Climate (CLIM)

School of Computational Sciences

710 Introduction to Physical Climate System (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BS or MS in mathematics or a physical science, or permission of instructor. Provides modern understanding of the system of ocean, atmosphere, and land based on fundamental physical laws. Describes current climate and physical processes by which climate is maintained. Covers theoretical models of general circulation of atmosphere, including time mean and transient behavior. Describes basics of ocean circulation and interactions between ocean and atmosphere. Reviews role of stratosphere and its interactions with troposphere, and role of land processes in modulating climate, and gives brief review of past climate change.

711/PHYS 676 Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BS or MS in mathematics or a physical science, or permission of instructor. Covers basic conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy; and scaling analysis of the equation of motion and thermodynamic equation. Discusses balanced flows in atmosphere, such as geotropic wind and its vertical shear, and thermal wind relationship. Also explores circulation and vorticity; role of atmospheric boundary layer in mass, momentum, and energy transfer; synoptic scale motions; and role of gravity and Rossby waves in controlling general circulation of atmosphere.

712 Physical and Dynamical Oceanography (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BS or MS in mathematics or a physical science, or permission of instructor. Introduction to climatology and dynamics of oceans. Covers the nature of seawater, heat, and salt budgets; general circulation of the ocean, including the Gulf Stream and thermohaline circulations; dynamics of wind-driven ocean circulation; and processes influencing biological and chemical behavior.

713 Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CLIM 712 or 711 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Provides comprehensive observational and mechanistic understanding of El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena. Topics include observations and theories of seasonal and interannual changes in ocean circulation and temperature and interactions with atmosphere; equations of motion and theories of wind-driven circulation; mixed layer observations and theories; midlatitude and equatorial ocean waves; interannual variability and atmosphere-ocean coupling; and tropical oceanography and meteorology.

714 Land-Climate Interactions (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BS or MS in mathematics or a physical science, or permission of instructor. Interdisciplinary course providing detailed description of surface energy and water balance over land, and radiative and turbulent transfer. Introduces numerical techniques for modeling land surface and associated applications in weather, climate, and hydrologic forecasting and simulation. Includes hands-on experience with land surface models in computer laboratory, including sensitivity experiments that provide practical understanding to reinforce theoretical concepts. Exposure to contemporary research through reading and reviewing seminal journal papers.

715 Numerical Methods for Climate Modeling (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CLIM 712 or 711 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Foundation and theory of computational methods for atmosphere and ocean modeling, with special emphasis on finite-difference and spectral methods. Topics include accuracy, consistency, convergence and stability; time stepping schemes; nonlinear computational stability; energy and enstrophy conserving schemes for momentum equations; staggered and curvilinear grids; alternate vertical coordinate systems; implicit and split-explicit barotropic mode solution; pressure gradient errors and vorticity constraints; spectral methods for atmospheric models; treatment of model physics.

750 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CLIM 711 or permission of instructor. Introduction to geophysical fluid dynamics, the study of rotating stratified flows. Covers hydrostatics; equations of motion, gravity wave dynamics, and stratified flow; effects of rotation, midlatitude dynamics, Rossby number and quasigeostrophic expansion; beta plane approximation; and equatorial Kelvin and Rossby waves.

751 Predictability of Weather and Climate (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CLIM 711 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Covers fundamental aspects of weather and climate predictability. Using simple dynamical models, illustrates basic theorems on divergence of trajectories in phase space and fundamental periodicity properties of flow. Explores paradigms of turbulence, barotropic and baroclinic instability, and optimal linear growth to describe fundamental error growth mechanisms. Examines examples from real weather forecasting systems. Studies predictability of time averages with simple dynamical models and experiments using complex general circulation models and historical data analysis. Emphasizes roles of boundary conditions of sea surface temperature and soil moisture.

752 Ocean Circulation Theory (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CLIM 712 or 711 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Theory of the large-scale circulation of the worldÕs oceans. Covers Sverdrup theory for large-scale horizontal circulation, role of friction, and nonlinearity; western boundary layer dynamics; quasigeostrophic theory for stratified flow, geostrophic contours, and potential vorticity homogenization; theory of the ventilated thermocline; abyssal circulation.

759 Topics in Climate Dynamics (3:3:0) Prerequisites: permission of instructor. Covers selected topics in climate dynamics not covered in fixed-content courses. May be repeated for credit when offered with different content.

998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal (1-12:0:0) Prerequisites: doctoral standing and permission of instructor. Covers development of research proposal under guidance of dissertation director and doctoral committee. Proposal forms basis for climate dynamics doctoral dissertation. Course may be repeated as needed; however, no more than 12 credits of CLIM 998 may be applied to doctoral degree requirements.

999 Doctoral Dissertation (1-12:0:0) Prerequisites: admission to doctoral candidacy and permission of instructor. Involves doctoral dissertation research under direction of dissertation director. May be repeated as needed; however, no more than 24 credits total in CLIM 998 and 999 may be applied to doctoral degree requirements.