Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

 

M Tech Programme in Climate Science

 

Duration: 2 years

Total Credits: 64

 

Core Courses: 21 Credits

 

Course Credits Course Title

AS 203 3:0 Atmospheric Thermodynamics

AS 204 3:0 Atmospheric Radiation and Climate

AS 205 3:0 Ocean Dynamics

AS 207 3:0 Introduction to Atmospheric  Dynamics

AS 211 3:0 Observational Techniques

AS 220 3:0 Introduction to Earth System

 OR

AS 216 3:0 Introduction to Climate System

One 3:0 Mathematics Course offered at (SERC/Maths/CHE/CAOS)

 

 

Project: 28 Credits

 

AS 299 0:28

 

0:12 Aug-Dec Term

0:16 Jan-Apr Term

 

Elective: A balance of 15 credits required to make up a minimum of 64 credits for completing the ME Programme.

 

 

AS 202 (JAN) 3:0

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

 

Large-scale, slowly evolving flows on a rotating earth.  Vorticity, potential vorticity (pv), consequences of pv conservation. Poincare, Kelvin and Rossby waves. Rotating shallow water equations, effects of stratification and the rotating-stratified Boussinesq equations.

Quasigeostrophic flow and pv, Rossby waves on the mid-latitude beta plane.  Basic concepts of tropical dynamics. Waves, jets and undercurrents on the equatorial beta plane. Waves and large-scale flow in the atmosphere and ocean from observations.

 

D Sengupta and Jai Sukhatme

 

Pedlosky, J., Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Springer Verlag, 1977.

Gill, A., Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics, Academic Press Inc., 1982.

Holton J. R., An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, Academic Press, 1992.

Relevant Journal Articles.

 

 

AS 203 (AUG) 3:0

Atmospheric Thermodynamics

 

Vertical structure and composition of the atmosphere, kinetic theory of gases, first and second principles of thermodynamics, thermodynamics of dry air, concept of saturation vapour pressure, water vapour in the atmosphere, properties of moist air, isobaric and isothermal processes, atmospheric stability, parcel and area methods, nucleation, effect of aerosols, clouds and precipitation, forms of atmospheric convection.

 

A Chakraborty and G S Bhat

 

Iribarne, I.V., and Godson, W.I., Atmospheric Thermodynamics, 2nd Edn, D Reidel Publishing Company, 1971.

Rogers, R.R., A short course in Cloud physics, 2nd Edition, Pergamon Press, 1979.

Bohren, C.F., and Albhecht, B.A., Atmospheric Thermodynamics, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Tsonis, A.A., An Introduction to Atmospheric Thermodynamics, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Wallace, J.M., and Hobbs, P.V., Atmospheric Science – An Introductory Survey, 2nd Edn, Academic Press, 2006.

 

AS 204 (AUG) 3:0

Atmospheric Radiation and Climate

 

Blackbody radiation, properties of surfaces, Kirchoff’s law, radiative transfer in gases, solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, Rayleigh and Mie scattering, aerosols, vertical thermal structure, radiation budget, cloud forcing, and simple climate models.

 

J Srinivasan and S K Sateesh

 

Petty, G.W., A first course in Atmospheric Radiation, Sundog Publishing, Madison Wisconsin, 2nd edition, 2006.

Liou, K.N., Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, Academic Press, San Diego, 2nd edition, 2002.

 

AS 205 (JAN) 3:0

Ocean Dynamics

 

Introduction to physical oceanography, properties of sea water and their distribution, mixed layer, barrier layer, thermocline, stratification and stability, heat budget and air-sea interaction, ocean general circulation, thermohaline circulation, basic concepts and equations of motion, scale analysis, geostrophic currents, wind-driven ocean circulation, Ekman layer in the ocean, Sverdrup flow, vorticity in the ocean, waves in the ocean, surface gravity waves, Rossby and Kelvin waves.

 

P N Vinayachandran

 

Stewart, R.H., Introduction to Physical Oceanography, http://oceanworld.tamu.edu (online book)

Pickard, G.L., and Emery, W.J., Descriptive Physical Oceanography, 6th Edn, Pergamon Press, 1992.

Knauss, J.A., Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Prentice Hall, 2000.

Gill, A.E., Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics, Academic Press, 1982.

Cushman-Roisin, B., Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Prentice Hall, 1994.

 

AS 207 (AUG) 3:0

Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics

 

Introduction to weather and climate. Momentum, continuity and thermodynamic energy equations. Basic equations in isobaric coordinates. Balanced flow: inertial flow, cyclostrophic flow. Thermal wind, calculation of vertical velocities, circulation and vorticity. Planetary boundary layer: atmospheric turbulence, Boussinesq approximation. Introduction to quasi-geostrophic systems. Atmospheric waves.

 

Ravi S Nanjundaiah

 

Holton, J.R., An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology, Elsevier, 4th Edn 2004.

 

AS 208 (JAN) 3:0

Satellite Meteorology

 

Introduction to radiative transfer; radiative properties of surface; radiative properties of the atmosphere; scattering of radiation; image analysis; thermal, infrared and microwave techniques for measurement of temperature, humidity and cloud height; atmospheric sounders, limb sounding, radiation budget.

