Fall 2012 – Thermodynamics of
the Atmosphere [11:670:323]
Instructor: Dr. Benjamin R. Lintner
Course Time/Location:
MTh
12:35-1:55 pm/ENRS 223
Catalogue Description:
Thermodynamics of the atmosphere; energy conservation; ideal gas law; water and its transformations; moist air; aerosols; hydrostatic stability and convection; vertical motion; cloud formation; precipitation.
Prerequisites:
Calculus II [01:640:152]
Physics for the Sciences or General Physics I [11:750:193/194 or 11:750:203/204]
Course Text:
Petty, Grant W: A First Course in Atmospheric Thermodynamics
This book may be purchased directly from the publisher Sundog Publishing, LLC
or through on-line booksellers.
Learning Goals:
The learning goals for this course are:
(1) Develop a conceptual
understanding of atmospheric thermodynamic processes;
(2) Master the foundational
mathematical and physical principles of atmospheric
thermodynamics;
(3) Apply the conceptual
understanding and mathematical and physical principles to solve
problems.
Grading:
Homework Assignments [5 Total]: 25% [5% each]
Semester Exams [2 Total]: 50% [25% each]
Final Exam: 25%
You will be assigned 6 homework sets, each worth 5% of the total course grade. (Note that I will drop the lowest homework assignment grade for tabulating the total homework grade.) Two semester exams and a final exam, each accounting for 25% of the total course grade, will be given. Make-up exams are permitted only if an exam is missed for documented serious emergencies or university-sanctioned conflicts. If you know in advance that you will miss an exam, please make arrangements to take the exam early.
Attendance:
While attendance is not mandatory, I strongly recommend that you attend the lectures. Neglecting to attend may result in missing important information.
Office Hours:
By
Arrangement. Note that I am usually available before class.
Tentative Schedule:
|
Week [Dates] |
TOPICS |
Reading |
Graded Work |
|
1 [09/06] |
Course
Introduction;
Atmospheric Composition; Pressure & Density [Lecture
1] |
1-12; Appendix B |
|
|
2¤ [09/10; 09/13] |
Temperature [Lecture 2]; No Class on 09/13 |
13-24 |
|
|
3 [09/17; 09/20] |
Thermodynamic
systems & variables [Lecture 3]; Equation
of state for dry air [Lecture 4] |
25-60 |
|
|
4 [09/24; 09/27] |
Equation
of
state for moist air [Lecture 5]; Pressure,
hydrostatic
balance, and hypsometric equation [Lecture 6] |
60-81 |
HW
#1 [M 09/24]
|
|
5 [10/01; 10/04] |
Pressure,
hydrostatic balance, and hypsometric equation [Lecture
6, cont'd]; Pressure
profiles
for idealized atmospheres [Lecture 7] |
81-103 |
|
|
6 [10/08; 10/11] |
Pressure in practice [Lecture 8]; Exam 1 |
104-128 |
Exam #1 [Th 10/11] |
|
7 [10/15; 10/18] |
1st
Law of Thermodynamics and dry adiabatic processes
[Lecture 9] |
129-135 |
|
|
8 [10/22; 10/25] |
Heat
engines [Lecture 10]; Reversible and irreversible
processes and enthalpy [Lecture 11] |
151-160 |
|
|
9 [10/29; 11/01] |
Classes cancelled |
161-178 |
|
|
10 [11/05; 11/08] |
Entropy and
the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics [Lecture 12] |
179-209 |
|
|
11 [11/12; 11/15] |
Introduction to moist processes and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation [Lecture 13]; Exam 2 |
209-238 |
Exam #2 [Th 11/15] |
|
12 [11/19; 11/20*] |
Moisture variables on the skew-T diagrams and lifted condensation level [Lecture 14]; Moist adiabatic lapse rate and equivalent potential and wet bulb temperatures [Lecture 15] |
239-253 |
|
|
13 [11/26; 11/29] |
253-278 |
||
|
14 [12/03; 12/06] |
Conditional
and
potential stability [Lecture 17]; Parcel
stability
and convection [Lecture 18] |
|
|
|
15 [12/10] |
|
||
|
16 [12/20] |
Final Exam |
|
Th
12/20 |
Additional
Information:
Exam
2 Carnot Cycle
Animation
of
Large Eddy Simulation of Convective Boundary Layer Development
youtube
tutorial
on the fundamentals of skew-T diagrams