Graduate Courses for Atmospheric and Oceanic Science (AOSC)

Schedule of Classes: Fall | Winter | Spring | Summer
(Only current and next semester available)

AOSC 400 The Atmosphere (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH141, PHYS161, PHYS171 or permission of department. Formerly METO400.
The atmosphere and its weather and climate systems. Composition of the atmosphere, energy sources and sinks, winds, storms and global circulation. The application of basic classical physics, chemistry and mathematics to the study of the atmosphere.

AOSC 401 Global Environment (3 credits)
Prerequisite: AOSC400/METO400. Formerly METO401.
The global weather and climate system; the natural variability of the atmosphere-ocean-biosphere. Potential human effects: greenhouse effects, deforestation, acid rain, ozone depletion, nuclear winter. Social, political and economic effects of changes in global environment. Policy options.

AOSC 431 Atmospheric Physics and Thermodynamics (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH240 or MATH461; PHYS270 and PHYS271 (Formerly: PHYS263); CHEM131 and CHEM132 (Formerly: CHEM103). Recommended: MATH246. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AOSC431 or METO431. Formerly METO431.
The general character of the atmosphere and its weather and climate systems, phenomena and distributions of variables (winds, temperature, pressure and moisture). The formal framework of the science; the application of basic classical physics, chemistry, mathematics and computational sciences to the atmosphere.

AOSC 432 Large Scale Atmospheric Dynamics (3 credits)
Prerequisite: AOSC431/METO431. Corequisite: MATH246. 3 semester hours. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AOSC432 or METO432. Formerly METO432.
The physics of the atmospheric motions that control mid-latitude weather; physics of hurricanes; mathematics of climate change.

AOSC 434 Air Pollution (3 credits)
Prerequisites: {CHEM113 and MATH241} or permission of department. Formerly METO434.
Production, transformation, transport and removal of air pollutants. The problems of photochemical smog, the greenhouse effect, stratospheric ozone, acid rain and visibility. Analytical techniques for gases and particles.

AOSC 499 Special Problems in Atmospheric Science (1-3 credits)
Prerequisite: permission of department. Repeatable to 6 credits. Formerly METO499.
Research or special study in the field of meteorology and the atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

AOSC 600 Synoptic Meteorology I (3 credits)
Prerequisites: METO 610 and METO 620. Formerly METO600.
Atmospheric properties and observations, meteorological analysis and charts, operational numerical forecasts. Application of quasigeostrophic theory, baroclinic instability, midlatitude and mesoscale weather systems. Tropical meteorology.

AOSC 601 Synoptic Meteorology II (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 600. Formerly METO601.
Weather forecasting using numerical and statistical models. Prediction on the global, synoptic, meso, and local scales.

AOSC 602 Mesoscale Meteorology (3 credits)
Prerequisites: METO 600 or METO 611.
Mesoscale approximations, cyclones and fronts, quasi- versus semi-geostrophic theory, piece-wise PV inversion, waves and instability, isolated convection, organized convective systems, numericalmodeling and convective parameterization.

AOSC 610 Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I (3 credits)
Pre- or corequisite: MATH 462 or equivalent PDE (partial differential equations) course. Formerly METO610.
Equations of motion and their approximation, scale analysis for the atmosphere and the ocean. Conservation properties. Fluid motion in the atmosphere and oceans. Circulation and vorticity, geostrophic motion and the gradient wind balance. Turbulence and Ekman Layers.

AOSC 611 Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans II (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 610. Formerly METO611.
Waves and instabilities in the atmosphere and the ocean. Gravity, Rossby, coastal and equatorial waves. Flow over topography. Dynamic instabilities including barotropic, baroclinic, inertial, and instabilities of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Stationary waves and multiple equilibria.

AOSC 614 Atmospheric Modeling, Data Assimilation and Predictability (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 610 or permission of instructor. Recommended: METO 611. Formerly METO614.
Solid foundation for atmospheric and oceanic modeling and numerical weather prediction: numerical methods for partial differential equations, an introduction to physical parameterizations, modern data assimilation, and predictability.

AOSC 615 Advanced Methods in Data Assimilation for the Earth Sciences (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 614 or permission of instructor.
An overview of the most important methods of data assimilation. Theory, techniques and strategies of these methods, as well as their possible drawbacks. Hands-on experimentation with variational and other data assimilation systems.

AOSC 617 Atmospheric and Oceanic Climate (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 610 or approval of instructor. Formerly METO617.
The general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, historical perspective, observations, and conceptual models; wind-driven and thermohaline circulation of the oceans. Seasonal cycle and monsoon circulations; interannual to interdecadal climate variability; climate change.

AOSC 620 Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere I (3 credits)
Prerequisite: MATH 461 or equivalent Scientists Linear Algebra course. Formerly METO620.
Air parcel thermodynamics and stability; constituent thermodynamics and chemical kinetics. Cloud and aerosol physics and precipitation processes.

