Transcript Lecture 1

NATS 101 Intro to Weather and Climate

Section 06: 12:30PM TTh ILC 150

Dr. E. Robert Kursinski TA: Nathan Johnson

Who Am I?

• • • •

Professor Department of Atmospheric Science Joint Faculty Appointment Dept. of Planetary Sciences Research Specialty Remote Sensing, Water cycle Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences M.S. in Electrical Engineering B.S. in Physics, Minor in Music Theory

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Vital Statistics

• • • •

Office Hours

: Dr. Kursinski W 2:00-2:50 pm PAS Bldg, Rm 580 or by Appointment Mr. Johnson TBD PAS Bldg, Rm 526 or by Appointment

Required Text

:

Essentials of Meteorology-An Invitation to the Atmosphere, 4 rd Ed.

by C. Donald Ahrens Picture Link Publisher Download, Save $

Recommended Text

:

Study Guide for Essentials of Meteorology, 4 rd Ed.

by C. Donald Ahrens Link

Required Material

: Thirty (30) 4''x 6'' index cards.

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Course Description

Introduction to the science of weather processes and climate change: atmospheric structure and composition, energy balance, clouds and precipitation, wind systems, fronts, cyclones, weather forecasting, thunderstorms, lightning, hurricanes, ozone hole, air pollution, global warming and optical phenomena.

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Course Description

Emphasis will be given to phenomena that have strong impacts on human activities. The fundamental importance of physics, chemistry and mathematics will be noted.

Atmospheric Sciences  Applied Physics Lecture 1-Nats 101 5

Attendance Policy

Attendance is mandatory, and I reserve the right to tally it throughout the term. After three unexcused absences prior to week 9, I will submit to the Office of Curriculum and Registration an administrative drop from the course and assign a grade in accordance with UA policy.

http://catalog.arizona.edu/2005-06/policies/classatten.htm

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Student Behavior

UA Code of Academic Integrity, Code of Conduct and Student Code of Conduct are enforced in this course. Every student is responsible for learning these codes and abiding by them.

http://w3.arizona.edu/~studpubs/policies/ppmainpg.html

Students can submit complaints online at http://web.arizona.edu/~dos/uapolicies/ Lecture 1-Nats 101 7

Grading Policy

Final grade will be based on scores from closed book/closed notes quizzes and final exam. Quizzes will consist of multiple choice questions and short answer questions. Quizzes will cover new material presented through the end of the previous lecture day. Extra credit questions given on some quizzes. Extra credit impromptu “pop” quizzes given.

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Grading Policy

• • •

There will be seven quizzes during the term.

Dates for the quizzes are

Jan 27, Feb 10, Feb 24, Mar 10, Mar 31, Apr 14, Apr 28.

No Exceptions Students who arrive late on quiz days will be not allowed to take the quiz after the first student turns in her/his quiz.

No Exceptions The lowest score among the seven quizzes will be excluded from the course grade.

Therefore, no make-up quizzes.

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Grading Policy

• • •

If your final exam score exceeds the average of your 6 best quizzes, the quizzes will comprise 60% of your term grade and the final 40%.

Otherwise, the quizzes will comprise 75% of your term grade and the final 25%. CARROT: If your average is 90% or higher on all 7 quizzes, you will earn an exemption from the final and will receive an "A'' for the course. No Extra Credit Projects. No Exceptions.

So Plan Accordingly!

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Final Examination

Section 06 (11:00 am MWF): ILC 150 Thursday Dec. 14, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm No Exceptions per UA Policy

• The final will consist of 60 multiple choice questions and short answer questions.

• At least 30, but no more than 40 questions, will be taken verbatim from the old quizzes.

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Course Grading

Course Grading Scale A B C D E 90% or higher 80.0-89.99% 65.0-79.99% 55.0-64.99% < 55.0%

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Expectations

Every student is expected to: • Complete all of the assigned reading before the lecture, unless you hear otherwise.

• Devote a minimum of 2 hours outside of class studying, reading, etc. for every hour of classroom lecture. Unit Credit Definition • Attend class daily, arrive on time, leave when class is dismissed (courtesy to peer students).

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The Golden Rule

Instructor and students all show:

Mutual Respect!

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Literacy Requirements

Although the writing requirement for this course is negligible, there is a science literacy requirement. This means that we: • Use scientific notation for writing numbers (especially rather large or small ones).

• Specify units of physical quantities (e.g. meters for elevation, etc.).

• Attempt to quantify physical relationships.

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Announcements

Course Homepage…is functional!

http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/ Click Students and Courses Click Course Links Click NATS101 – Kursinski User Name: nats101 (if established) Password: spring2006 (if established)

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Class Format: Lecture Days

• •

2-4 minutes - Interesting weather (if any) 2-3 minutes - Review/Summary/Clean-up From Prior Lecture, Optional

60-65 minutes - New Material Lecture, Demos, Discussion

2-3 minutes - Wrap-up and Summary

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Class Format: Quiz Days

10 minutes - Last Minute Questions Passing Out Quiz Materials

30 minutes - Quiz

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LISTSERV Established

• • • •

[email protected]

Use for any questions, comments, discussions that are general interest to the class.

