Lecture Notes


Wed., Dec. 9 - Last day of classes, Final Exam review pt. 1
Fri., Dec. 4 - Hurricanes pt. 2
Mon., Nov. 30 - Hurricanes pt. 1
Fri., Nov. 27 - Thanksgiving Holiday
Wed., Nov. 25 - class cancelled
Mon., Nov. 23 - Lightning
Fri., Nov. 20 - Tornadoes
Wed., Nov. 18 - Thunderstorms pt. 2: gust fronts & microbursts.  Severe & supercell thunderstorms, wall clouds & hook echoes
Mon., Nov. 16 - Thunderstorms pt. 1
Fri., Nov. 13! - Examples of thermal circulations, one-cell and three-cell models of the earth's global scale '
pressure and wind patterns, ocean currents, SW monsoon
Wed., Nov. 11 - Veteran's Day holiday
Mon., Nov. 9 - Cause of the Coriolis force, water draining from sinks and toilets, surface winds, thermal circulations
Fri., Nov. 6 - Surface and upper-level winds

Wed., Nov. 4 - Quiz #3 (
before the quiz some music from Domingo DeGrazia: "Tres Ninas", "Red Sunrise", "August Heat")
Mon., Nov. 2 - Cold clouds, ice crystal process, types of precipitation
Fri., Oct. 30 - Satellite photographs, precipitation producing processes, collision-coalescence process

Wed., Oct. 28 - Cloud identification and classification
Mon., Oct. 26 - Heat index, types of fog, cloud in a bottle demonstration, clouds and climate change
Fri., Oct. 23 - Rain shadow effect, measuring humidity, dew & frost, condensation nuclei, haze and fog
Wed., Oct. 21 - Humidity problems, drying moist air, rain shadow effect. measuring humidity, dew & frost
Mon., Oct. 19 - Humidity variables, evaporation rate, saturation, humidity problem example
Fri., Oct. 16 - Effects of clouds on daytime and nighttime temperatures, global warming misconception,
controls of climate, an awesome field experiment, introduction to humidity variables
Controls of Temperature - Notes and Optional Assignment (due Wed., Oct. 21)

Wed., Oct. 14
- Quiz #2 (Two songs "Festival" & "Godan daginn" from Sigur Ros, also some pictures of my cats)
Mon., Oct. 12 - Filtering effect of the atmosphere on light, atmospheric greenhouse effect
Fri., Oct. 09 - Wavelength, frequency & energy; EM spectrum, Stefan-Boltzmann & Wien's Law, radiative equilibrium
Wed., Oct. 07 - Wind chill, Buddhist monks, energy transport by latent heat,
static electricity & electric fields, EM radiation
Mon., Oct. 05 - Temperature & heat, energy transport by conduction & convection
Fri., Oct. 02 - Energy and Energy Transport,
Energy temperature relationship, specific heat, Bertrand Piccard
Introduction - Energy and Energy Transport
Upper Level Charts - Supplementary reading
Wed., Sep. 30 - Upper level charts, effects of upper level convergence and divergence on surface pressure,
Auguste Piccard
Mon., Sep. 28 - Weather changes accompanying cold & warm fronts
Fri., Sep. 25 - Surface maps, winds blowing around high and low pressure centers,
pressure gradient and wind speed, warm and cold fronts

Wed., Sep. 23 - Quiz #1 (Israel Kamakawewo'ole sang "Mona Lisa",  "In this Life" and
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World")
Mon., Sep. 21 - Station model notation pt. 2, surface weather maps pt. 1, fall equinox
Fri., Sep. 18 - Troposphere & stratosphere, station model notation pt. 1
Wed., Sep. 16 - Ideal gas law, Charles Law, vertical forces on air parcels, Archimedes Law
Mon., Sep. 14 - Rate of pressure change with altitude, mercury barometer, density changes with altitude,
upward pressure difference force
Fri., Sep. 11 - Mass, weight, density, pressure
Wed., Sep. 09 - Climate change pt. 2, Practice Quiz
Fri., Sep. 04 - Carbon dioxide and climate change pt. 1
Wed., Sep. 02 - Tropospheric ozone, photochemical (LA-type smog), particulate matter
Mon., Aug. 31 - AQI (air quality index), atmospheric stability, sulfur dioxide, London type smog, acid rain
Fri., Aug. 28 - Air pollutants, carbon monoxide, scattering of light
Wed., Aug. 26 -
Origin of oxygen and ozone in the atmosphere, stromatolites and banded iron formation, greenhouse gases
and air pollutants.
Mon., Aug. 24 - First day of class, composition of the atmosphere