Geography 111: Weather and Climate

Spring 2007 200-315pm 104 Peabody
Home page:  http://www.unc.edu/courses/2007spring/geog/011/001/

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Professor: C. E. Konrad T.A. Lindsay Berk T.A.:  Matt Riley
Office: 305 Saunders Hall 304 Saunders Hall TBA
Office Hours: 11-1150a TTh TBA TBA
e-mail: konrad@unc.edu berk@email.unc.edu mjreilly@email.unc.edu

Home page link Home page link

Required Text: F. K. Lutgens and E. J. Tarbuck, The Atmosphere. 10th Edition (or earlier editions)

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Course Description

This course describes the nature and causes of weather and its climatology (i.e. when, where, how frequently it occurs).  During the first half of the semester, atmospheric concepts will be introduced and discussed in terms of the processes and patterns that are typically observed in the earth’s atmosphere, particularly over North Carolina and the United States.  These discussions will provide the background for the second half of the semester, in which we will study extreme weather events:

    1.  Ice storms
    2.  Snow storms
    3. Cold air outbreaks
    4. Tornadoes
    5. Heat waves
    6. Flooding
    7. Droughts
    8.  Hurricanes 

Each of these weather events will be described in terms of the following:

    1. The processes and patterns that produce the event, in other words, the “recipes” for making the event.
    2.  The morphology or structure of the weather entity.
    3.  The temporal and spatial scale of the event i.e. its duration and size.
    4.  The climatology: (a) where it typically occurs (i.e. geographical distribution); (b) when it typically occurs (i.e. time of day and, season); and (c) how frequently it occurs (i.e. recurrence interval).

We will also address environmental issues (e.g. greenhouse warming and air pollution) that involve the atmosphere.

• You are responsible for all lecture material and information from selected web resources
• Outlines of the class lectures and all graphics are provided in Powerpoint slides that can downloaded from Blackboard. It is up to you to synthesize this information and gain the knowledge
• Portions of the lecture material are not covered in the text, so regular attendance is strongly recommended.

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Grading

Project 25 %
Test 1 (2/8) 25 %
Test 2 (3/22) 25 %
Final Exam (5/8 @8am) 25 %
                                              _____
Total  100 %

Test information

• The tests will consist of objective style questions that include multiple choice, matching, and true-false.
• If an exam is missed (e.g. due to illness, family emergency), students will be allowed a make-up exam if a verifiable excuse is presented within five days.

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Links to sources of weather information

National Weather Service Forecast

WRAL Forecast

Weather discussions from Raleigh National Weather Service

National Hurricane Center

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Lecture and reading schedule

Date	Topic (Preliminary)	Text Pages
1/12	Course Introduction	---
-------	Background: Processes/Concepts
1/16	Solar and terrestrial radiation	44-53
1/18	Earth-sun geometry	34-41
1/23-1/25	Heat transfer	42-44; 54-60
1/30	The greenhouse effect	53, 414
2/1-2/6	Temperature relationships	66-88; 217-218
2/8	TEST 1	---
2/13-2/15	Air pressure and wind	168-189; 210-212
2/20-2/22	Water in the atmosphere	99-113
2/27	Vertical air motions	113-125
3/1	Air quality	378-392
3/1	Fog & haze	138-143
3/6	Clouds and precipitation	132-138; 144-149
	The Winter and Spring Season Atmosphere	---
3/8	Circumpolar vortex and jet stream	212-217
3/20	Review	---
3/22	TEST 2	---
3/27	Cold outbreaks	235-239
3/29	Wave cyclones	252-281
4/3	Ice storms	---
4/5	Snow storms	---
4/10	Tornadoes	300-310
	The Summer and Fall Season Atmosphere	---
4/12-4/14	Thunderstorms	286-300
4/19	Heavy rain and flooding	292-293
4/21-4/24	Hurricanes	320-340
4/26	Review	---
5/8 @8am	FINAL EXAM	---