This course provides a general survey of boundary layer meteorology. The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is the part of the atmosphere affected by turbulence induced by the flow of air over an underlying surface. The ABL is important as the part of the atmosphere in which we live, with direct effects on our daily life and work. It also plays a central role in the exchange of heat, moisture, momentum, trace gasses and aerosols between land, ocean, and ice surfaces, in cloud formation, and in the general circulation of the atmosphere. Boundary layer processes are important for interpreting wind, temperature, and moisture distribution above the surface. Skillful parameterizations of the energy balance of underlying surfaces over the diurnal and annual cycles and of turbulent transports in the ABL are vital to numerical forecast and climate models. It course will also discuss hurricane boundary layer wind and turbulent structures.
The goal of this course is to help students to understand the complicated processes in the atmospheric boundary layer. Upon finishing this course, students will be able to interpret the dynamic and thermodynamic processes in the ABL in terms of physical principles and mathematical concepts, analyze data collected in the ABL, and simulate ABL winds, temperature, moisture using simply models.
Instructor: Ping Zhu<zhup@fiu.edu; 305-348-7096 >
When: Spring 2015; Mon/Wed/Fri, 11:00-11:50 AM
Where: AHC5-357 (University Park Campus)
Prerequisites: PHY2048 and PHY2049 or permission of the instructor.
Grading: Homework and Project (40%), mid-term exam (30%) and final exam (30%)
Office hours: M/W/F, 12:00-1:30 pm or by appointment at AHC5-234
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An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology, by Stull, R. B., Kluwer Publishers, 666 pp |
Garratt J. R. The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Cambridge University Press, 316 pp