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| The Program offers a wide variety of courses in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. These courses are designed to help students understand the fundamentals and to expose them to the advanced research topics in the field. In addition, students have opportunities to take courses offered by other departments and programs (e.g. Applied and Computational Mathematics, Physics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). For detailed information on the environment-related courses offered by Princeton University, please visit | |||||
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GEO 425/MAE 425 Introduction of Physical Oceanography The study of the oceans as a major influence on the atmosphere and the world environment. The theoretical and observational bases of our understanding of ocean circulation and the ocean's properties. The Coriolis-dominated equations of motion, atmospheric and upper oceanic Ekman layers, the thermocline, wind-driven and thermohaline-driven circulation, oceanic tracers, waves, and tides. GEO 427 Introduction to Atmospheric Science Atmospheric composition and thermodynamics including effects of water. Simple radiative transfer, elementary circulation models, phenomenological description of atmospheric motions, structure of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere, chemistry of ozone, and comparison with atmospheres on other planets are studied. AOS 527 Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Structure and composition of terrestrial atmospheres. The fundamental aspects of electromagnetic radiation, absorption and emission by atmospheric gases, optical extinction by particles, the roles of atmospheric species in Earth's radiative energy balance, the perturbation of climate due to natural and anthropogenic causes, climate feedbacks, satellite and other observations of the climate system. AOS 537 Atmospheric Chemistry Natural gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry in the troposphere and stratosphere with a focus on: elementary chemical kinetics; photolysis processes; oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen chemistry; transport of atmospheric trace species; tropospheric hydrocarbon chemistry and stratospheric halogen chemistry; stratospheric ozone destruction; local and regional air pollution; chemistry-climate interactions. AOS 547 Atmospheric Thermodynamics and Convection Thermodynamics of water-air systems. Overview of atmospheric energy sources and sinks. Planetary boundary layers. Closure theories for atmospheric turbulence, cumulus convection, and interactions between cumulus convection and large scale atmospheric flows. Cloud-convection-radiation interactions and their role in the climate system, and parameterization of boundary layers and convection in atmospheric general circulation models. AOS 571 Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Physical principles fundamental to the theoretical, observational, and experimental study of the atmosphere and oceans, the equations of motion for rotating fluids, hydrostatic, and Bossinesq approximations, circulation theorem and the conservation of potential vorticity, scale analysis, geostrophic wind, thermal wind, quasi-geostrophic system, and geophysical boundary layers. AOS 572 Atmospheric and Oceanic Wave Dynamics Observational evidence of atmospheric and oceanic waves; laboratory simulation. Surface and internal gravity waves; dispersion characteristics; kinetic energy spectrum; critical layer; forced resonance; and instabilities. Planetary waves; scale analysis; physical description of planetary wave propagation; reflections; normal modes in a closed basin. Large-scale baroclinic and barotropic instabilities, Eady and Charney models for baroclinic instability, and energy transfer. AOS 573 Physical Oceanography Response of the ocean to transient and steady winds and buoyancy forcing. A hierarchy of models, from simple analytical to realistic numerical models is used to study the role of the waves, convection, instabilities and other physical processes in the circulation of the oceans, and the large scale interaction of the ocean and atmosphere that determine the Earth's climate. AOS 575 Numerical Prediction of the Atmosphere and Ocean Barotropic and multilevel dynamic models; coordinate systems and boundary conditions; finite difference equations and their energetics; spectral methods; water vapor and its condensation processes; orography, cumulus convection, subgrid-scale transfer, and boundary layer processes; meteorological and oceanographic data assimilation; dynamic initialization; verification and predictability; and probabilistic forecasts. AOS 576 Current Topics in Dynamic Meteorology An introduction to topics of current interest in the dynamics of large-scale atmospheric flow. Possible topics include wave-mean flow interaction and non-acceleration theorems, critical levels, quasi-geostrophic instabilties, topographically and thermally forced stationary waves, theories for stratospheric sudden warmings and the quasi-biennial oscillation of the equatorial stratosphere, and quasi-geostrophic turbulence. AOS 577 Weather and Climate Dynamics An examination of various components of the Earth's climate system. Emphasis is placed on the role of radiative processes, climate feedbacks and sensitivity, and the nature of energy and water balances. The dynamics and physical interpretation of principal tropospheric circulation systems, including stationary and transient phenomena observed in middle and low latitudes, are studied. Phenomena of topical interest, such as El Niño, seasonal climate anomalies, and natural and anthropogenic climate changes, are also reviewed. AOS 578/GEO 578 Chemical Oceanography The chemical composition of the oceans and the nature of the physical and chemical processes governing this composition in the past and present. The cycles of major and minor oceanic constituents, including interactions with the biosphere, and at the ocean-atmosphere and ocean-sediment interfaces. AOS 580 Special Topics Topics covered in recent years: baroclinic instability theory; convection; paleoclimatology; atmospheric radiative transfer; isotope geochemistry; El Niño and related phenomena, tropospheric chemistry, and ocean dynamics in the Southern Hemisphere. |
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Fall Semester
Spring Semester
