58357 - Atmospheric Physics and Meteorology

Course contents

Module 1: Atmospheric Physics 3 CFU (18 hours of lecture, 10 hours laboratory)

Introduction to atmospheric physics and meteorology (historic background, applications, open problems, opportunities offered by LM-FST. The onserving system for meteorology and atmospheric science (in situ and remote sensing).

Basic radiative processes: electromagnetic waves, irradiance and radiance, spectral radiance and irradiance. Introduction to absorption and emission processes. Historical development of Planck's radiation law, black body radiance and related derivations, brightness temperature and temperature sensitivity.

Solar energy flux, flux density and total solar irradiance. Daily insolation.

Absorption, reflection and transmission by a slab of material. Kirckhoff law and spectral emittance, thermodynamic equilibrium and local thermodynamic equilibrium. Emission temperature of a planet and its dependence on albedo and solar constant. The “greenhouse” effect.

Differential equation for extinction. Optical depth and transmissivity. The computation of transmissi of solar radiation by atmospheric molecules. Extinction of solar radiation.

The radiative transfer equation for absorption and emission, the Schwarzschild's equation for a plane parallel atmosphere.
Radiative properties of natural and artificial surfaces. An introduction to Meteosat Second Generation images and data.

Introduction to the Earth radiation budget. The measurement of total solar irradiance, measurement technology and limitations. Daily TSI from various sensors. Global mean atmospheric energy balance.

Laboratory on the modelling of the planetary energy budget (10 hours)
 

Module 2 Synoptic meteorology and weather forecast (22 hours of lecture, 6 hours laboratory)

Lecture 1: Introduction to synoptic meteorology
Lecture 2: Atmospheric thermodynamics (1st part)
- Ideal Gas Law
- Avogadro Assumptions
- Dry and Moist Air
- Virtual Temperature
- Hydrostatic Equation
- Geopotential
- Hypsometric Equation
Lecture 3 - Atmospheric thermodynamics (2nd part)
- First Law Of Thermodynamics
- Joule’s Law
- Specific Heats
- Enthalpy
- Adiabatic Processes
- Concept of an Air Parcel
- Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
-Potential Temperature
Lecture 4: Atmospheric thermodynamics (3rd part)
- Water vapor in the Atmosphere
-Saturation vapor pressure
- Humidity parameters
- Thermodynamic diagrams
- Lifting Condensation Level
-Wet-bulb Temperature
-Hydrostatic Stability Of Unsaturated Air
- Latent Heat
- Saturated Adiabatic and Pseudoadiabatic Process
- Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate
- Equivalent Potential Temperature
- Skew emagram (Skew(T-lnp ) diagram)
- Normand’s Rule
Lecture 5: Atmospheric thermodynamics (4th part)
- Stability Of saturated Air
- Conditional and Convective Instability
- Convective Inhibition (CINE)
- Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE)
STABILITY EXERCISES
- The Carnot Cycle
- The Clausius-Clapeyron (C-C) equation
- Entropy
- The Second Law of Thermodynamics
- Skew-T log-P diagram
Lecture 6 : Dynamics of synoptic motions (1st part)
- Momentum Equation
- Vectorial Form – In Rotating Coordinates
- Scalar Components– In Spherical Coordinates
- Scale Analysis Of The Equations Of Motion
- Horizontal Motions: Geostrophic Approximation
- Horizontal Motions: Approximate Prognostic Equations
- Vertical Motions: The Hydrostatic Approximation
Lecture 7 Dynamics of synoptic motions (2nd part)
- The Continuity Equation
- Eulerian Derivation
- Lagrangian Derivation
- Scale Analysis of the Continuity Equation
- The Thermodynamic Energy Equation
- Scale Analysis of the Thermodynamic Energy Equation
Lecture 8 : Dynamics of synoptic motions (3rd part)
- Balanced Flow
- Geostrophic Flow
- Inertial Flow
- Cyclostrophic Flow
- The Gradient Wind Approximation
Lecture 9: Dynamics of synoptic motions (4th part)
- The Thermal Wind
- Vertical Motion
- The Kinematic Method
- The Adiabatic Method
- The pressunre tendency equation
Lecture 10 : Synpotic systems
- Fronts
- Frontogenesis
- The simpler 2-D problem
- Frontogenesis in 3 dimensions
- Secondary circulations
- Warm Front
- Cold Front
- Stationary and Occluded Front
- Warm Occlusion
- Cold Occlusion
- Ana-Fronts
- Kata-Fronts
- Mechanisms of frontogenesis
- Role of moisture in frontal circulation
Lecture 11 : Synpotic systems
Pressure Systems
Theory for extratropical cyclones
Cyclones
Weather maps
It will follow 2 laboratory demonstration (4 hours each)
Laboratory 1: Radiosounding interpretation
Laboratory 2: weather maps reading (fronts, pressure systems at 850mb, 500mb, 350 mb)

Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes in english (available in the web).

Atmospheric Science, an introductory survey, John M. Wallace e Peter V. Hobbs, second edition, 2006, Academic Press.

Teaching methods

Formal lectures. Lectures can be delivered in English upon necessity or by request by the students.
Numerical laboratory on the modelling of the planetary energy budget.

Exercises discussed and solved during class with the students. Complex exercises on radiative balance discussed and solved during the laboratory sessions.

Assessment methods

Written report on lab activities. One single final oral examination for both modules.

Teaching tools

Lectures using pc and projector. Class exercises and more complex exercises discussed and solved at the hands-on lab.

Office hours

See the website of Rolando Rizzi

See the website of Silvana Di Sabatino