Class schedule and reading

Instructor:

Prof. Robert Wood
ATG 718, Phone 543-1203
Rob Wood Homepage
Office Hours: flexible

Description:

This graduate special topics class focuses on the general topic of aerosol-cloud-climate interactions. The class aims to cover many aspects of this topic, including a review of the theoretical arguments linking aerosols and clouds, the use of field and satellite data, and process and climate models to understand the problem, and a consideration of past and future changes in aerosol indirect climate forcing.

Learning Goals:

1. Understand the physical bases for aerosol-cloud interactions
2. Awareness of the important literature on the topic of aerosol-cloud-climate interactions
3. Understand how clouds are affected by aerosols and how cloud processes affect aerosols
4. Gain an appreciation for the concept of aerosol indirect forcing (also known as aerosol forcing by aerosol-cloud interactions)
5. Understand how observations and models are used to assess the climatological impacts of anthropogenic and natural aerosols.

Prerequisites:

ATM S 535: Cloud Physics and Dynamics, or by specific permission of the instructor.

Class meets:

Mon and Wed 1:30-2:50 in ATG 406

Textbook:

No required textbook

Useful texts:

Atmospheric Science, an introductory survey, by J. M. Wallace and P.V.Hobbs (Second Edition), Academic Press.

A Short Course in Cloud Physics, by M. K. Yau and R. R. Rogers. Elsevier, Jan 1989, ISBN: 978-0-7506-3215-7.