THE ATMOSPHERE - University of California, San...

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SIO 20 THE ATMOSPHERE Sam Iacobellis Scripps Institution of Oceanography Nierenberg Hall 204 phone: 534-3126 email: sam@ucsd.edu TAs: Nicholas Cavanaugh (ncavanaugh@ucsd.edu) Kaushik Srinivasan (ksriniva@ucsd.edu)

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

COURSE WEBPAGE http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20/ (case sensitive) Contains:

- office hours - email - syllabus - problem sets and answers - practice midterms - slides from lecture

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

Sam’s Office Hours: - M 4-5, Tu 3-4 - and by appointment

Office at SIO

- Nierenberg Hall, Room 204 - phone 858-534-3126 (x43126)

Email: sam@ucsd.edu

- Include SIO20 or similar in subject line

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

COURSE TEXT: Essentials of Meteorology (6th Edition) by C. Donald Ahrens Available at:

- UCSD Bookstore - Online from Publisher?

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

iClicker: We will use iClickers in this course Available at:

- UCSD Bookstore (either iClicker1 or iClicker2) WHY?

- increase participation - increase learning - allows us to see if material is understood

Will ONLY be graded on participation and NOT on answers provided on clickers. Will get full credit if participate 75% (or more) of the lectures.

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

Register your i-clicker at: www.iclicker.com/registration The 8-character Remote ID is on the back of the clicker:

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

Scripps Institution of Oceanography SIO 20: The Atmosphere

Course Syllabus – Winter 2013

Day Date Topic Reading Mon Jan 7 Course Introduction Wed Jan 9 Atmosphere Composition and Structure Chap 1, pg 2-17 Fri Jan 11 Atmospheric Energy Chap 2, pg 26-46 Mon Jan 14 Seasonal and Daily Cycles Chap 2, pg 46-54 Wed Jan 16 Seasonal and Daily Cycles, continued Chap 3, pg 56-71 Fri Jan 18 Atmospheric Moisture Chap 4, pg 82-91 Mon Jan 21 HOLIDAY - KING DAY Wed Jan 23 Atmospheric Moisture, continued Chap 4, pg 96-97 Fri Jan 25 Condensation, Fog and Cloud Types Chap 4, pg 97-113 Mon Jan 28 Stability and Cloud Development Chap 5, pg 116-123 Wed Jan 30 Stability, continued Chap 5, pg 124-127 Fri Feb 1 Precipitation Chap 5, pg 128-143 Mon Feb 4 Atmospheric Optics Chap 15, pg 432-442; 447-449 Wed Feb 6 MIDTERM #1 Fri Feb 8 Pressure, Forces and Wind Chap 6, pg 148-158 Mon Feb 11 Pressure, Forces and Wind, continued Chap 6, pg 158-169 Wed Feb 13 Small-scale Wind Systems Chap 7, pg 176-192 Fri Feb 15 Small-scale Wind Systems, continued Mon Feb 18 HOLIDAY - PRESIDENT'S DAY Wed Feb 20 Global Wind Systems Chap 7, pg 193-204 Fri Feb 22 Global Wind Systems, continued Mon Feb 25 El Nino/La Nina Chap 7, pg 204-207 Wed Feb 27 El Nino/La Nina, continued Fri Mar 1 MIDTERM #2 Mon Mar 4 Thunderstorms/Tornadoes Chap 10, pg 272-306 Wed Mar 6 Hurricanes Chap 11, pg 312-330 Fri Mar 8 Climate Change Chap 13, pg 372-388 Mon Mar 11 Climate Change, continued Chap 13, pg 388-401 Wed Mar 13 Air Pollution Chap 14, pg 404-423 Fri Mar 15 Other Topics and/or Review Problem Set 1 Due: Wednesday, January 23 Problem Set 2 Due: Friday, February 1 Problem Set 3 Due: Friday, February 22 Problem Set 4 Due: Friday, March 8 FINAL EXAM Monday, March 18 2012, 3:00 - 6:00pm TEXT: Essentials of Meteorology, 6th Edition, by C. Donald Ahrens Course Details on Web site: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20/

GRADING Class Participation with Clicker 10%

Problem Sets/Homework (4) 15%

Midterm Exam 1 20%

Midterm Exam 2 20%

Final Exam 35% Course grades assigned:

A ~ Top 30% of class or total score above 85% B ~ Next 40% of class or total score 70-85%

