Meteorology 454 - Dynamic Meteorology II
Fall 2009
Instructor: William J. Gutowski, Jr.
gutowski@iastate.edu 294-5632 [tel]
3021 Agronomy 294-2619 [fax]
http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/gutowski.shtml
Office hours: MW 11 am - noon
Course webpage
If you are reading a printed copy of this page, you will be able to
find this syllabus and other course messages/notes/updates on the
course webpage: www.meteor.iastate.edu/classes/mt454/
Objectives
To understand:
- The coupling of the atmosphere and surface through the
planetary boundary layer.
- Wave motions occurring in the atmosphere.
- Atmospheric instability and the generation of new
mid-latitude disturbances.
- Convection and other small- (meso-) scale phenomena. [Tentative]
Text
Holton, Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, Fourth Edition (Third
Edition is acceptable)
Course Design
The lecture list provided below is tentative
but should be adequate
enough to give you a
reference for the order topics will be covered and a reasonable idea of
the pace the materials will be covered.
You can obtain additional course materials that supplement the text
book:
You should purchase the course packet, containing grayshade printouts
of the lecture slides, at the University Bookstore. In addition, class images
are available for viewing here, but
you need a password to open this page. Please see Dr. Gutowski for access.
Students are expected to come
to class prepared to participate actively in the learning process. As
in any professional organization, absences should be justified and
promptness standard procedure. Your homework should be done with
pride and submitted on time. Late homework will be given discounted credit.
Email
I communicate frequently with the class by email. The default email
address I have for all students is their @iastate.edu address.
Students who prefer to use some other email address should follow one
of these two alternatives (the first is preferred):
- Follow the instructions to automatically forward your
iastate.edu email
to another system.
- Send to me by email your preferred address.
Choice 1 is preferable because it ensures that all email sent your
@iastate.edu address will get forwarded. This could be email for
other classes, from the Registrar's office, etc.
Exams
Tentative dates:
- Chapter 5 - early October
- Chapter 7 - mid-November
- Chapter 8 + Any material covered on mesoscale phenomena - Exam
Week: Thursday, 17 December, 2:15 - 4:15 pm
Procedure for exams:
- Tests are closed-book exams.
- You are allowed to use a 1-page "crib sheet".
- The crib sheed can have any equations or constants you want on it.
- The crib sheet can not have sample problems or figures.
- You can (and are in fact encouraged) to work with other students
to develop your crib sheet
- The crib sheet must be handed in with the test.
Problem sets
- Approximately every 1.5 weeks
- I will assign problem set groups.
- Most problem sets will be done by groups
- Note, however, that you are free (and in fact encouraged) to
discuss the problems with other groups.
- Due 1 week after assigned (except First
Assignment - due by 5 pm, Friday, 28 August 2009)
- Late: Problems that are one period late will receive 1/2 credit,
after that, no credit.
Procedure for Problem Sets
- Restate question, preferably in your own words.
- Without using equations, explain the physics of the problem. Figures are
encouraged.
- Work the problem and include comments.
- Identify the solution (e.g. underline, put in a box, use an arrow
pointer...)
- On each problem set, team members who contributed should sign
their names at the top; identify the person (secretary) writing the
solutions.
- The secretary position must be rotated.
Every person who contributes to the solution will get the same score.
Discussion with others outside your group is encouraged. Only one
solution is to be submitted from the group. Persons not contributing
will receive
no credit. Problem sets are due one week after they are assigned at the
end of class (unless stated otherwise).
On-line Problem Sets
Problem sets require you to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you
can get from here,
if you do not have it.
Pre-recorded Lectures
To reduce the need for make-up classes when I go out of town, I will
use pre-recorded lectures for some topics. Note that material covered
on these lectures may appear on problem sets or tests. I will of course
answer questions you may have about the material presented in these
lectures.
To view and listen to them, you simply need to click on the link for
the lecture below, so long as you have an appropriate browser with the
Macromedia Flash Player extension included. Typically, this extension
is already in your browser, but if it is not, you will be asked if you
want it downloaded and implemented on your machine. Basically, Windows and
Macintosh OS X machines are ok. Linux machines should work (use
Mozilla Firefox), but
success is not guaranteed. Further details on compatibility appear at
a web site on specific
requirements and capabilities for Adobe Acrobat Connect, which is
the software underlying these presentations.
For best visual clarity, you should make your browser window as large
as possible. If you are listening to the lectures with others around
you, out of courtesy, please use headphones.
Grading
| Problem sets | 20% |
Test - Ch. 5
| 20% |
Test - Ch. 7 | 20% |
Test - Ch. 8 | 20% |
Waves Project | 20% |
The course grade is determined in part by how people do with respect to each
other and how the class as a whole has done. This gives a starting
point for assessing what each student has demonstrated with regard to
her/his grasp of the material. The total score from tests, labs, etc.
is NOT judged on a scale of below 60 = F, 60 - 69 = D, etc. (Of course
a total score of 80, for example, will be no lower than a B-.)
