Winter 2002
MWF 9:30-10:20: Lectures in OSB 425
Th 12:30-1.20: Lab demonstrations in OSB 107
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Instructor: Prof. Chris Bretherton breth@atmos.washington.edu ATG 704, x5-7414 Office hours: MW 10:30-11:20, or by appointment. |
Lab Coordinator: Prof. Peter Rhines rhines@ocean.washington.edu 212 ORB, x3-0593 |
Teaching Assistant: Simon DeSzoeke deszoeke@atmos.washington.edu 722 ATG, x5-9523. Office hours Tu 2:30-3:20, Th 1:30-2:20. |
| Course description | Prerequisites | Syllabus | Textbook | Grading | Schedule | Homework and Exams | Handouts | Lab descriptions | Matlab scripts | Message Board |
| Lecture number | Date | Topic | Suggested Reading |
| (G: Gill, P: Pedlosky, CR: Cushman-Roisin) | |||
| 1-4 | Jan 7-16 | What is GFD?. Density of air/water. Compressibility and potential density/temperature). Hydrostatic balance in a fluid at rest. Static stability. | G1-2,3.1-3.7; CR 1 |
| 5-10 | Jan 18-28 | Scale analysis. The hydrostatic approximation and pressure coordinates. The Boussinesq approximation. Rotating reference frame. Eqns. of motion for stratified, rotating incompressible flow on a sphere. The f and beta plane approximations. Geostrophic and thermal wind balance. | G4, 7.6-7.7; P1, 2.6-2.9, 6.1-6.2; CR 2-3 |
| 11-12 | Jan 29-30 | Shallow water equations (SWE) and two-layer approximation. | G5.6-5.8, 6.1-6.3, P3.1-3.6 |
| 13-19 | Feb 1-15 | Rotating linear SWE on an f-plane. Rossby adjustment problem. Potential vorticity. Inertial oscillations, Poincare waves, dispersion and group velocity, Kelvin waves. | G7.2, 8.1-8.6, 10.2-10.5 ; P3.7-3.9; CR 6.2-6.3 |
| 20-22 | Feb 20-25 | Flow over topography. Linear internal inertia-gravity waves in a continuously stratified fluid. Critical levels. | G6.4-6.8, 8.4-8.9 |
| 23-24 | Feb 27-Mar 1 | Circulation, vorticity and potential vorticity in a continuously stratified rotating fluid | G7.9-11, P2.1-2.5 |
| 24-26 | Mar 1-6 | Ekman layers, Ekman pumping, and Sverdrup transport. | G9.6, 9.2, 9.4, 9.12, 11.13, 12.4; P4.1-4.7; 5.1-5.4; CR 5 |
| 27-28 | Mar 8-11 | Rossby waves on a beta plane. Quasigeostrophic scaling in SWE. | G12.1-3, P3.10-3.19; CR 6.4-5 |
| Item | Due Date | Download Solutions |
| Homework #1 | due We 23 Jan | HW #1 Solutions |
| Homework #2 | due Fr 01 Feb | HW #2 Solutions |
| Homework #3 | due We 13 Feb | HW #3 Solutions |
| Take-home midterm | due We 20 Feb | Midterm Solutions |
| Homework #4 | due Fr 01 Mar | |
| Homework #5 | due Mo 11 Mar | |
| Take-home final | due Th 21 Mar |
Handouts from class will be posted here.
| Handout | Date |
Please read the detailed discussions of Peter Rhines' weekly lab demos in the links in the table below. Note: these are from a prior year. The ordering and content of the labs is subject to change, so I apologize in advance if the description does not match what we actually do on a given day!
| Date | Lab description |
| 10 Jan | Buoyancy, properties of air and water. Images. |
| 17 Jan | Lab 1 continued...Pressure, vapor pressure, momentum flux, chaotic water-wheel. |
| 24 Jan | Waves I. Images. |
| 31 Jan | Coriolis effects in a rotating fluid. Images. |
| 7 Feb | Geostrophic flow and geostrophic adjustment. Images. |
| 14 Feb | Ekman layers and spin-up. |
Matlab scripts relevant to class material:
| Name | Description |
| wavemaker.m | Poincare wavemaker numerical simulation for midterm prob. 3. |
| <breth@atmos.washington.edu> | Fri Jan 11 14:21:42 2002 |