625-360 Atmospheric Dynamics and Modelling

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Objectives:

On completion of this subject, students should:

• have an appreciation of the formulation and power of the mathematical description of atmospheric dynamics.

The concepts discussed will lead to methods of modelling the atmosphere with computers.

Content:

Application of Newton's Second Law to flow on a rotating planet. Representation of the pressure, gravity and frictional forces. Scale analysis of the equations of motion. Turbulent structure of the atmosphere, including consideration of the surface layer, planetary boundary layer and the Ekman layer. Eddy fluxes, mixing length theory and the Richardson Number. Atmospheric instability theory, including the consideration of Rossby-Haurwitz waves, convection, and inertial, barotropic and baroclinic instability. The maintenance of the energy and momentum balances of the atmosphere. Numerical methods for solving time-and-space-dependent problems. Analysis and initialisation of numerical weather models. The 'parameterisation' of physical processes. Skill and accuracy or current operational models. 'Hands-on' experience of constructing and performing experiments with a simple numerical forecast model.

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