Winter semester 2017/2018:

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Lectures

1. Introduction. Structure and composition of the atmosphere. Radiation. Thermal processes in the atmosphere.
• Main concepts. Meteorology, climatology, atmospheric sciences.
• Composition of the atmosphere; homosphere and heterosphere; ozonosphere. Vertical structure of the atmosphere; troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere.
• Solar radiation. Global energy balance. Stefan-Boltzmann law and Wien's law. Radiation processes in the atmosphere. Heat exchange between the atmosphere and lands/oceans.
• Greenhouse effect – mechanisms.
2. Dynamic processes in the atmosphere.
• Atmospheric pressure. Vertical pressure variations.
• Horizontal changes of atmospheric pressure and temperature. Low pressure and high pressure systems.
• Atmospheric pressure and wind. Geostrophic wind. Gradient wind. Thermal wind and geostrophic temperature advection.
3. Water in the atmosphere. Vertical stability of the atmosphere.
• Vertical stability of dry atmosphere. Dry-adiabatic gradient. Temperature inversion. Convection level.
• Water vapour in the atmosphere. Phase transitions. Dew point.
• Humidity: definitions and units.
• Thermodynamic processes in moist air. Clausius-Clapeyron equation.
• Vertical stability of moist air. Moist-adiabatic processes. Condensation level.
4. Clouds and precipitation. Thunderstorms.
• Formation of clouds. Condensation, growth of water droplets/ice crystals in clouds.
• Classification of clouds, their composition and structure. Fog and mist.
• Formation and types of precipitation.
• Thunderstorms. Types of thunderstorms. Electricity of the atmosphere.
5. Global weather.
• Global atmospheric circulation.
• Air masses. Fronts. Polar front. Jet stream. Planetary Rossby waves. (Anti-)cyclogenesis.
• Average distribution and seasonal variability of wind, atmospheric pressure and temperature on Earth. Trade wind circulation. Circulation of the midlatitudes. Polar circulation.
• North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). El Niño, index ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation).
6. Mid-latitude weather.
• Formation, evolution and structure of mid-latitude low pressure systems. The role of the polar front in czclogenesis.
• Typical weather patterns in low pressure systems.
• Typical weather patterns in high pressure systems.
• Types of atmospheric fronts. Dynamics of frontal zones. Occlusion. Clouds and precipitation in low- and high-pressure systems and in frontal zones.
7. Tropical weather.
• Formation, evolution and structure of tropical low pressure systems.
• Easterly waves, tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes.
• Regions of hurricane formation. Oceans as a source of energy for hurricanes. Three-dimensional hurricane structure.
• Hurricanes in satellite imagery and synoptic charts.
• The role of hurricanes in ocean mixing and oceanic heat transport. Hurricanes and climate.

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Exercises