[email protected]

is reserved for personal requests not of general interest.

To subscribe go to http://listserv.arizona.edu/ and click the link “Subscribe to a list” http://listserv.arizona.edu/Subscribe.html

Follow straightforward instructions!

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LISTSERV

If you DID NOT receive an email two days ago, you need to subscribe to the list. You can subscribe by sending an email to [email protected]

with the following as the only line in the body of the message. subscribe xxxxxx Firstname Lastname Substitute the list you want to join for

xxxxxx , i.e. [email protected]

. Substitute your first name for

Firstname

Substitute your last name for

Lastname

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Importance of Atmosphere

Necessary for a wide spectrum of features Oceans Clouds, Rain, Fresh Water Erosion by Water and Wind Life, Life on Land Blue Skies, Red Sunsets, Twilight Sound

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Importance of Atmosphere

Point 1- Offers Protection Consider surface temperatures

Without atmosphere? 0 o F average, large diurnal swings Similar to the Moon’s Climate With atmosphere… 60 o F average, moderate diurnal swings

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Importance of Atmosphere

Point 2 - Offers Protection Consider Surface Radiation Shields against harmful UV radiation

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Importance of Atmosphere

Consider Survival Time Without Food

few weeks Without Water

few days Without Air

few minutes

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To Understand the Atmosphere

Sun Atmosphere Examine its interfaces with land/ocean with space Earth 13,000 km Is a very thin skin 99% below 50 km (31 miles) 50% below 5.5 km (3.4 miles) Atmosphere Picture Space

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Note “thinness” of atmosphere in light blue 26

Course Building Blocks

• • • •

Intro

1 st week or so Energy

~2 weeks Moisture

~2 weeks Dynamics

~3 weeks

Above are interdependent Specific Topics

~6 weeks

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Reading Assignment

Thomas Friedman NYT Article Homepage Link “Reading Assignments”

Ahrens Pages 1-13 Problems 1.2, 1.3, 1.10, 1.14

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Atmospheric Composition Permanent Gases

N 2 and O 2 are most abundant gases Ahrens, Table 1.1, 3 rd Ed.

Percentages hold constant up to 80 km

Ar, Ne, He, and Xe are chemically inert

N 2 and O 2 are chemically active, removed & returned

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Atmospheric Composition Important Trace Gases

Ahrens, Table 1.1, 3 rd ed.

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CO

2

Trend

Keeler Curve from Hawaii Obs Some gases can vary by season and can vary over many years CO 2 increases in spring decreases in fall Ahrens, Fig. 1.3, 3th Ed.

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H

2

O Vapor Variability

Precipitable Water (mm)

Some gases can vary spatially and daily

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Two Important Concepts Let’s introduce two new concepts...

Density Pressure

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What is Density?

Density (

) = Mass (M) per unit Volume (V)

= M/V

= Greek letter “rho” Typical Units: kg/m 3 , gm/cm 3 Mass = # molecules

molecular weight (gm/mole) Avogadro number (6.023x10

23 molecules/mole)

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Density Change

Density (

) changes by altering either a) # molecules in a constant volume b) volume occupied by the same # molecules a b

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What is Pressure?

Pressure (p) = Force (F) per unit Area (A) Typical Units: pounds per square inch (psi), millibars (mb), inches Hg Average pressure at sea-level: 14.7 psi 1013 mb 29.92 in. Hg

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Pressure

Can be thought of as weight of air above you.

(Note that pressure acts in all directions!) So as elevation increases, pressure decreases.

Top Bottom Higher elevation Less air above Lower pressure Lower elevation More air above Higher pressure Lecture 1-Nats 101 37

Density and Pressure Variation

Key Points 1. Both decrease rapidly with height 2. Air is compressible, i.e. its density varies Ahrens, Fig. 1.5

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Why rapid change with height?

Consider a spring with 10 kg bricks on top of it The spring compresses a little more with each addition of a brick. The spring is compressible.

10 kg 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg 10 kg Lecture 1-Nats 101 39

Why rapid change with height?

Now consider several 10 kg springs piled on top of each other.

Topmost spring compresses the least!

Bottom spring compresses the most!

The total mass above you decreases rapidly w/height.

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mass

mass

mass

mass

40

Why rapid change with height?

Finally, consider piled-up parcels of air, each with the same # molecules.

The bottom parcel is squished the most. Its density is the highest.

Density decreases most rapidly at bottom.

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Why rapid change with height?

Each parcel has the same mass (i.e. same number of molecules), so the height of a parcel represents the same change in pressure

p.

Thus, pressure must decrease most rapidly near the bottom.

p

p

p

p

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