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Department Course Catalog

Undergraduate Level (Normal)

Course Title Credits Requisites* Description
ATS150 Physical Basis of Climate Change 3 None Energy budget of the earth, the greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, paleoclimate, projections of 21st century climate
ATS350 Introduction to Weather and Climate 2 None Behavior of the atmosphere and its influence upon human activities
ATS351 Introduction to Weather and Climate Laboratory 1 ATS350 (C) Actual weather data, visualization of meteorological phenomena, and in-depth discussion of current environmental issues
ATS495 Independent Study: General Atmospheric Science Variable Variable

Undergraduate Level (Restricted)

Course Title Credits Requisites* Description
ATS540 Daily Weather Laboratory I 2 ATS601 (C) Synoptic analysis; cyclones, anticyclones, fronts, associated weather; long waves in the westerlies; upper troughs, ridges, basic currents; weather phenomena
ATS541 Daily Weather Laboratory II 2 ATS540 (P) Synoptic computation of cyclone and anticyclone movement; circulation and intensity changes; mesoscale weather phenomena; precipitation processes
ATS555 Air Pollution 3 C113, M261 or M340, PH122 or PH142 (P) Nature, ambient concentrations, sources, sinks, and physiological activity of pollutants; meteorology; legislation; social and economic factors.
ATS560 Air Pollution Measurement 2 C114 (P) Examination and application of techniques for air pollution measurement. Includes sampling and analysis of gases, aerosols, and precipitation.

Graduate Level (M.S.)

Course Title Credits Requisites* Description
ATS601 Atmospheric Dynamics I 3 MATH261, MATH531 (P) Momentum, continuity equations; circulation, vorticity, thermodynamics; boundary layer; synoptic scale motions in midlatitudes.
ATS602 Atmospheric Dynamics II 2 ATS601 (P) (WI) Sound waves, gravity waves, Rossby waves; numerical weather prediction; baroclinic instability; general circulation; tropical dynamics.
ATS604 Atmospheric Modeling 3 ATS602 (P/WI) Design of numerical models of the atmosphere, and applications to current problems. Emphasis is on a practical understanding of relevant numerical methods.
ATS605 General Circulation of the Atmosphere 3 ATS602 (C) Observations and theory of the general circulation of the atmosphere, with emphasis on understanding physical mechanisms.
ATS606 Introduction to Climate 3 MATH531 (P) Exchange of energy, water and momentum through the atmosphere, surface vegetation and oceans. Paleoclimate, climate change, variability and feedbacks.
ATS610 Physical Oceanography 3 None Foundations of ocean circulation theory and general circulation of the ocean using observational data and rotating tank experiments.
ATS620 Thermodynamics and Cloud Physics 3 MATH340, PHY142 (P) Equilibrium thermodynamics, cloud microphysics, cloud dynamics, precipitation formation, and cloud electrification.
ATS621 Atmospheric Chemistry 2 CHEM114, MATH340, PHY142 (P) Overview of chemical kinetics and equilibria; sources and sinks of pollutants; photochemistry and smog formation; aqueous-phase chemistry; acid rain.
ATS622 Atmospheric Radiation 3 ATS620 (P), ATS602 (C) Terrestrial, solar radiation propagation in the atmosphere; radiative components in energy budgets, weather systems, climate studies; remote sensing.
ATS623 Atmospheric Boundary Layer 2 ATS601 (P) Equations for shallow atmospheric motions; thermal instability of a fluid layer; atmospheric turbulence; flow stability; 1-D mixed layer models.
ATS631 Introduction to Atmospheric Aerosols 2 None Physical, chemical, and microphysical characteristics of atmospheric particulate matter; measurement principles and techniques.
ATS650 Measurement Systems and Theory 2 PHY142, STAT301 (P) Surface and upper air measurement systems; theory and system response, sensor design; automated data collection, analysis and display systems.
ATS652 Atmospheric Remote Sensing 2 ATS622 (P/WI) Concepts of electromagnetic and acoustic wave propagation; active and passive remote sensing techniques including radar, lidar, thermal emission systems.
ATS655 Objective Analysis in the Atmospheric Sciences 3 MATH531 (P/WI) Objective analysis of geophysical data: general statistics; matrix methods; time series analysis. Emphasis on applications to real-world data.
ATS680 Experiment Graduate Courses in Atmospheric Science Varies None None
ATS681 Experiment Graduate Courses in Atmospheric Science Varies None None
ATS695 Independent Study (General Atmospheric Science) Variable None None
ATS699 Thesis: M.S. Varies Varies Atmospheric Dynamics -- Schubert
Land-atmosphere Interactions -- Denning
Chemistry-Climate Interactions -- Heald
Cloud Physics --
Remote Sensing -- Kummerow
Tropical Meteorology -- Maloney
General Circulation -- Randall
Meteorological Instruments --
Atmospheric Chemistry -- Kreidenweis
Dynamic Meteorology -- Birner
Satellite Applications -- Vonder Haar
Mesoscale Meteorology -- Johnson
Dynamics and Physics of Clouds -- Cotton
Mesoscale Modeling -- van den Heever
Radiation Theory -- Stephens
Radar Meteorology -- Rutledge
Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry -- Collett
Climate Dynamics -- Thompson
Physical Oceanography --

