UniversityofWyoming,DepartmentofAtmosphericScienceATSC5010PhysicalMeteorologyI

(ThermodynamicsandRadiativePropertiesoftheAtmosphere)Fall2017

CourseSyllabus,PoliciesandOutline

1 InstructorJeffrey(Jeff)R.French,PhDOffice:EN6065Phone:307-766-4143Email:jfrench@uwyo.eduOfficeHours: Mon&Wed1:30–3:00PM Tues3:00–4:00PMCourseMaterialsWebsite:http://www.atmos.uwyo.edu/~jfrench/teaching.html

2 CourseGoalsandObjectivesGoal:Thegoalofthiscourseisforstudentstogainanadvancedunderstandingoftheapplicationofbasicthermodynamicprinciplestotheatmosphereandtounderstandbasicsofatmosphericradiationandtheinterconnectionbetweenthetwo(radiationdrivestheenergeticsoftheearth).ThiscourseisthecornerstoneforfurtherstudyofPhysicalProcessesintheatmosphere.Objectives:Specificobjectivesofthiscourseareasfollows:

• Usingequationsofstate,describetherelationshipbetweenbasicstateparametersintheatmosphere

• Investigateuseofthefirstandsecondlawsofthermodynamicstoaddressadiabaticprocesses(dry)intheatmosphere

• Introducethermodynamicsofwatersubstanceandvariablesthatareusedtodescribewaterintheatmosphere

• Applytheaboveprinciplesandunderstandingtomoistthermodynamicprocessesintheatmosphereincludingphasechanges;introducetheconceptofstaticstability,understandhowmoisturemodifiesstabilityconsiderations

• Understandthebasicsofsolarandterrestrialradiation• Investigateradiativeemissionanditsapplicabilitytotheearth’satmosphere;

furtherexamineconceptsrelatedtotransmission,absorption,andscatteringappliedtotheatmosphere

• Applytheaboveconceptstotransmission,scatteringandabsorptioninclouds.

3 CoursePrerequisites

CalculusIII;Calculus-basedPhysicsII

Itisassumedthatstudentstakingthisclassarefamiliarwithbasicsofsimpledifferentialequations,separatingdifferentials,integratinglimits,etc.Studentsarealsoexpectedtohavebeenintroducedtothelawsofthermodynamicsandgoverningequationsandbasicconcepts.Wewillreviewtheseconceptsandapplythemspecificallytoproblemsintheatmosphere.

4 CourseStructure

Materialforthiscourseistaughtthroughbothlectureandcomputerlaboratorysessions.Itconsistsofthree1-hourlecturesperweekandone3-hourlaboratorysession.Thelaboratoryworkistightlycoupledwithlecturetopicsandwillre-enforcelearningforthestudenttobesuccessfulinthehomework,quizzes,andexams.

5 Gradinga. Breakdownofgradedevents

Gradingwillbebasedonhomework,quizzesandexams.Themajorityofyourgradewillbebasedon3exams.

WEIGHT

Exam1 20%

Exam2 20%

Exam3 20%

LaboratoryProblems 25%

LectureHomework 5%

Quizzes 10%

TOTAL 100%

b. Homework,Quizzes,andtests

Homeworkwillnotbegradedexplicitly.Studentswillreceiveagradeforturninginhomeworkandputtingforthaneffortincompletingthework.Homeworkisthestudent’sopportunitytolearnthematerialandidentifyifthereareaspectsofthelearningthatneedmoreattention.

Quizzeswillbegiveneveryotherweek.Quizzesprovideopportunitiesforboththestudentandtheinstructortoevaluatehowwellthematerialisunderstood.Quizzes

alsoprovidethestudenta‘glimpse’atthetypeofquestionsthatwillbeaskedonexamsandwillfocusonthemostimportantconceptstaughtintheclass.

AllExamswillbegivenduringnormalclasshours,roughly1/3and2/3throughthesemester(seeschedule).Thelastexamwillemphasizethematerialtaughtduringthelast3rdoftheclass,butitisinclusiveofallmaterialtaughtduringthesemesterandoneshouldexpectproblemsthatfocusonsynthesizingmaterialfromthroughoutthesemester.

c. LaboratoryProblems

EachweekaspecificLaboratoryproblemwillbeassigned.Theproblemswillrequireuseofcomputerandspecificcomputerlanguage(IDL)tosolve.Theseproblemswillbetightlycoupledwithlecturetopics.Thelaboratoryworkshouldre-enforcewhatwastaughtinclass.Gradingiscombinedonthecontentofthework(programming),formulationofthesolution,andinterpretation.Thesesessionsalsointroducethestudenttotheuseofaspecificscientificcomputerlanguage(IDL)thatwillbeusedthroughoutthestudent’sacademiccareerinthisdepartment.

d. GradingScale

TheDepartmentofAtmosphericSciencehasadoptedtheUniversityofWyoming+/-gradingsystem.Thebreakdownisasfollows:

LetterGrade

PercentageRange(%)

EquivalentGPA(4.0scale)

A 93–100 4.00

A- 90–92 3.67

B+ 87–89 3.33

B 81–86 3.00

B- 80–80 2.67

C+ 77–79 2.33

C 71–76 2.00

C- 70–70 1.67

D+ 67–69 1.33

D 60–66 1.00

F Below60 0.00

Note:theuniversitymandatesthatgraduatestudentsmaintainacumulativeGPAof3.00orbetter.Failuretodosowillresultinacademicprobationandcouldleadtoexpulsionfromtheprogram.

