ATM 305 - Global Physical Climatology - Fall 2009

Time: Tu/Th 2:45-4:05 pm
Room: ES 232
Class/Call #: 32091
Instructor: Lance F. Bosart
E-Mail: bosart "at" atmos.albany.edu
Phone: 518-442-4564
Fax: 518-442-4494
Office (ES-227) hours: (Tu/Th 1:00-2:30 pm and 4:15-5:15 pm, by appointment, or open door)

TA: Kyle MacRitchie
Email: kyle.macritchie01 "at" albany.edu
Office (ES-338) hours: (Mondays: 10:30 am - noon; Wednesdays: 2:15 pm - 4:15 pm, by appointment, or open door)

Textbooks and References

• Roger G. Barry and Richard J. Chorley: Atmosphere, Weather and Climate, Eighth Edition, 2003, Routledge Press, 421 pages
• John M. Wallace and Peter V. Hobbs: Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey, Second Edition (2006), Academic Press.
• Levinson, D.H., and J.H. Lawrimore, 2008: State of the Climate in 2007. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, S1-S179.
• Kennedy, J., H. Titchner, D. Parker, M. Beswick, J. Hardwick, and P. Thorne, 2008: Global and regional climate in 2007, Weather, 63, 296-304.
• Petersen, T.C., and M.O. Baringer, Eds., 2009: State of the Climate in 2008. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,90,S1-S196 (click here for link to PDF version)
• Monthly and annual climate summary information, and special climate reports, can be found at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/monitoring.html

Course Requirements (A-E Graded)

• Prerequisite and Corequisite
• Prerequisite: ATM 211
• Corequisite: ATM 315
• Examinations
• a. Two Class Exams (40%)
• b. Class Quiz (10%)
• c. Final Exam (25%), Thursday 10 December 2009, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm in ES 232
• Homework (5%)
• Semester Project Paper (20%; maximum length: 1500 words) due Thursday 3 December 2009

The semester project paper can be on any topic of your choice related to global physical climatology. It can be a literature review of a particular topic or an analysis of a feature of the global climate using real data obtained from the maproom, the Library, or over the Internet. The paper should be prepared in AMS journal format (details will be provided later). All sources, including web URLs, must be listed.

Course Outline

• Status of the Current Climate
• recent climate trends
• IPCC (2007) assesment
• The Basic Ingredients
• atmospheric composition and structure
• earth-atmosphere radiation balance
• observed global atmospheric and oceanic circulations
• Statistics
• overview of basic concepts
• linear regression
• meteorological and climatological applications
• Governing Dynamics and Thermodynamics
• governing equations and wind laws
• principles of atmospheric motions
• Water Vapor
• precipitable water
• water budget equation
• global rainfall
• The Observed Climate
• polar regions
• midlatitudes
• tropics
• monsoon circulations
• Natural Climate Variability and the Earth-Atmosphere System
• millennial and longer variations
• interannual (e.g., ENSO) and interdecadal (e.g., PDO) variations
• intraseasonal variations (e.g., the Madden-Julian Oscillation)
• weather-climate interface
• Prediction of Climate Change
• the climate record
• possible causes of climate change
• human influence on climate change