myAriel

Atmospheric thermodynamics (Properties of dry air, water vapor and moist air; Hydrostatic balance and vertical profiles of atmospheric pressure; Atmospheric stability).
Saturated processes (Microphysics of clouds, homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation), clouds and precipitation.
Atmospheric dynamics (Navier-Stokes equation for a rotating reference frame; scale analysis; geostrophic approximation; scales of atmospheric motions and typical circulation patterns at the various scales; circulation and vorticity).
Planetary boundary layer (atmospheric turbulence, turbulent kinetic energy).
Meteorological systems (instruments and observation networks, surface and upper level fronts; extra-tropical cyclones; orographic effects; analysis and interpretation of meteorological charts at the ground and at upper levels; thermal convection; heat island; marine and terrestrial breeze).
Meteorological forecasting (Equations and parameters; numerical simulations; forecastability; ensemble forecast).

Students are expected to have a sound background in calculus (including ordinary and partial differential equations), classical physics (in particular mechanics and thermodynamics), and physics of the atmosphere.

The course unit is mostly based on class lectures and exercises.

Wallace J.M. & Hobbs P.V., Atmospheric Science, Academic Press, 2006.
Holton J.R., An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, Fifth Edition, Academic Press, 2012.
Bluestein H.B., Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology in midlatitudes (2 volumes), Oxford University Press, 1992.
Kalnay E., Atmospheric modeling, data assimilation and predictability, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

The final exam consists in an oral discussion organized in questions and answers concerning the topics treated during the lectures. A few homework sets will be assigned during the course unit.
The final assessment will be based on the following criteria: knowledge of the topics treated ; during the lectures; critical reasoning; skill in the use of specialistic lexicon.
The final score will be expressed in thirtieth.