TITLE: Dynamic Meteorology-II

INSTRUCTOR: F. Baer

PURPOSE: This course is designed to give students the tools necessary for understanding and manipulating atmosphere dynamics and to provide the basic principles which govern those dynamics. It is a continuation of METO610.

COURSE CONTENT:

1. Review of linear wave theory:

• sound waves;
• general gravity waves;
• internal and external gravity waves;
• inertia waves;
• Rossby waves;
• topographic waves.

2. Vertical coordinate transformation:

3. Kinematics of fluid flows:

• linear flows;
• rotational flows;
• divergent flows;
• deformation flows.

4. Representation of the equations of motion in terms of vorticity and divergence.

5. Potential vorticity (general theory and various approximations).

6. Quasi-geostrophy and associated potential vorticity.

7. Barotropic motions:

• necessary approximations;
• equivalent barotropic model;
• linear solutions;
• energy exchanges (Fjortoft theorem);
• barotropic instability/shear (Kuo theorem);
• spectral forms of the equations.

8. Scaling of system equations - expansion in terms of Rossby number.

9. Integral constraints/conservation of energy:

• potential energy and available potential energy;
• system approximations using rotation and divergence.

10. Averaging prediction equations (time and space):

• focus on scales of interest;
• subgrid parameterization.

11. Baroclinic motions:

• various vertical representations;
• linear theory;
• instability theory (Eady, Charney, etc).

12. Wave decomposition of energy equations.