SIO 217B (Winter 2012)
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences II: Atmospheric Dynamics
Instructor: Joel Norris
440 NH
822-4420
jnorris@ucsd.edu
Instructor Absence: I do not plan to have any absences.
Office Hours: Students are welcome to stop by my office at any time, but I recommend checking
with me ahead of time to make sure I will be in. It is not a good idea to expect assistance the
same day a homework assignment is due.
Attendance Expectations: Students are expected to attend every class with exceptions only for
illness and direct time conflicts such as out-of-town conferences.
Grading Option: Letter grade required for first year SIO graduate students. S/U is permissible
for all other students.
Grading Criteria: 50% final exam, 50% homework exercises
Textbook: An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, 4th Edition by J. R. Holton
Website: You should frequently check the website for class information, supplemental notes, and
homework assignments: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~jnorris/sio217B/sio217B.html.
Homework Exercises: Homework exercises must be completed on time and extensions will be
granted only in exceptional circumstances.
Collaboration: Students are encouraged to collaborate on homework exercises as long as each
student does his or her own work. No collaboration is allowed on exams.
Examinations: There will be a final.
Optional Topics: Topics listed as optional will not be included in lecture, homework
assignments, or examinations, but students are encouraged to study them on their own and ask
questions of the instructor outside of class.
Course Topics:
1.
Conventions; Lagrangian vs. Eulerian frame; advection; (Holton 1.1-3, 2.1.0)
2.
Navier-Stokes equation; fundamental forces (Holton 1.4)
3.
Hydrostatic balance; hypsometric equation; pressure + density vertical profiles (Holton 1.6)
4.
Rotating reference frame; oblate shape of Earth; Coriolis force (Holton 1.5. 2.1.1, 2.2)
5.
Momentum equations; geostrophic and other wind balance (Holton 2.4, 3.1.1, 3.2)
6.
Continuity equation; vertical velocity (Holton 2.5, 3.1.2, 3.5-6)
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Mechanical + thermodynamic equations; temperature vertical profile (Holton 2.6-7, 3.1.3)
Thermal wind (Holton 3.4)
Circulation; sea breeze generation (Holton 4.1)
Relative, planetary, and absolute vorticity; vorticity equation (Holton 4.2, 4.4)
Potential vorticity; barotropic vorticity (Holton 4.3, 4.5)
Properties of waves; inertial instability (Holton 7.1-2, 7.5.1)
Shallow water equation; barotropic Rossby waves (Holton 7.7.1)
Forced topographic Rossby waves (Holton 7.7.2)
Fronts and related weather; cyclone structure; cloud conveyor belt (Holton 6.1)
Quasigeostrophic system of equations; quasigeostrophic vorticity (Holton 6.2)
Geopotential tendency equation; omega equation; Q-vector formulation (Holton 6.3-5)
Two-layer model of baroclinic instability and energetics (Holton 8.1-3)
Eady model of baroclinic instability; barotropic instability (Holton 8.4)
Conventional Eulerian mean circulation (Holton 10.1, 10.2.1)
Stationary waves and storm tracks (Holton 10.5)
Transformed Eulerian mean circulation; zonal mean potential vorticity (Holton 10.2.2-3)
Momentum cycle; energy cycle (Holton 10.3-4)
Tropical meteorology; tropical dynamics (Holton 11.1-2)
Cumulus convection (Holton 9.5, 11.3)
Hurricanes (Holton 9.7)
Steady forced equatorial motions (Holton 11.5)
Optional Topics:
1.
Motion in spherical coordinates (Holton 2.3)
2.
Trajectories and streamlines (Holton 3.3)
3.
Vorticity in isentropic coordinates (Holton 4.6)
4.
Boundary layer; turbulent flux; surface layer; Ekman layer (Holton 5.1-4)
5.
Various small-scale waves (Holton 7.3-4, 7.5.2)
6.
Geostrophic adjustment (Holton 7.6)
7.
Growth and propagation of neural modes (Holton 8.5)
8.
Various mesoscale phenomena (Holton 9.1-4. 9.6)
9.
Low frequency variability (Holton 10.6)
10. Laboratory and numerical simulation of the general circulation (Holton 10.7-8)
11. Equatorial waves (Holton 11.4)
12. Stratospheric circulation and dynamics (Holton 12.1-7)
13. Numerical modeling and prediction (Holton 13.1-8)