AOSC 621 Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere II (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH 462 or equivalent PDE (partial differential equations) course; and METO 620. Formerly METO621.
Spectroscopy; basic concepts in radiative transfer and atmospheric chemistry; photolysis rates for atmospheric molecules.

AOSC 624 Remote Sensing of Surface Climate (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH 240; MATH 241, and METO 400.
The theory and principles of remote sensing as applicable to earth observing satellites. Discussed will be current methods to interpret satellite observations into useful climate parameters. Emphasis will be placed on parameters that provide information about the climate close to the earth surface, and that can be inferred on regional to global scales. Examples are: surface temperature and reflectivity, radiation budgets, soil moisture, and vegetation cover.

AOSC 625 Remote Inference of Atmospheric Properties by Satellite (3 credits)
Prerequisites: METO 621; and MATH 461. Formerly METO625.
Weather satellite programs and instrumentation. Radiative transfer applied to satellite observations. Physical basis of remote inference. Temperature and moisture soundings. Errors in satellite retrievals. Applications to numerical weather simulation and prediction.

AOSC 630 Statistical Methods in Meteorology and Oceanography (3 credits)
Prerequisite: STAT 400 or equivalent introductory statistics course. Formerly METO630.
Parametric and non-parametric tests; time series analysis and filtering; wavelets. Multiple regression and screening; neural networks. Empirical orthogonal functions and teleconnections. Statistical weather and climate prediction, including MOS, constructed analogs. Ensemble forecasting and verification.

AOSC 634 Air Sampling and Analysis (3 credits)
One hour of lecture and four hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite: METO 434 or METO 637 or permission of department. Formerly METO634.
Theory and application of analytical techniques for the analysis of atmospheric gases and particles including priority pollutants. Combined chemical and meteorological considerations in designing field experiments.

AOSC 637 Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits)
Prerequisites: CHEM 481 or METO 620. Also offered as CHEM 637. Formerly METO637.
Application of the techniques of thermodynamics, kinetics, spectroscopy and photochemistry to atmospheric gases and particles. Investigation of the global cycles of C, H, O, N, and S species; the use of laboratory and field measurements in computer models of the atmosphere.

AOSC 640 Surface-Atmosphere Interactions (3 credits)
Prerequisites: MATH 240, MATH 241, PHYS 263 or consent of instructor. Formerly METO640.
Microscale surface/atmosphere interactions and their parameterization, current observational results, computational techniques for momentum, heat and water vapor transfer in the surface boundary layer.

AOSC 658 Special Topics in Meteorology (1-3 credits)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Formerly METO658.
Various special topics in meteorology are given intensive study. The topic of concentration varies, from semester to semester and depends on student and faculty interests. Often, specialists from other institutions are invited to the campus on a visiting lectureship basis to conduct the course.

AOSC 670 Physical Oceanography (3 credits)
Prerequisite: permission of department. Also offered as GEOL670. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: GEOL670 or AOSC670. Formerly METO670.
Ocean observations. Water masses, sources of deep water. Mass, heat, and salt transport, gochemical tracers. Western boundary currents, maintenance of the thermocline. Coastal and estuarine processes. Surface waves and tides. Ocean climate.

AOSC 671 Air-Sea Interaction (3 credits)
Prerequisite: MATH 462. Corequisite: METO 610. Formerly METO671.
Observations and theories of the seasonal changes in the ocean circulation and temperature, and interactions with the atmosphere. Equations of motion and theories of wind-driven circulation. Mixed layer observations and theories. Midlatitude and equatorial waves. Seasonal budgets of momentum, fresh water, and heat. El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Interannual variability and atmosphere-ocean coupling.

AOSC 680 Introduction to Earth System Science (3 credits)
An introduction to the study of the earth as a system: atmosphere, oceans, land, cryosphere, solid earth, and humans. Cylcing of materials and energy in the earth system: the energy cycle, the hydrologic cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle. Climate processes and variability:land-atmosphere, ocean-atmosphere, biosphere-climate, and human interactions, short- and long-term variability in climate.

AOSC 684 Climate System Modeling (3 credits)
Prerequisite: METO 617 or permission of instructor.
Fundamentals in building computer models to simulate the components of the climate system: atmosphere, ocean ice, land-surface, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and the biogeochemical cycles embedded in the physical climate system, in particular, the carbon cycle. Simple to state-of-the-art research models to tackle problems such as the Daisy World, El Nino and global warming.

AOSC 685 Global Climate Change: Past and Present (3 credits)
Global climate change, an integral part of the earth history, as opposed to historical, anthropogenically induced climate change. Record of climate change in the context of climate forcing, climate response, and climate feedbacks Sensitivity of climate to these parameters and the value (and limitations) of the proxy records. Predictions tested with the proxy record.

AOSC 798 Directed Graduate Research (1-3 credits)
For METO majors only. Formerly METO798.

AOSC 898 Pre-Candidacy Research (1-8 credits)

AOSC 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-8 credits)