6 Textbookandsupplementarymaterial

Twotextbookswillberequired:

CurryandWebster(1999)isrequired.TheportionofthecoursefocusingonThermodynamicswillfollowquitecloselythepresentationorderofthematerialinthisbook.

Petty(2006)isrequired.Topicsinradiationwillbetakenprimarilyfromthistext.

Othertextsthatareoptionalinclude:

IribarneandGodsen(1981),outofprint.Thisbookisusefulfordetailedderivationofequationsandabasicunderstandingofadvancedthermodynamicprinciplesappliedtotheatmosphere.

BohrenandAlbrecht(1998).Thisbookprovidesadifferentapproachtothestudyofthermodynamicsoftheatmosphere.Thiscanbeafunbooktoread—butthetangentscanalsobedistractingattimes.

Salby(2012).ThisbookcoversamultitudeoftopicsinAtmosphericScienceincludingthermodynamicsandradiation.Mostoftheconceptscoveredinthisclassareincludedtosomedegreewithinthistext.

7 OverviewofPoliciesa. Turn-inPolicy

Toobtaincreditforyourhomework,itmustbeturnedinontime.

(Homework)Typically,therewillbeonehomeworkassignmenteverytwoweeks.Itwillbedueusually~1weekafteritwasassigned.

(Labs)Therewillbeonelabassignmentperweek.Labassignmentswilloftenrequireadditionaltime(beyondthe~3hourlabsection)tocomplete.Labsaredueby3PMonFriday.Labsturnedinlatewillreceivea50%reduction.LabsnotturnedinbyMondayat8AMwillreceiveazero.

b. Quizzes&Attendance

Forexcusedabsences,studentswillhaveanopportunitytomake-upmissedquizzes,ordependingonthecircumstances,thequizzesmaybeexcusedaltogether.Thedecisionwillbemadeonanindividualbasisbytheinstructor.

Ifstudentsknowtheywillmissclass(Dr.appointment,conference,etc)duringascheduledquizsection,theymustcontacttheinstructoraheadoftimetoarrangeamakeupquiz.Unexcusedabsenceswillresultinazerogradeforthatquiz.

Studentsareencouragedtotakeadvantageofopportunitiesofferedbythedepartment:flyingontheUWKA,attendingconferences,participatinginfieldprogram.However—makesureyouarrangeaheadoftimewithyourinstructorifyouwillmissclass.

c. CollaborationPolicyTosolvethehomeworkassignments,youareencouragedtoworkwithotherstudentscurrentlyenrolledinATSC5010.Youmust,however,documentanyofthehelpyoureceiveintheformofcommentsdirectlyonyourhomeworkpaperorwithinyourprogram.Nocommentsmeanyouaresubmittingtheitemtotallyasyourownwork;myassumptionwillalwaysbethatyouareanhonorablepersonunlessyoucausemetobelieveotherwise.Simplycopyinganotherperson'sassignmentisnotallowed–theactualitemyouturninmustultimatelybeyourownwork.Youmaybecalledtoyourinstructor'sofficewithnoadvancenoticetoexplainindetailthespecificsofyourwork.

Quizzesandexamsmustalwaysbethestudent'sownwork.

d. AcademicHonesty“TheUniversityofWyomingisbuiltuponastrongfoundationofintegrity,respectandtrust.AllmembersoftheUniversitycommunityhavearesponsibilitytobehonestandhavetherighttoexpecthonestyfromothers.Anyformofacademicdishonestyisunacceptabletoourcommunityandwillnotbetolerated.”[excerptedfromtheUWGeneralBulletin]Allpersonsshouldreportsuspectedviolationsofstandardsofacademichonestytotheinstructor,departmenthead,ordean.SeeUWRegulation6-802,“ProceduresandAuthorizedUniversityActionsinCasesofStudentAcademicDishonesty.”YoucanreadthisandallotherUniversityregulationsat:http://www.uwyo.edu/generalcounsel/index.html

e. DisabilityStatementIfyouhaveaphysical,learning,orpsychologicaldisabilityandrequireaccommodations,pleaselettheinstructorknowassoonaspossible.Youmustregisterwith,andprovidedocumentationofyourdisability,toUniversityDisabilitySupportServices(UDSS)inSEO,room330KnightHall.

8 ScheduleandCourseTopics(SubjecttoChange)

StateVariables,EquationofState,HydrostaticEquilibrium(1.1,1.3–1.7,1.10)

Heat,FirstLawofThermodynamics(2.2–2.4)

QuizI–September8

Entropy,SecondLawofThermodynamics(2.5–2.6)

AdiabaticProcesses(2.10)

QuizII–September22

Watersubstance,humidityvariables(4.1–4.4)

EXAM1–October2

Moist/SaturatedProcessesandPhasechange;iceprocesses(6.1–6.6)

QuizIII–October13

ConservedvariablesandThermodynamicdiagrams(6.7–6.8)

StaticStabilityandBuoyancy(7.1–7.3)

QuizIV–October27

PropertiesofRadiation(Petty2.1-2.8)

EXAM2–November6

SWandLWRadiationandtheElectromagneticSpectrum(Petty3.1-3.4)

ThermalEmission,Blackbodyradiation,Stefan-BoltzmannLaw(Petty6.1–6.4)

QuizVNovember17

RadiativeTransferintheAtmosphere:Extinction,ScatteringandAbsorption(Petty7.1-7.3,7.4.1-7.4.3)

AbsorptionbyGasesintheAtmosphere(Petty9.1,9.3-9.4)

ScatteringandAbsorptionbyParticles(Petty12.1-12.3,12.5)

QuizVIDecember8

EXAM3–FinalsWeek