Instructor:
Prof. Ning Zeng
Office: CSS 2421
Phone: (301) 405-5377
Fax: (301) 314-9482
Email: zeng@atmos.umd.edu
http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~meto617
Course schedule: Wednesdays, 3-5:30pm.
Room 2428, Computer and Space Science Building
Prerequisite: METO 610 (Dynamic Meteorology I) or approval of instructor (the course is open to non-meteorology students with diverse background)
Description: (check the flyer for a simple version)
Understanding what determines the Earth's climate and how it changes. The general circulation of the Atmosphere and oceans: how weather gives rise to climate, historical perspective, observations, and conceptual models. General circulation as a heat engine driven by differential solar heating. Hadley and Walker circulations. Wind-driven and thermohaline circulation of the oceans. Intraseasonal variability: midlatitude storm tracks and jet streams, tropical storms and hurricanes, Madden-Julian oscillation. Seasonal cycle and monsoon circulations. Interannual to interdecadal climate variability. The hydrological cycle. The carbon cycle. Climate change.
Syllabus:
1. Observations and historical perspective
Observed climate;
What are the differences
and relation between weather and climate?
Climatology is much more
than statistics;
Climate zone classification
and ecosystems.
2. Energy balance of the Earth: zero-dimensional view
Comparison to Mars, Venus
and other planets and moons;
The uniqueness of Earth's
position in the solar system;
Solar radiation, infrared
cooling, Greenhouse gases and clouds.
Runaway greenhouse vs. ice-albedo
feedback.
3. Thermal structure of the atmosphere and ocean: one-dimensional view
Radiative and convective
equilibrium;
Stability and lapse rate;
Atmosphere vs. Ocean;
Surface energy balance;
Soil heat transfer.
4. The hydrological cycle
The atmospheric component of
the hydrological cycle;
The water balance of the
continents and oceans.
5. General circulation of the atmosphere
The Hadley circulation;
The Walker circulation;
Baroclinic instability and
midlatitude storms;
Energetics of the atmospheric
general circulation.
6. General circulation of the oceans
Wind-driven circulation;
Thermohaline circulation;
Meridional heat transport.
7. Regional climate systems
The monsoon systems;
Trade winds, ITCZ and subtropical
dry zones;
Why the west coasts and
east coasts have different climate?
Large-scale circulation
patterns and climatic zones.
8. Climate variability and climate change
Intraseasonal oscillation;
The seasonal cycle;
Interannual variability,
El Nino;
Decadal-interdecadal variability,
NAO, PDO;
Long-term climate variability:
forced or internal?
Anthropogenic greenhouse
gas and global warming.
9. The carbon cycle and climate
The modern carbon cycle;
box models.
The changing carbon cycle.
10. Biosphere and climate
Biophysical effects.
Biochemical effects.
Distribution of credits (tentative):
Assignments --- 30%
Two exams --- 40%
Project/Presentation --- 30%
Office hours: By appointment.
Text book:
Hartmann, Dennis L.
Global physical climatology:
Academic Press, c1994.
Reference books:
James, Ian N.
Introduction to circulating atmospheres;
Cambridge University Press, 1994.
William F. Ruddiman, 2001: Earth's Climate, Past and Future. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 465pp.
Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, Robert G. Crane: The Earth System
McGuffie, K. and A. Henderson-Sellers
A climate modelling primer, 2nd ed.
Chichester ; New York : Wiley, c1997.
Trenberth, K. E., ed., 1993: Climate system modeling (ed.), Cambridge
Univ. Press, New York, 817? pp.
Peixoto, Jose Pinto.
Physics of climate / Jose P. Peixoto and Abraham
H. Oort ; foreword by Edward N. Lorenz. New York : American Institute
of Physics, c1992.