Graduate Level (Ph.D.)

Course Title Credits Requisites* Description
ATS703 Numerical Weather Prediction 2 ATS602 (P) Quasi-geostrophic approximation; barotropic, baroclinic, primitive equation, and general circulation models; numerical methods.
ATS704 Large-scale Atmospheric Dynamics 2 ATS602 (P) Quasi-static, quasi-geostrophic equations; planetary waves; geostrophic adjustment; barotropic, baroclinic instability; frontogenesis; tropical cyclones.
ATS707 Atmospheric Waves and Vortices 3 ATS605 (P/WI) Atmospheric wave motions on a multitude of spatial and temporal scales. Topics covered include mountain waves, downslope windstorms, breaking waves and hydraulic jumps, vorticity generation via hydraulic jumps, equatorial waves, LaPlace’s Tidal equation, atmospheric tides, Eliassen-Palm theorems, wave-mean-flow interaction, QBO, gravity wave critical levels, Kelvin-Helmholtz instablity, stratified shear turbulence, gravity wave breaking, solitary waves and KdV theory, gravity wave and Rossby wave critical layers.
ATS708 Middle Atmosphere Dynamics 3 ATS602 (P), ATS605 (P) Dynamics of the stratosphere and mesosphere with emphasis on the lower and middle stratosphere.
ATS710 Geophysical Vortices 3 ATS23 (P) Dynamical and thermodynamical structure of geophysical vortices from observational, experimental, and theoretical viewpoints. Topics covered include two-dimensional vortex dynamics, invertibility principle, Green functions, point vortex and moment idealizations, vortex axisymmetrization, vortex merger, two-dimensional and three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic turbulence, vortex Rossby waves, Eliassen’s balanced vortex model, Ooyama’s 1969 hurricane model, Spin down at small and large Rossby number, assymmetric balance (AB) theory, vortex alignment, tropical cyclogenesis and intensification via convectively forced vortex Rossby waves, tornadoes, water spout and dust devils.
ATS712 Dynamics of Clouds 3 ATS623 (P) General theory of cloud dynamics; parameterization of microphysics and radiation; models of fog, stratocumuli, cumulonimbi, and orographic clouds.
ATS715 Atmospheric Oxidation Processes 2 ATS621 (P) Atmospheric hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide reactions; aqueous phase scavenging and reactions; chemical pathways in the atmosphere.
ATS716 Air Quality Characterization 2 ATS560, ATS555 or ATS621 (P/WI) Students plan, execute, and report on a measurement campaign to characterize local air quality.
ATS721 Theoretical Topics in Radiative Transfer 3 ATS622 (P) Physics of atmospheric radiation; theoretical techniques used to show radiation transfer equation.
ATS722 Atmospheric Radiation and Energetics 3 ATS622 (P) Radiative transfer in the atmosphere; implications on remote sensing and energetics.
ATS724 Cloud Microphysics 2 ATS621 (P) Theories and observations of nucleation; cloud droplet spectra broadening; precipitation growth and breakup; ice multiplication; cloud electrification.
ATS730 Mesoscale Modeling 3 ATS602, ATS632 (P) Development of basic equations used in mesoscale models and methodology of solution.
ATS735 Mesoscale Dynamics 3 ATS602 (P) Analysis of physical and dynamical processes that initiate, maintain, and modulate atmospheric mesoscale phenomena.
