UA/Atmo Sci title

Outline of ATMO 451b/551b

  1. Introduction and Basic Concepts
    Composition - gases and particles
    Gravitation - Newton's law, g, satellite orbits
    Mass density, r
    Barometers and the concept of pressure
    Hydrostatic equation
    Gas law
    Scale heights

  2. Gases
    Major Species - N2, O2
    Residence Time
    Importance of Biosphere
    CO2 and the carbon cycle
    Water vapor
    - Physical Properties of water
    - Evaporation and condensation
    - Saturation vapor density, pressure
    - Clausius-Clapeyron relation
    - Relative humidity
    - Mixing ratios, etc.
    Ice
    - Physical properties
    - Ice saturation relative to water
    - Electrical properties
    Trace Gases
    - Basic chemistry
    Photodissociation
    2-body reactions
    3-body reactions
    Chemistry of trace constituents, O3 and NOx
    Examples: Photochemical Smog
    urban, natural
    Ozone - interactions with UV, ozone hole, etc.
    Temperature vs altitude, "spheres" and "pauses"

  3. Kinetic Theory and Transport
    Probability-basics
    Distribution functions
    Solid angle
    Basic assumptions
    Ideal gas law
    Kinetic theory definition of temperature
    Internal energy
    Boltzmann distribution
    Thermal escape phenomena, exosphere
    Free - path concepts
    collision cross-section
    collision frequency
    Free - path distributions
    mean free path
    Transport coefficients
    Diffusion
    Thermal conduction
    Dynamic viscosity
    Fluxes of mass and heat
    Random walk and diffusion

  4. Vector analysis - review
    image
    operator - gradient, divergence, and curl
     
    Vector identities
    Flux integrals
    Line integral
    Divergence theorem
    Example: Archimedes principle
    Stokes theorem
    Continuity equation for a fluid
    Time-dependent diffusion equations - mass and heat
    Steady-state solutions
    Examples:
    Evaporation
    Thermal diffusion cloud chamber
    Drop growth equation

  5. Atmospheric Aerosol
    Origin of the particles, sizes, composition
    Size distributions - linear and log (radius)
    Cumulative distributions
    Integrals of size distributions
    Examples
    inverse power (Junge)
    Gaussian
    Review of basic mechanics
    Newton's laws of motion
    Impulse - momentum theorem
    Work - energy theorem
    Small sphere falling in air
    stopping distance      terminal velocity
    relaxation time          mobility
    Diffusion coefficient of particles

    Langevin integral of equation of motion
    Methods of measuring particle size distributions
    Nuclepore filters
    Electrical mobility analyzers

    Particles in Curvilinear Flow
    Equation of motion
    Theory of filtration
    Collection efficiency
    experimental data
    Stokes number
    Examples
    snow impaction
    fog harvesting

    Relative diffusion coefficient
    Monodisperse coagulation of an aerosol
    Polydisperse coagulation
    Transport of mass through size distribution
    Removal processes

  6. Kinematics of Fluids
    Shear stress and the definition of a fluid
    Position vector, velocity, and acceleration
    Eulerian and Lagrangian derivatives
    Rotation and vorticity
    Decomposition of general fluid motion
    Irrotational flow - Laplaces equation
    Example - motion of ideal fluid past a sphere
    Forces on a fluid parcel - surface and body
    General condition for hydrostatic equilibrium

  7. Dynamics of an Ideal Fluid
    Equation of motion
    Cartesian coordinates
    Curvilinear coordinates
    Integrals of equation of motion
    Bernoulli's equation
    - incompressible
    - compressible
    Vorticity equation

  8. Atmospheric Acoustics
    Basic assumptions, adiabatic perturbation
    Wave equation
    Solutions of wave equation, d'Alembert's method
    One dimension
    Three dimensions
    Velocity of sound
    Acoustic refraction and Snell's law
    Acoustic trajectory equations

  9. Real Fluids
    Laminar vs. turbulent flow
    Stresses and Newton's hypothesis
    Equation of motion
    Vorticity equation
    Similarity and modeling
    Reynolds number
    Examples - low Re flow
    Poiseuille flow
    Flow past a solid sphere
    Stoke's law
    Flow at high Re
    Non-dimensional drag coefficient
    - low Re
    - high Re
    Prandtl boundary layer hypothesis
    Solving problems at high Re

  10. Turbulent Fluids (Optional)
    Examples of motion
    Mean motion - averaging interval
    Euler equation to form of Navier-Stokes
    Reynolds stresses
    Isotropic-approximation, eddy viscosity, etc.

  11. The Sun and the Earth's Radiation Budget
    Structure of the sun
    Radiant flux and intensity
    Blackbody radiation
    Stefan-Boltzmann law, Wien's law
    Planck spectral distribution
    Solar radiation
    Radiation from the Earth and the atmosphere
    Lines vs. continuum
    Selective emission and absorption
    Effective temperature of a planet
    Earth's albedo
    Radiation budget

  12. Radiative Transfer
    Shortwave transport through a thin layer
    Scattering and absorption
    Extinction coefficient
    Extinction cross-section and mean free path
    Vertical optical depth
    Integral of transport equation
    Langley plot
    Method of measurement
    Analysis
    Shortwave optical thickness
    Ozone
    Turbidity
    Ångstrom turbidity coefficient and size distribution
    Scattering - basics
    Extinction plus re-radiation
    Scattering plane, scattering angle
    Angular distribution, phase function
    Size parameter
    Rayleigh and Mie scattering
    The aerosol and climate
    Optical properties of a thin layer
    Effect of layer on radiation budget
    Equation of transfer with scattering and emission
    Integral of equation of transfer

  13. Scattering from a Single Target
    Rayleigh scattering - dimensional analysis
    Electromagnetic radiation
    Polarizability
    Radiation fields
    Poynting vector
    Polarization - single scattering, skylight
    Unpolarized Rayleigh phase function
    Refractive index of a gas and molecular polarizability
    Rayleigh scattering cross-sections
    Rayleigh optical depths
    Refractive index of a liquid or solid
    Rayleigh scattering from water drops
    Radar scattering and absorption cross-sections
    Radar back-scattering cross-section
    Radar meteorology and applications
    Reflectivity factor
    Estimates of rainfall
    Dual polarization radars
    Doppler radars

  14. Multiple Scattering
    Scattering and absorption at large size parameters
    Computation of Mie coefficients
    Cloud layers
    Extinction cross-sections
    Photon mean free path
    Optical thickness
    Single-scattering albedo
    Asymmetry factor
    Optical properties of deep layers
    Two-stream approximation
    Scaled optical thickness and scaling relations

  15. Cloud Physics
    Vertical stability and convection
    Humidity of parcel in an updraft
    Condition for an increase in RH
    RH vs time for parcel in an updraft with condensation
    Drop growth equation-again
    Surface tension
    Gibbs-Thomson equation
    Effects of solute
    Köhler curves
    Critical supersaturation
    Critical radius
    Effects of latent heat

    Nucleation and growth in an updraft
    Rain formation by stochastic coagulation
    Bergerson-Findeisen process
    Entrainment

  16. Lightning and Atmospheric Electricity
    Overview of the global electric circuit
    Fair weather electric fields and conductivity
    Thunderstorms as electrical generators
    Charge structure of a thunderstorm
    Mechanisms of electrification
    Inductive
    Non-inductive
    Lightning
    Types and frequency
    Flash densities and strike probabilities
    Luminous phenomena
    Physical properties of return strokes
    Mechanisms of damage
    Protection

Return to 451b/551b Homepage