Last update: 12/19/10
This is the
first semester of a two semester series introducing physical meteorology. The two courses cover the
history, composition and chemistry of the atmosphere, kinetic theory, the
mechanics of ideal and real fluids, aerosol mechanics, atmospheric
radiation, scattering, radiative transfer, cloud physics, energy budget and
climate theory, and (if we get to it) atmospheric electricity.
It is
essentially an applied physics course that is a blend of atmospheric science
and an order of magnitude physics course I took at Caltech many years ago. It is designed to teach you how to think physically about the physical
processes operating in the atmosphere and related geophysical systems.
Instructor: Rob
Kursinski (kursinski@atmo.arizona.edu)
Office: PAS
580
Office Hours: TBD
Course Grading: Homework
65 %
Midterm (Take-home) 10 %
Final
15 %
Class participation
10 %
Overall Goal: Teach
the students how to think in terms of the physics of the atmosphere and related
topics. Provide a foundation in
atmospheric physics suitable for advanced study in the atmospheric sciences and
professional employment.
Minimum
Prerequisites: Understanding
of basic physics and mathematics through differential equations
Textbooks: Most relevant text is Wallace and
Hobbs, Atmospheric Science
35th Annual Climate
Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop (CDPW35) Agenda
Lectures
Radiative
Equilibrium Temperature pdf doc
Vertical
Atmos Structure pdf doc
Kinetic
pressure of a gas pdf doc
1st
Law of Thermodynamics pdf doc
Moist
adiabat (thermodyn) pdf doc
Moist
adiabat (microscopic) pdf doc
Equivalent
Potential Temp. pdf doc
Mexico
Fluxes pdf
Drag
Coefficients pdf
PBL
(Rob Wood) pdf
Cirrus
measurements pdf
I will assign homework that
is based on the material covered in the lectures and class handouts. Several points:
2. Homework
problems will be assigned a week before they are due. Graded homework with solutions will be returned.
3. I
am lenient about late homework; homework will usually be accepted for full
credit as long as solutions have not been distributed in class. However, because of this policy and the
completeness of the solutions that will be distributed, any homework received
after the solutions are distributed WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED for credit.
COURSE
OUTLINE 451/551
Note: Some of these subjects will be covered in less detail than
others.
We will get through a good part of the
radiative transfer to allow those student who want to take the 656b remote
sensing course in Spring 2011 to be better prepared.
1)
Rationale: Why are we interested in the Atmospheric Sciences?
2)
Introduction and Basic Concepts
a.
Composition: gases and particles
b.
Gravitation: NewtonÕs law, g, satellite orbits
c.
Mass density
d.
Barometers and pressure
e.
Hydrostatic equation
f.
Gas law and temperature
g.
Scale heights
h.
Other Planets
3)
Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of gases
a.
Temperature, Heat and Energy
i.
Thermodynamic Definition of T
ii.
1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics
iii.
Intro to kinetic theory – temperature, heat and
internal energy
iv.
Measurements of temperature
v.
Vertical, meridional, diurnal, seasonal, + climatic
variations in Temperature
b.
Pressure, and Work
i.
Pressure as F/A and isotropic nature
1.
NewtonÕs laws
2.
Work-energy thm.
ii.
Hydrostatic approximation
1.
Gravitation
2.
Geopotential Height
iii.
Kinetic explanation of pressure and work
1.
Impulse momentum Thm
iv.
1st law of thermodynamics revisited
1.
Isothermal/Adiabatic processes
2.
Heat capacity at const pressure
3.
Potential temperature
4.
Adiabatic lapse rate
5.
Adiabatic pressure profiles
v.
Buoyancy
vi.
Barometers
vii.
Observed variations in pressure – quick deference to
541a,b
c.
Humidity
i.
Quantifying humidity
ii.
Effects on ideal gas law
iii.
Effects on heat capacity
iv.
Latent heat
v.
Clausius clapyron equation
vi.
Moist adiabatic lapse rate
vii.
Air flow over a mountain
viii.
Buoyancy revisited
ix.
Distributions of humidity
x.
The convective heat engine
xi.
Measuring humidity
xii.
Distributions of surface heat & moisture fluxes (after
diffusion)
4)
Radiation
a.
The electromagnetic spectrum
b.
Measures of radiation and solid angle
c.
Blackbody laws
d.
Transitions and lines / Broadening / Atmospheric Spectra
e.
2-stream IR radiative transfer + greenhouse effect
f.
The sun
g.
The solar cycle
h.
Single-Scattering
i.
Formal Rayleigh scattering
ii.
Mie Scattering/absorption
iii.
Geometric approximation
i.
Plane parallel Applications
i.
Aerosols / Optical depth
ii.
Clouds
iii.
Variation of sky radiance for thin atmosphere
iv.
2-stream multiple scattering solutions - conservative
v.
2-stream multiple scattering solutions –
non-conservative + semi-infinite atmosphere approx.
5)
Radiation budget + climate
a.
Simple radiation budget
b.
Equilibrium models
c.
Layers of tau=1
d.
Convection
e.
Advection
f.
Radiative Forcing + Feedback
g.
Geological records + Milankovich cycles
h.
Role of oceans
i.
Role of surface ice
j.
The true Gordian knot – feedbacks with biosphere
k.
Role of Clouds: TrenberthÕs point about short wave vs
longwave
l.
Changing vertical fluxes in a warmer climate
6)
Atmospheric Chemistry
a.
Chemical reactions in the atmosphere
b.
Equilbrium and rate equations
c.
Kinetic theory and the frequency of 2-body and 3-body
collisions
i.
Mean free path
ii.
Collisional cross-section
d.
Stratospheric photochemistry: Ozone + Chapman mechanism
i.
Basics of photochemistry – actinic fluxes +
cross-sections – analogy with kinetic theory
ii.
Importance of nitrogen
iii.
Importance of CFCs
e.
Tropospheric chemistry: NOx, OH and VOCs
f.
Water and why homogeneous nucleation of droplets wonÕt
happen (as segue)
7)
Diffusion + Condensation (Under cloud physics and chemistry
umbrellas)
a.
Using kinetic theory for diffusion of species
b.
Continuous diffusion equation and applications
i.
Connection to heat transfer equation
c.
Diffusion to a sphere
d.
Heat diffusion vs. vapor diffusion
e.
Droplet growth equation – sans Khler theory
8)
Basic fluid mechanics
a.
Navier-Stokes Equations (briefly)
b.
Acoustics (briefly)
c.
Stress tensor
d.
Kinetic formulation for dynamic (and kinematic) viscosities as diffusion
of momentum
e.
Kinematics of fluid motion
f.
Dimensional analysis
g.
ReynoldsÕs # + Stokes flow
h.
High-ReynoldsÕs # flow
i.
BernoulliÕs equation
ii.
Basics of turbulence – Kolmolgorov length scale, power-laws
iii.
Turbulent diffusion coefficients
9)
The atmospheric aerosol + Particle mechanics
a.
Survey of aerosols in atmosphere
b.
Formality of size distributions – moments, etc.
c.
2-phase flow mechanics –
i.
Drag forces + particle motion
ii.
Diffusion Coagulation
iii.
Graviational and Shear-induced coagulation
10)
Cloud microphysics
a.
Khler theory + CCN
b.
Growth of a population of droplets
c.
Cloud dynamics
d.
Ice
e.
Precipitation