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Natural Sciences > Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences > Tropical Meteorology
 Tropical Meteorology  posted by  duggu   on 1/31/2008  Add Courseware to favorites Add To Favorites  
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Abstract/Syllabus:

Emanuel, Kerry, 12.811 Tropical Meteorology, Spring 2005. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 09 Jul, 2010). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Moist convection.

Moist convection. (Image by Prof. Kerry Emanuel.)

Course Highlights

This course features lecture notes, software tools, and study materials.

Course Description

This course describes the behavior and dynamics of the tropical troposphere, from the large-scale energy balance down to cumulus convection and tropical cyclones. Topics include: Radiative-convective equilibrium; the Hadley and walker circulation; monsoons; tropical boundary layers; theory of the response of the tropical atmosphere to localized sea-surface temperature anomalies; intraseasonal oscillations; equatorial waves; El Niño/Southern Oscillation; easterly waves; and tropical cyclones.

Technical Requirements

Special software is required to use some of the files in this course: .zip, .m, and .fortran. Please refer to the course materials for any specific instructions or recommendations. The .h files are header files and .in files are input data files.

Syllabus

 
 

Prerequisites

Quasi-balanced Circulations in Oceans and Atmospheres (12.803) or Dynamics of the Atmosphere (12.810).

Topics

  1. Radiative-Convective Equilibrium
  2. The Zonally-Averaged Circulation
  3. Asymmetric Steady Circulations
  4. Interannual Fluctuations of the Walker Circulation - ENSO
  5. Intraseasonal Oscillations
  6. Quasi-equilibrium Theory of Small Perturbations to Radiative-Convective Equilibrium States
  7. Tropical Cyclones

Grading

The course grade is based upon problem sets, a term paper, and class participation.

Calendar

 
 
Week # Topics
1-3 Radiative-Convective Equilibrium
4-5 The Zonally-Averaged Circulation
6-7 Asymmetric Steady Circulations
8 Interannual Fluctuations of the Walker Circulation - ENSO
9-10 Intraseasonal Oscillations
11-12 Quasi-equilibrium Theory of Small Perturbations to Radiative-Convective Equilibrium States
13-14 Tropical Cyclones



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