C ~ Next 25-30% of class or total score 55-70% NP ~ 0 - 5%

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

PROBLEM SETS/HOMEWORK • Total of 4 assignments (each worth ~ 4% of grade). • Each assignment will consist of about 5-7 questions. • Each question can generally be answered in 1-2 paragraphs. • A few questions where you will be asked to produce a plot. • Please type your answers (hand-drawn plots and figures OK). Assignment 1 Due: Wed. Jan 23 Assignment 2 Fri. Feb 1 Assignment 3 Fri. Feb 22 Assignment 4 Fri. Mar 8 NO POINTS FOR LATE HOMEWORK! Feel free to work together, but.... WRITE OUT YOUR OWN ANSWERS!

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

MIDTERMS AND FINAL

• Multiple choice and short answer format • I’ll try and post practice exam on website

MIDTERM 1 Wednesday, February 6 MIDTERM 2 Friday, March 1 FINAL Monday, March 18 (3-6pm)

Let us know ASAP if you have a conflict!

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

REVIEW SESSIONS:

• 3 Review Sessions planned - Date/Time TBA (usually early evening) - a few days before exams • Optional – attendance is not taken

• TA’s will run sessions

• Open to questions - material covered on homework and exams - material from class

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

ABOUT THE COURSE... • Very little math is needed • Concepts are emphasized instead of details

- some details necessary, but will try to minimize these • Lectures are mostly from the chalkboard to facilitate note taking

- some Powerpoint necessary for graphics • Should be easy to get a passing grade

- keep up and turn in problem assignments

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

ABOUT THE COURSE... • First 3-4 weeks go over background material

- perhaps not the most exciting part of the course

- but necessary to understand material later in course • Rules

- free to do what you want during lecture as long as you do not disturb others

- write up your own answers for homework

- do not use a clicker for someone else

- and obviously, no cheating on exams

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

Rule Violator

SIO 20 Website: http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~iacob/sio20

Visible Satellite Image Today at 9:00am

Infrared (IR) Satellite Image Today at 9:00am

Visible Satellite Image Today at 9:45am

MATH IN COURSE

E = σ T4 Radiated Energy = constant x Temperature to 4th power

λmax = c / T Wavelength of maximum emission = constant divided by Temperature

You will not need to calculate E or λmax, but you will need to know

how changes in Temperature (T) affect E or λmax

Climate System

Atmosphere is just one component of Earth’s climate system

Many climate system processes operate on time scales considered slow by most people One example are clouds Time-lapse photography in Yosemite: http://shawnreeder.net/blog.php?bid=219 Yosemite Range of Light, by Shawn Reeder (shawnreeder.net)

What is the Atmosphere??!

Atmosphere:!!

Thin gaseous envelope !surrounding the Earth!

Photo taken from International Space Station (NASA)

Atmosphere: Thin gaseous envelop surrounding Earth

What is in the Atmosphere??!!!A mix of gases (= Air)!!For Dry Air (exclude water vapor):!!

!78% is Nitrogen (N2)!!21% is Oxygen (O2)!!+ other minor gases!

!!0.0390% is Carbon Dioxide (CO2)!!= 390 ppm (parts per million)!

!Amount of water vapor varies!

!0 - 4% of Total Air !!!

!!!

Current Concentration

Carbon Dioxide Concentration is Increasing

"Keeling Curve" after Scripps Prof. Charles David Keeling Continuous CO2 measurements at Mauna Loa, HI (clean air)

Water in the Atmosphere Water can exist in the atmosphere as: • solid (ice) • liquid (liquid water) • gas (water vapor) Known as the 3 phases of water • Clouds consist of liquid water and/or ice • Humidity refers to the amount of water vapor (gas)

=> water vapor is invisible!

Clouds consist of LIQUID water drops and/or ICE crystals Water vapor is also present, but invisible to human eye. When we see a cloud we are seeing light reflected from the water drops and/or ice crystals.

Water in the Atmosphere Energy is released to (or absorbed from) the environment when water changes phase

LIQUID WATER ICE WATER

VAPOR

ENERGY RELEASED TO

ENVIRONMENT

ENERGY RELEASED TO

ENVIRONMENT

Water in the Atmosphere Energy is released to (or absorbed from) the environment when water changes phase

LIQUID WATER ICE WATER

VAPOR

ENERGY ABSORBED FROM

ENVIRONMENT

ENERGY ABSORBED FROM

ENVIRONMENT

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