Meteorology 452x/552x - Physics of Climate

Fall 2008

Instructor: William J. Gutowski, Jr.

3021 Agronomy                                   gutowski@iastate.edu
Dept. of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences      +1-515-294-5632 [tel]
Iowa State University                           +1-515-294-2619 [fax]
Ames, Iowa  50011-1010
USA

Office hours: MW 11 am - noon (U.S. Central Time)

Objectives

1. To understand the fundamental physics determining the climate of the earth
2. To be able to use climate-modeling tools to explore the climate system's physics
3. To interact productively with students in another country in a virtual meeting space
4. To understand evolving weather in a climatic context

Course Design

At Iowa State, the course is offered on the undergraduate level (452X) and graduate level (552X). The two are of course nearly identical, with the only difference beting additional expectations of 552X students. University of Cape Town honors students should follow the 452X standards. UCT graduate students should follow the 552X standards.

The course has three principal parts for 452X, four for 552X:

• 1 - Lectures accessible asynchronously through the Course Modules
• 2 - Climate-Weather Sessions that will involve the whole class interactively
• 3 - Computer Model Lab Projects that will entail working in small groups interactively
• 4 - Plus for 552X: A term paper reviewing an application of non-three-dimensional climate models that is not covered in the course. (See Prof. Gutowski)
• There are also occasional problem sets.

Adobe Acrobat Connect - Meeting Room

The course will use the Adobe Connect Enterprise Server (formerly Macromedia Breeze Meeting) for both asynchronous and synchronous communication. Adobe Connect works on Windows, Macintosh and (to a lesser extent) Linux platforms. For each operating system, Adobe gives specific requirements and capabilities. Note in particular that Adobe Connect authoring can be done only in Windows and Adobe Connect meeting presenters must use either Windows or Macintosh OS X.

A brief online view (click on "see the demo") of the meeting environment gives an initial view of the meeting-room capabilities. This course does not use the video communication due to its large bandwidth demand. It does use the audio. If you want to dig in further, there are several documents You may also wish to download or view online some of the documentation at the Adobe Connect Enterprise resources web site.

Adobe Connect allows several modes of interacting within its meeting space. Please review the various modes of interaction that are available. Their effectiveness varies with bandwidth and the type of meeting occurring.

Interactive sessions for our class use the Iowa State Adobe Connect Enterprise Server. Specifically, interactive classes use the MT452-552 classroom meeting space, unless told otherwise.

Course Modules

NOTE: The links below are to a server at Iowa State. UCT students have a local link at UCT (look under "Media") for accessing these modules.

Activity Group and Course Period	Dates	Activities
Group 1	25 August - 2 Sept. T 1 T 2 T 3 3 - 10 September T 4 T 5	----- TOPIC 1 - Introduction and Zero-Dimensional Energy Balance Models TOPIC 2 - Climate Sensitivity TOPIC 3 - Parameterization of Outgoing Infrared Radiation ----- TOPIC 4 - Parameterization of Albedo TOPIC 5 - Global Energy Balance Models (GEBMs)
Group 2	11 - 15 September T 6 T 7 T 8 T 9 16 - 22 September T 10	----- TOPIC 6 - Feedback - Introduction TOPIC 7 - Feedback - Global-Energy-Balance-Model Examples TOPIC 8 - One-Dimensional Global Energy Balance Models: Introduction TOPIC 9 - Radiative Constituents for 1-D GEBM ----- TOPIC 10 - Feedback - Further Effects Problem Set 1 - Due 19 September 2008
Group 3	23 - 29 September T 11 T 12 30 Sept. - 5 Oct. T 13 T 14	----- TOPIC 11 - One-Dimensional (Latitudinal) EBMs: Introduction TOPIC 12 - One-Dimensional (Latitudinal) EBMs: Solution ----- TOPIC 13 - One-Dimensional (Latitudinal) EBMs: Quantitative Results TOPIC 14 - One-Dimensional (Latitudinal) EBMs: Further Issues EdGCM Project 1: Due 8 October
Group 4	6 - 12 October T 15 T 16 T 17	----- TOPIC 15 - Constraints on Dynamical Fluxes: Introduction TOPIC 16 - Constraints on Dynamical Fluxes: Contributions to Total Flux F TOPIC 17 - Constraints on Dynamical Fluxes: Flux Efficiency Problem Set 2 - Due 24 October 2008 EdGCM Project 2: Due 25 October
Group 5	13 - 19 October T 18 T 19 20 - 26 October T 20 T 21 T 22 27 Oct. - 2 Nov. T 23 T 24	----- TOPIC 18 - Radiation: Introduction TOPIC 19 - Radiative Heating ----- TOPIC 20 - Radiation: Plane-Stratified Atmosphere TOPIC 21 - Radiation: Two-Stream Approximation TOPIC 22 - Radiation: Semi-Gray Approximation ----- TOPIC 23 - Radiative Equilibrium in the Simplified Model TOPIC 24 - Pure Radiative Equilibrium vs. Observed Temperature Structure EdGCM Project 3: Due 31 October
Group 6	Due 10 December	EdGCM Project 4
Exam	15 December 2008	Exam + Solutions: To be posted

Climate-Weather Sessions

• General Instructions
• Presentation Schedule
• An example presentation is available to guide your work.

Computer-Model Lab Projects

• Overview and Instructions

Problem Sets

• Problem Set 1 - Due 15 September 2008
• Problem Set 2 - Due 24 October 2008

Class Discussion PowerPoint Files

• Constraints on Dynamic Fluxes - Other planets
• Energy Balance Modeling - Further considerations
• Error Growth Durring Simulation - Considerations of random numbers and ensemble simulations
• Legendre Polynomials - A brief review for energy-balance modeling
• Planetary Engineering - 1
• Sensitivity to Change in Atmospheric Composition

Grading

Undergraduates (incl. UCT Honors)	-	***	Graduates	-
Problem sets	20%	***	Problem sets	15%
Semester Test	35%	***	Semester Test	35%
EdGCM Projects	30%	***	EdGCM Projects	25%
Clim-Wx Presentation	15%	***	Clim-Wx Presentation	10%
-	-	***	Review Paper	15%

The course grade is determined in part by how people do with respect to each other and how the class as a whole has done. This gives a starting point for assessing what each student has demonstrated with regard to grasp of the material. The total score from tests, problem sets, etc. is NOT judged on a scale of below 60 = F, 60 - 69 = D, etc. (Of course a total score of 80, for example, will be no lower than a B-.)

You can view grades on the test and for the course as a whole.

Email

I communicate frequently with the class by email.

• University of Cape Town students

  Please send me your preferred email address, to gutowski@iastate.edu.

• Iowa State students

  The default email address I have for all Iowa State (ISU) students is their @iastate.edu address. ISU students who prefer to use some other email address should follow one of these two alternatives (the first is preferred):

  1. Follow the instructions to automatically forward your iastate.edu email to another system.
  2. Send to me by email your preferred address.

  Choice 1 is preferable because it ensures that all email sent your @iastate.edu address will get forwarded. This could be email for other classes, from the Registrar's office, etc.

Other Notes