ATS737 Satellite Observation of Atmosphere and Earth 3 ATS622, ATS652 (P) Satellite measurements; basic orbits and observing systems; applications of remote sensing and imaging to investigations of atmospheric processes.
ATS741 Radar Meteorology 3 ATS 652 (P/WI) Radar systems; radar equation and applications; multiple Doppler observation and processing; radar studies of mesoscale systems.
ATS742 Tropical Meteorology 2 ATS605, ATS623, ATS655 (P/WI) Overview of the tropical atmosphere, monsoons, intraseasonal variability, hurricanes, theory of tropical convection and the large-scale circulation.
ATS743 Interaction of the Ocean and Atmosphere 3 ATS601 and ATS602 (P/WI) Ocean-atmosphere interactions in observations, theory, and models. Time mean atmosphere-ocean circulations through climate variability and change.
ATS745 Atmospheric General Circulation Modeling 3 ATS602, ATS605 (P) Survey of current problems in modeling of the climate system, with emphasis on atmospheric processes.
ATS750 Climate Dynamics: Atmospheric Variability 3 ATS605, ATS655 (P/WI) Analysis and interpretation of large-scale variability and observed climate change.
ATS753 Global Hydrologic Cycle 3 ATS601, ATS622 or ATS652 (P) Hydrologic cycle; moisture transport and air-ground exchange; water budgets of meteorological phenomena; climatology of atmospheric water.
ATS755 Topics in Climate Research 3 ATS606 (P) Course content varies from one offering to the next.
ATS760 Global Carbon Cycle 2 ATS606 (P) Exchanges of CO2 between the atmosphere, the land surface, and oceans. Biogeochemical processes. Micrometeorological and inverse flux estimation.
ATS762 Biosphere-Chemistry-Climate Interactions 2 ATS621 (P) Explore the sensitivity of the climate system to atmospheric chemical composition with emphasis on connections to biosphereic processes and feedbacks.
ATS765 Climate Dynamics: Oceanic Variability 3 ATS606 (P) Climate variability on time scales of years to millennia with focus on the role of the ocean circulation. Approach of problems through dynamical systems theory (bifurcations, chaos).
ATS770 Ocean Modeling 3 ATS602 (P) Conceptual and numerical ocean models and their application to current problems in climate science and biogeochemical cycles.
ATS772 Aerosol Chemistry 2 CHEM114, MATH161, PHY122 or PHY142 (P) Physics and chemistry of atmospheric aerosols including composition, surface properties, size, interaction with radiation sources, sinks.
ATS784 Supervised College Teaching Variable Variable (WI/WH) None
ATS786 Practicum Variable None None
ATS795 Independent Study (General Atmospheric Science) Variable None None
ATS796 Group Study Variable Variable (See ATS699 for research categories.)
ATS799 Dissertation: Ph.D. Variable Variable (See ATS699 for research categories.)

* Requisite Codes: P=Prerequisite C=Corequisite WI=Written Consent of Instructor WH=Written Consent of Department Head

As a general planning guideline, courses at the 700 level are usually taught in alternate years. However, actual frequency of course offerings depends on demand.


Last Updated: 02 August 2011. Contact the Webmaster