Mesoscale Dynamics
Postgraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 10
- Teaching semesters Autumn
- Course code
- GEOF328
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
- Reading list
Course description
Objectives and Content
Objectives:
The course aims to introduce students to atmospheric phenomena on scales between a few hundred meters and a few 100 kilometers, which are characterized as mesoscale. In particular, students will learn to identify and characterize different mesoscale phenomena and describe them in physical and dynamical terms. This will partly be done with a synoptic approach.
Content:
The course addresses a wide variety of weather phenomena that are smaller than synoptic scale but larger than micro-scale. These phenomena are seen in a synoptic context, and have spatial scales generally ranging from around a few hundred meters to several hundred kilometers, temporal scales of a day or less, and large horizontal and vertical wind accelerations, for which the Rossby number is large and the hydrostatic approximation is not valid any longer. It is the world in which quasi-geostrophic theory breaks down. The material covered in the course includes fronts, land-sea breezes, gravity waves, hydraulic theory, downslope windstorms, orographic flow distortion, valley wind systems, thunderstorms and squall lines. The course will build on conceptual models and theoretical derivations to describe observed phenomena.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:
Knowledge
The student
- has learned to define and characterize a mesoscale phenomena
- has gained understanding of the physical and dynamical mechanisms driving mesoscale phenomena
- has learned new solution techniques for atmospheric and physical problems
Skills
The student
- is able to write a computer code to solve numerical problems and to visualize the results
- is able to derive analyitic solutions to mesoscale problems
- is able to present and defend scientific results in front of a group
- is able to interpret mesoscale weather in a synoptic context
General competence
The student
- can develop ideas for analytical and (to some extent) numerical solutions to the problem
- can formulate problems in a physical and mathematical framework
- can give presentations and defend own ideas in front of a group
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Autumn. Runs only if enough students enrol. Enrolment to this course is based on application.
Application deadline is wednesday in week 33 for the autumn semester. Please, see this page for more information: https://www.uib.no/en/nt/53431/admission-courses-limited-capacity
Place of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
Teaching and learning methods
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
- Poster presentation of results from project assignment
Valid for two semester: The semester the course runs and the following semester.
Forms of Assessment
Portfolio assessment
The portfolio consist of
- Written report from the project assignment, accounting for 30 % of the final grade, valid for 2 semesters
- Oral exam of 40 minutes, accounting for 70% of the final grade
We add up scores from the partial assessments to determine the final grade in the course. All partial assessments must be passed to pass the course.