Instructor: Professor Marcia B. Baker
326
Atmospheric Sciences Bldg., 685-3799
marcia@geophys.washington.edu
TA:Kevin Werner
724 Atmospheric Sciences Bldg.,
685-9524
werner@atmos.washington.edu
For Further Information on ATM S 211: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~werner/211
Office Hours: Prof. Baker: by appointment. K.Werner: Wed., 11:30-12:30, Thurs, 1:30-2:30.
Lectures:MTTHF, 310C ATG Building, 10:30 -11:20 AM. Quiz Section W, 10:30-11:20.
Each session will be a mixture of traditional lecture and discussion.
Textbook: Notes entitled 'Climate and Climate Change', available at Gerberding copy center, B36 Gerberding, for $11.85.
I. Reading: Students will be responsible for readings as assigned from the lecture notes, the web, papers and books.
II.Weekly Assignment: Each student will provide one question suitable for in-class discussion each week. There will be several homework sets throughout the quarter.
III. Examinations: There will be three in-class quizzes and one final examination.
IV. Projects: There will be two group projects. For each, the class will be divided into groups of four to five people.
Project 1: Investigation of the effects of La Nina on selected sites around the globe. Each group will be assigned a site.
(a) Due week 4: A short paper describing (with appropriate graphs) the climatology (temperature and precipitation patterns) for the site; the length of the climate record will vary from site to site. Data sources will be provided by K. Werner. These papers will serve as comparison benchmarks for part (b).
(b)Due week 10: Presentations on temperature and precipitation patterns as recorded over the period January 1, 1999 to March 1, 1999. Discussion of departures from climatological averages and comparison of the data with predictions based on theories of response to the so-called La Nina phenomenon. Specific topics to be covered will be disquiz section by K. Werner.
Project 2: Exploration of an hypothesis for a particular feature of the climate record. Each group will lead the in-class discussion of a particular climate phenomenon and the proposed processes (called 'forcing mechanisms') that produce it. Material on these phenomena will be taken from Chapter 8 in the text as well as outside materials.
(a) Due week 5 A one page abstract from each group defining the phenomenon to be studied and providing references for the class. Guidance on appropriate references will be given by Dr. Baker, K. Werner, and other members of the UW community.
(b) Weeks 8-10 Student led discussions on each phenomenon, including (1) Types of observations that lead to present day characterization of each phenomenon (2) Results of observations (3) Clear statement of an hypothetical mechanism (called a 'forcing' mechanism) that has been put forward to explain the observations (4) Where possible, discussion of arguments in favor of and/or opposing the hypothesis. The phenomena may, but do not have to be, chosen from those discussed in the course notes.
Lecture and Quiz Section Schedule:
Weeks 1-2: Introduction.
The Climate Record (notes Chapters 1 and 6); quiz#1.
Weeks 3-7: The Climate System
a) Energy, energy transfer, (notes Chapter 2); global energy balance;
b) atmospheric and oceanic (notes, chapter 4); circulations; quiz#2
c) atmospheric composition (Chapters3, 5);
d) the human factor (Chapters 1,8,9,10); quiz#3.
Weeks 8-9: Climate forcing (Chapters 0,7);
a) long time scales plus materials provided by groups;
b) short time scales
Week 10: Course review