PHS 166 - Meteorology, Weather & Climate

This course satisfies a general education requirement in the Math/Science area. Three hours lecture. One two hour lab.

Corequisites: None
Prerequisites: None
Mode(s) of Instruction: Traditional/Face-to-Face

Course Fees: None

Student Learning Outcomes and Objectives:
Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe weather and climate and explain the climatic variables.

2. Identify the components of climate system and illustrate the interaction between them.

3. Identify the natural and causes of climate variation.

4. Describe natural forces of the climate system, including the greenhouse effect.

Unit Objectives:

Unit 1:  Composition and Structure of the Atmosphere

1.1 Distinguish between weather and climate.

1.2 Explain the scientific method.

1.3 Describe the thickness of the atmosphere and the vertical distribution of gases within it.

1.4 Describe the behavior of gas molecules in the atmosphere, including residence times and the roles of vertical mixing and gravitational settling.

1.5 Describe the composition of the atmosphere.

1.6 Explain how air pressure arises and describe the vertical variation of pressure and density.

1.7 Identify and describe the layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

1.8 Explain the evolution of the atmosphere during Earth’s history.

1.9 Identify the basic types of data found on weather maps.

1.10 List major events in the history of meteorology.

Unit 2: Solar Radiation and Seasons

2.1 Identify the types of energy and how they can be transmitted.

2.2 Explain the laws governing the amount and type of radiation emitted by objects.

2.3 Identify the solar constant and explain how much energy Earth receives from the Sun.

2.4 Recognize the characteristics of Earth’s orbit around the Sun and how they create the seasons.

2.5 Explain three ways in which Earth’s changing orientation with respect to the Sun affects the receipt of solar radiation.

Unit 3: Energy Balance and Temperature

3.1 Explain how incoming solar radiation is affected by the atmosphere.

3.2 State the proportions of incoming solar energy that are reflected, scattered, or absorbed.

3.3 Explain how energy is transferred between the surface and the atmosphere.

3.4 Explain the role of the greenhouse effect in warming the atmosphere.

3.5 Describe the global distribution of temperatures on Earth’s surface.

3.6 List the factors that influence temperatures on Earth’s surface.

3.7 Describe daily and annual temperature patterns.

3.8 Explain how temperatures are measured.

3.9 Define the concept of temperature means and ranges.

3.10 Define some useful indexes of temperature.

3.11 Make use of thermodynamic diagrams and understand vertical temperature profiles.

Unit 4: Atmospheric Pressure and Wind

4.1 Explain the concept of air pressure.

4.2 Describe how pressure changes vertically and horizontally in the atmosphere.

4.3 Apply the equation of state to calculate air density.

4.4 Identify devices used to measure air pressure.

4.5 Describe the distribution of air pressure across the globe, at sea level, and in the upper atmosphere.

4.6 Describe how pressure gradients in the upper atmosphere arise and how they are mapped.

4.7 Explain the factors that affect wind speed and direction.

4.8 Describe winds in relation to pressure gradients in the upper atmosphere and near the surface.

4.9 Explain the forces that produce anticyclones, cyclones, troughs, and ridges.

4.10 Describe how meteorologists measure wind.

Unit 5: Atmospheric Moisture

5.1 Describe the hydrologic cycle.

5.2 Explain the concept of saturation.

5.3 Identify the indices used in measuring the atmosphere’s water vapor content.

5.4 Describe how humidity is measured.

5.5 Describe how water vapor is distributed in the atmosphere.

5.6 Explain the processes that lead to saturation.

5.7 Explain the factors that affect condensation.

5.8 Describe how diabatic and adiabatic processes produce cooling and condensation.

5.9 List different forms of condensation.

5.10 Describe the distribution of fog.

5.11 Describe the formation and dissipation of cloud droplets.

5.12 Explain how the effects of humidity on human discomfort are rated.

5.13 Describe possible effects of global warming, including its effects on evaporation rates and atmospheric water vapor content.

Unit 6: Cloud Development and Forms

6.1 Describe four mechanisms that lift air.

6.2 Explain the factors that determine the stability of parcels of air.

6.3 Explain the factors that influence the environmental lapse rate.

6.4 Explain what causes unstable air to stop rising.

6.5 Explain what causes stable air and inversions to develop.

6.6 Describe the different types of clouds.

6.7 Describe how meteorologists measure cloud coverage.  Development and Forms

Unit 7: Precipitation Processes

7.1 Describe the processes involved in the growth of cloud droplets.

7.2 Describe the distribution of precipitation and explain how different types of precipitation form.

7.3 Describe how precipitation is measured.

7.4 Summarize efforts to induce precipitation through cloud seeding.

7.5 Explain the factors that can cause floods.

Unit 8: Atmospheric Circulation and Pressure Distribution

8.1 List the terms used to describe the spatial scales of weather phenomena.

8.2 Explain the single-cell model of atmospheric general circulation and the origin of east-west (zonal) winds.

8.3 Describe the three-cell model and how accurately it represents observed motions.

8.4 Describe the distribution and effects of semipermanent pressure cells.

8.5 Explain the distribution of wind and pressure in the upper troposphere.

8.6 Explain how the atmosphere affects the movement of ocean waters.

8.7 Identify major wind systems such as monsoons; foehn, chinook, and Santa Ana winds; katabatic winds; and sea and land breezes.

8.8 Explain ocean-atmosphere interactions such as El Niño/La Niña, Walker circulation, and Pacific Decadal, Arctic, and North Atlantic oscillations.

Unit 9: Air Masses and Fronts

9.1 Describe the importance of source regions in air mass formation.

9.2 Describe the types of air masses and explain how they form.

9.3 Identify the different types of fronts and their characteristics, including cloud conditions.

Unit 10: Midlatitude Cyclones

10.1 Summarize the polar front theory.

10.2 Outline the life cycle of a midlatitude cyclone as described in Bjerknes’s model.

10.3 Explain processes in the middle and upper troposphere that relate to midlatitude cyclones.

10.4 Explain how surface fronts and upper-level patterns are related.

10.5 Describe the behavior of a typical midlatitude cyclone as it crosses North America.

10.6 Explain how flow patterns and large-scale weather patterns affect the development, steering, and dissipation of midlatitude cyclones.

10.7 Explain the modern, conveyor belt model of midlatitude cyclones.

10.8 Describe anticyclones and the weather associated with them.

10.9 Describe how scientists think climate change may affect midlatitude cyclones.

Unit 11: Lightning, Thunder and Tornadoes

11.1 Sequence the processes involved in lightning formation and identify the different types of lightning.

11.2 State measures that can be taken to ensure safety from lightning.

11.3 Explain how the different types of thunderstorms form and describe the strong winds that can accompany them.

11.4 Summarize the characteristics and processes involved in the formation of floods and flash floods.

11.5 Analyze the geographic and temporal distribution of thunderstorms.

11.6 Explain how, where, and when tornadoes form.

11.7 Identify aspects of tornadoes as a natural hazard, including areas most at risk for tornadoes, damage, and fatalities, and explain how tornadoes are rated and forecasted.

11.8 Explain how a waterspout forms.

Unit 12:Tropical Storms and Hurricanes

12.1 Identify the geographical settings where most hurricanes occur.

12.2 State the major characteristics of hurricanes.

12.3 Describe the structural features of a hurricane.

12.4 Explain the process of hurricane formation.

12.5 Describe hurricane movement and dissipation.

12.6 Describe how hurricanes cause destruction and fatalities.

12.7 Explain how meteorologists develop hurricane forecasts and advisories.

12.8 Describe efforts to identify trends in recent hurricane activity and project future trends.