Special notes
- We will be doing a project,
tracking of
large-scale wave motions. This will entail viewing 500 hPa analyses
on the ISU
Meteorological Weather Products page. Students will work in teams
that are identical to the problem set groups. Each team will have 3
tasks:
- Record observations of 500 hPa waves (see "STEPS" section of tracking of large-scale wave
motions.
- Conduct one or more of the weekly reviews of recent and forecast
500 hPa behavior in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. I will do
the first one, to show you what I expect. You should follow these
guidelines for issues
to present. The
guidelines will be the
basis for determining your grade. Here is the schedule.
- Write a final report, guided by suggested analysis
procedures.
The wave project reports (one from each "observing team") will be due
by 5 pm, Wednesday, 18 November 2009. You turn your report in by
posting a pdf of it on the portfolio page of each team member. Each
team should also write a 1 paragraph abstract that is posted as text
on each team member's portfolio page. You should send me an email
notifying me of when the two items have been posted.
Please see me if
you do not know how to create a pdf of your report. Softward exists
on one of the meteorology computers for doing this from MS Word in
Windows. MS Word for Macintosh computers also has the appropriate
software tools.
Some relevant sites for Southern Hemisphere weather:
- Class exercise: Planetary boundary layer features from
observations
The goals of this exercise are
- Use observations to estimate the growth of boundary layer
turbulence.
- Compare behavior with experience.
- Use observations to estimate the surface drag coefficient.
- Learn how to make and apply plausible estimates for fluxes and
other fields in the boundary layer, based in part on our
boundary-layer theory.
You can download background information and
observations and instructions
for doing the exercise.
- Class exercise: Shallow-water gravity waves in the ocean
The goals of this exercise are
- Use observations of tsunami travel time to estimate the depth of
the ocean
- Infer other features about the ocean from tsunami travel properties
- Link the exercise to gravity waves
You can download a PowerPoint file
containing key information and instructions. You can view an animation
of the propagating waves. Also, you can download an
animation that might work on
your computer. Note that it was compressed, using gzip.
- Plagiarism is unacceptable! Consequently, you must
document the source of any piece of information that is not yours.
You may copy a phrase from a source, placing it in quotes and citing
the source.. However, it is strongly recommended that you use your
own words to explain an idea or result produced by someone else,
though you still must cite the source. For this class, you should
follow the style of American Meteorology Society journals (e.g.,
Journal of Climate) for the format of citations in the body of
the text and for the bibliography at the end. Please see me if you
have any questions.
- I will be away on these dates:
9-11 September 2009
- 28 September - 2 October 2009
- 11 December 2009
- Other dates are possible. I will keep you posted.
Make-up classes: I will arrange for make-up classes. Tentative times
are when Mteor 499 does not meet on Mondays or after the weather and
forecasting sessions. However, I also want to try other means of
covering missed classes, such as guest lecturers and pre-recorded
versions of my lectures.
Lecture Topics by Week
[tentative; following Holton (Chapters 5, 7, 8 and 9) ]
August
- General characteristics of the planetary boundary layer;
atmospheric turbulence
Class Discussion Screens from
Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
September
- Turbulent kinetic energy; momentum equations
- Ekman layers; coupling with surface
- Spin down of circulation
October
- Waves in the atmosphere; perturbation theory and wave properties
Class Discussion Screens from
Wednesday, October 14, 2009.
- Shallow water gravity waves
- Rossby waves
- Internal gravity waves
November
- Geostrophic adjustment
- Development of mid-latitude systems; hydrodynamic instability
- Baroclinic instability: linear instability
- -- Thanksgiving break -- [no class]
December
- Baroclinic instability: energetics
- -- FINAL EXAM -- [During exam week - 17 Dec. (Wednesday) 7:30 -
9:30 a.m.]
Final grades for the
course and the last test will be posted here.
Students Needing Disability Accommodation
Iowa State University complies with the Americans with Disabilities
Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Please address any
special needs or special accommodations with me at the beginning of
the semester or as soon as you become aware of your needs. Those
seeking accommodations based on disabilities should obtain a Student
Academic Accommodations Request (SAAR) form from the Disabilities
Resources (DR) office (515-294-6624), located on the main floor of the
Student Services Building, Room 1076.
H1N1 Virus Accommodation
The H1N1 virus is potentially disruptive to classes. Guidelines from
Iowa State are designed to accommodate student needs.
Go to Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences (ISU) Course
Listings
Go to Geological & Atmospheric Sciences Department Homepage