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General Circulation of the Atmosphere (EAPS 53600)

Hypothesis-driven graduate-level (or advanced UG) course that trains students on the basic theories governing the large-scale circulations in our atmosphere, from the jet stream to the Madden-Julian Oscillation. Students learn by testing hypotheses using theory, data, simple computer models, and rotating tank experiments. Students then develop from scratch and test their own hypothesis as part of a semester-long final project. Taught: Spring 2018, Spring 2020.

Course text: Vallis Essentials (2019), Hartmann (2017)

Course notes/materials: Spring 2020 (switched to virtual recorded lectures for Lectures 11+ due to Covid-19; links to individual videos + notes below, or full youtube playlist here. If you'd like the original powerpoint file send me an email and I can share them.)

I decided to share these publicly because a) I am so grateful when I find content that others have created before when prepping my own classes, and b) these advanced topics had almost nothing of the sort available online. So hopefully this will help someone else out.

  1. Syllabus
  2. Schedule
  3. L01a: hypothesis driven
  4. L01b: climate context
  5. L02: overview of circulations
  6. L03: equations of motion
  7. L04a: shallow water dynamics
  8. L04b: shallow water potential vorticity
  9. L04c: geostrophic adjustment
  10. L04d: slope of a 1D front derivation
  11. L05: quasi-geostrophic system
  12. L06: Rossby waves
  13. L07: mid-latitude beta plane dynamics
  14. L08: equatorial beta plane dynamics
  15. L09: barotropic instability
  16. L10a: baroclinic instability
  17. L10b: barotropic vs. baroclinic instability diagrams + understanding the extratropical cyclone
  18. L10c: barotropic vs. baroclinic instability direct theoretical comparison
  19. HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: understanding Rossby waves, barotropic instability, and baroclinic instability mechanistically with colored pens and a couple pieces of paper
  20. L11: Hadley cell theory (axisymmetric) recorded lecture and notes
  21. L12: Monsoon theory recorded lecture and notes
  22. L13: Walker circulation theory + structure of tropical atmosphere recorded lecture and notes
  23. L14: Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) theory recorded lecture and notes
  24. L15: Wave--mean-flow interaction and Eliassen-Palm (EP) Flux theory recorded lecture and notes
  25. L16: Transformed Eulerian Mean (TEM) theory recorded lecture and notes
  26. L17: Jet formation, surface winds, and the Ferrel cell theory recorded lecture and notes
  27. L18: Stratosphere and the Brewer-Dobson circulation theory recorded lecture and notes
  28. L19: 3 mini-lectures: Rhines scale, Sverdrup balance, and Gross Moist Stability (GMS) recorded lecture and notes
  29. L20: Tropical cyclone and climate theory recorded lecture and notes
  30. Homeworks/Labs (order as assigned in class): HW1, TankLab1, HW2, TankLab2, HW3, TankLab3
  31. Semester project: Project guidelines, Final paper guidelines