCUSSION PRACTICUM

Instructor: Dr. Jeff Tilley

Friday, 12-1:00 p.m. and by appointment, IARC 351c (NWS offices)

This course, conducted in collaboration with the Fairbanks National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office, provides an opportunity to practically apply meteorological theory and knowledge as participants in the weekly UAF/NWS Synoptic Weather Briefings .

Registered students will be required to attend the weekly briefings, participate in discussion and present a full briefing (or two halves in conjunction with either the instructor, NWS staff or other students) to an mixed audience of researchers, students, staff and the general public. Grading will be based on participation and the quality of the presentation.

Pre- or Co-Requisite: Atm 601

For more information contact Dr. Tilley (jeff@gi.alaska.edu: 474-5852) or Mr. John Dragomir (john.dragomir@noaa.gov; 458-3704)

ATM 693 Special Topics in Polar Climatology (1-3 Credits)

STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR STUDYING LARGE CLIMATE DATA SETS
Instructor: Prof. John M. Wallace
Dept of Atmospheric Science, University of Washington, Seattle

The series will consist of 7 one-hour lectures followed by 1/2 hour discussions:

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30 p.m. at the UAF Geophysical Institute’s Elvey Auditorium
First lecture 5 September 2002 & Final lecture 27 September 2002
The lectures are designed to introduce students and researchers to some of the important climate data sets used in arctic research.

Special emphasis will be given to:
Modes of variability of the climate system Some fundamental techniques for analyzing two and three dimensional fields (superposed epoch analysis, regression, empirical orthogonal functions, and maximal covariance analysis ) Strategies for significance testing, including estimating spatial and temporal degrees of freedom In all cases, emphasis will be placed on effective strategies and interpretation of results, as illustrated by a selection of examples. All UAF faculty, students, and staff are welcome to attend.

Graduate students who wish to attend this lecture series for credit should register in ATM 693. This course may be take for 1 credit for participation or for 3 Credits, which would additionally require a term paper (to be discussed with the instructor). No exams will be given.

**NEW** ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

Biographical sketch:
Prof.Wallace received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1966 and joined the University of Washington faculty in the same year. He served as director of the NOAA-UW Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean from 1980 to 1997, and as chairman of the Department of Atmospheric Science from 1983 to 1988. He received high honors of the America Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union (Macelawane, Meisinger, Rossby, Revelle) and he is a member of the National Academy of Science.

Sponsored by the UAF Chapman Chair, Prof. N. Untersteiner.

For more information contact Prof. Untersteiner

ATM 693 (1 Credit) SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATION SEMINAR

Instructor: Dr. Uma Bhatt

Monday, 3:30-4:30 p.m. IARC 319

This course is designed for science students fairly early in their graduate career to learn some of the basics behind giving effective scientific presentations. Additional course details can be found here.

Registered students will be required to attend and participate in the weekly class. Each student will get practice giving several scientific presentations in a friendly nurturing atmosphere!

Pre-Requisite: Graduate standing

For more information contact Dr. Bhatt (907-474-2662)

ATM 693 (2 Credit) PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF AEROSOLS

Instructor: Prof. Glenn Shaw

Time and Location TBA

Aerosols have huge interaction with weather and climate. Without aerosols there would be no clouds and no life on Earth. Cooling by aerosols represents the most important uncertainty in estimating the amount of global warming by greenhouse gases.

In this course you will get hands on experience with state of the art aerosol instrumentation and learn about the wide-ranging effects of atmospheric aerosols

Course Outline
1. Introductory topics: Overview of aerosols
2. Probability mass, volume, surface, number distribution of aerosols.
3. Mechanics of single aerosol particles: viscous flows, diffusion
4. The wet aerosol: nucleation, cloud droplet growth
5. Optics of the aerosol
6. Chemistry of aerosols
7. The role of aerosol in climate
8. Electrical properties
9. Aerosols as pre-biotic reactors
10. Experimental methods

Pre-Requisite: Sophmore level chemistry & physics, and knowledge of basic calculus & differential equations.

For more information contact Prof. Shaw (907-474-7625)

Please note that courses are offered in a variety of departments (Physics, Chemistry, Oceanography, Geology and Geophysics, and others) that are appropriate for your research specialty and interests. Additional course listings for Spring 2002 can be found in the UAF course catalog.

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Please feel welcome to send questions and comments to the atmospheric science group