Lecture Notes

These notes will normally appear 12 to 24 hours after class has met. 
You should always read through them even if you were in class.
They're often put together is a hurry, so keep an eye out for typos.



May 05 - Last day of class, information about the Final Exam, hurricanes
Apr. 28 - Tornadoes Pt. 2 damage, lightning
Apr. 23 - Tornadoes Pt. 1 characteristics

Apr. 21 - Thunderstorms, gust fronts, microbursts
Thermal circulations - Optional reading
Apr. 16 - Surface winds in the northern & southern hemispheres,
water draining from sinks & toilets; 3-cell model of global scale wind and pressure belts
Cause of the Coriolis force
Apr. 14 -
Newton's 1st law of motion, pressure gradient and Coriolis forces, upper level and surface winds in the northern & southern hemispheres

Apr. 09 - Quiz #3 (music: Sigur Ros "Festival", "Gooan Daginn", "Olsen Olsen", "Von"
Apr. 7 - Cold clouds, the ice crystal process, types of precipitation
Apr. 2 - Identifying and name clouds, precipitation producing processes
Mar. 31 - Condensation nuclei, cloud in a bottle, cloud types - altitude and appearance
Mar. 26 -
Humidity problems, drying moist air, the rainshadow effect, measuring humidity, heat index, the drinking bird?
Saturating the air with water vapor - suggested reading
Mar. 24 - Realistic energy balance on the earth, effects of clouds on high and low temperatures, global warming misconception, introduction to humidity variables

Spring Break


Mar. 12 - Quiz #2 (music:
Playing for Change "Groove in G", Ballyhoo! "She Wants to Destroy Me", "Overnight Sensation", "Walk Away", "Battle Cry",
                             "Cali Girl"
, The Specials "A Message to You, Rudy")
Mar. 10 -
Light emitted by the earth & sun, radiative equilibrium, filtering effect of the atmosphere, the atmospheric greenhouse effect
Mar. 5 -
Electromagnetic radiation, rules governing the emission of EM radiation, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and color temperature
Mar. 3 - Energy transport by conduction, convection, and latent heat
Upper level charts Pt. 3 - Supplementary reading
Upper level charts Pt. 2 - Supplementary reading
Upper level charts Pt. 1 - Required/suggested reading
Feb. 26 -
Upper level charts (brief mention), introduction to energy and energy transport, measuring the energy needed to evaporate liquid nitrogen
Feb. 24 - Weather changes associated with warm and cold fronts, locating warm and cold fronts on a surface weather map

Feb. 19 - Quiz #1 (music:
Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini "Dare To Live", Andrea Bocelli, Elisa "La Voce del Silenzio", Elisa "Dancing"
Feb. 17 - Surface weather maps, high and low pressure centers, pressure gradients, warm and cold fronts
Feb. 12 - The station model notation, Galileo thermometers and lava lamps
Feb. 10 - Charles law; forces that cause air to rise and sink; Archimedes principle; Auguste, Jacques, & Bertrand Piccard
Feb. 05 - The ideal gas law, Practice Quiz
Feb. 03 - Rate of pressure decrease with altitude; air pressure pushes upward, downward, & sideways; air density changes with altitude;
                  principle of the mercury barometer; and troposphere & stratosphere (maybe)

Jan. 29 - Mass, weight, density, and pressure
Jan. 27 -
Air quality index, carbon monoxide poisoning, sulfur dioxide & London-type smog, acid rain, particulate matter
Jan. 22 -
Air pollutants, carbon monoxide, ozone and photochemical smog, scattering of light
Jan. 20 -
Origin & evolution of the earth's atmosphere; oxygen and ozone;
                 photosynthesis, stromatolites and banded iron formation; trace gases and pollutants
Jan. 15
First day of class, composition of the atmosphere, dew point temperature