101 Weather, Climate, and Society (3:3:0) Prerequisites: none. This course provides a survey of the scientific and societal issues associated with weather and climate variability and change. The course will examine physical phenomena observed in the Earth’s weather and climate, providing sufficient scientific and technical background to enable students to critically examine arguments being discussed by policymakers and the public at large. The course will also review the current debate on climate change from a scientific point of view, with a focus on those aspects that have the largest potential impact on global society.
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 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 past climate change; stratosphere and its interactions with troposphere; and role of land processes in modulating climate.
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 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. Introduces climatology and dynamics of oceans. Covers 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 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 applications in weather, climate, and hydrologic forecasting and simulation. Includes hands-on experience with land surface models in computer laboratory, including sensitivity experiments 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; and treatment of model physics.
750 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CLIM 711, or permission of instructor. Introduces 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. Description and theory of large-scale ocean circulation and how it affects climate. Focus is on ubiquitous flow structures such as gyres, equatorial currents, and meridional overturning cells. The class examines how the circulation follows from wind and thermohaline forcing and from physical principles. The influence of the circulation on heat transport and climate variability is also discussed. Conceptual guideposts include barotropic gyres, Ekman cells, potential vorticity, western intensification, the interplay of gravity and the Earth’s rotation, advective-diffusive balance, multiple flow states, and Rossby waves.
753 General Circulation of the Atmosphere (3:3:0). Prerequisites: CLIM 710 and 711. Overview and several theoretical perspectives of atmospheric transport of energy, moisture, and angular momentum, and how these processes fundamentally affect the climate on various time scales.
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.
796 Directed Reading and Research (1–6:0:0) Prerequisites: admission into climate dynamics doctoral program and permission of instructor. Reading and research on a specific topic in climate dynamics under the direction of a faculty member. May be repeated as necessary.
991 Climate Dynamics Seminar (1:1:0) Prerequisites: graduate standing. Presentations in climate dynamics field by Mason faculty and invited speakers. May be repeated for credit; however, a maximum of 3 credits may be applied toward the climate dynamics PhD.
996 Doctoral Reading and Research (1–6:0:0) Prerequisites: admission into climate dynamics doctoral program and permission of instructor. Reading and research on a specific topic in climate dynamics under the direction of a faculty member. May be repeated as necessary.
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, but 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. Doctoral dissertation research under direction of dissertation director. May be repeated, but no more than 24 credits total in CLIM 998 and 999 may be applied to doctoral degree requirements.