 

J Srinivasan and S K Sateesh

 

Kidder, S.Q., and Vonder Haar, T.R., Satellite Meteorology, Academic Press, 1995.

Houghton, J.T., Taylor, F.W., and Rodgers, C.D., Remote Sensing of Atmosphere, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984.

 

AS 209 (JAN) 3:0

Mathematical Methods in Climate Science

 

Review of probability and statistics: probability distributions (continuous and discrete), sample statistics, goodness of fit tests, methods of fitting statistics – small and large samples, applications. Time-series analysis: stationarity, trend removal, auto-regressive (AR), moving average (MA) and ARMA models, principal component analysis (PCA), applications. Time-frequency analysis: Fourier transforms, wavelet transforms;,singular spectrum analysis, applications.

 

V Venugopal

 

Papoulis, A., and Pillai U., Probability, Random Variables and Stochastic Processes, 4th Edn, McGraw Hill, 2002.

Wilks, D., Statistical Methods in the Atmospheric Sciences, 2nd Edn, Academic Press, 2006.

Box, G.E.P., and Jenkins, G.M., Time Series Analysis: Forecasting and Control, Holden-Day, 1976.

Mallat, S., Wavelet Tour of Signal Processing, Academic Press, 1999.

Press, W.H., Teukolsky, S.A., Vetterling, W.T., and Flannery, B.P., Numerical Recipes in C/Fortran: The Art of Scientific Computing, 2nd Edn, Cambridge.

 

 

AS 211 (AUG) 2:1

Observational Techniques

 

Principles of measurement and error analysis, fundamentals of field measurements, in situ measurement of atmospheric temperature, humidity, pressure, wind, radiation, precipitation and aerosols. Tower based techniques and automatic measurement systems. Upper air observations, radiosonde techniques. Measurements in the ocean, CTD, ADCP and ARGO.

 

G S Bhat

 

Guide to Meteorological Measurements and Methods of Observation, World Meteorological Organization Publication No. 8, 7th Edition, WMO, Geneva.

(available on line at, http://www.wmo.ch/pages/prog/www/IMOP/publications/CIMO-Guide/Draft-7-edition.html)

DeFelice, T.P., An Introduction to Meteorological Instrumentation and Measurement, Prentice Hall, 1998.

Also Online materials

 

 

AS 212 (JAN) 2:1

Advanced Observational Techniques

 

Remote sensing techniques, SODAR, LIDAR, RADAR. Atmospheric profilers. Satellite remote sensing. Instruments for cloud microphysics, instrumented aircraft, ocean profilers. Measurement of aerosols and trace gases. Mass spectrometer and geochemistry.

 

GS Bhat

 

Raghavan, S.,  RADAR Meteorology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

Houghton, J.T., Taylor, F.W., and Rodgers, D.D., Remote Sensing of Atmosphere, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984.

Manufacturer Catalogues and online materials.

 

AS 214 (JAN) 3:0

Atmospheric Boundary Layer

 

Concept of boundary layer, governing equations, scaling laws, mean and turbulent quantities, atmospheric dispersion, surface fluxes, Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, boundary layer over land and ocean, boundary layer modeling and parameterization schemes, interaction between clouds and boundary layer.

 

G S Bhat

 

Garratt, J.R., The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Stull, R.B., An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988.

 

 

AS 220 (AUG/JAN) 3:0

Introduction to Earth System

 

Role of Geology in understanding the Earth System processes, formation of minerals and rocks, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic processes. Weathering and erosion, evolution of lithosphere, earthquake and the structure of the Earth, Mountain Ranges and Geologic structures. Plate tectonics, tectonic and climate, early atmosphere, evolution of atmosphere through time, evolution of hydrosphere and general circulation of ocean through time. Long and short term history of Cryosphere, Fossilization, Geologic time. Early evolution of the life, evolution and extinction, evolution of biosphere, evolution of Indian climate through geological time, global paleoclimate, paleoclimate of India, paleomonsoon record.

 

Prosenjit Ghosh

 

Graham Thompson, R., and Jonathan Turk, Modern Physical Geology, Saunders College Publishing, 1991.

William, F., Earth’s Climate: Past and Future, 2001.

Grotzinger, J., and Freeman, S., Understanding Earth, 2006.

 

AS 221 (AUG) 3:0

Earth, life and sustainability


Basics of the habitable planet and the carbon-based life, plate tectonics and climate change, evolution of oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere, major transitions and evolution of life, components in climate systems and feedbacks. Greenhouse gases and global energy balance, global carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles. Ecosystems, coupling of biogeochemical cycles and climate, paleo records of climate variability/change, anthropogenic effects, destiny of humankind from an astrobiology point of view.


Prosenjit Ghosh and Raghu Murtugudde


Charles Cockell (Ed), An Introduction to the Earth-Life System, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9780-5217-2953-6.

Kump, L.R., Kasting, J.F., and Crane, R.G., The Earth System Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13-142059-3.

Jacobson, M.C., Charlson, R.J., Rodhe, H., and Orians, G.H., Earth System Science,

Academic Press, ISBN: 0-12-379370-X

Schellnhuber, H.J., Crutzen, P.J., Clark, W.C., Claussen, M., and Hermann Held (Eds), Earth System Analysis for Sustainability, MIT Press: ISBN-10: 0-262-19513-5 ISBN-13: 978-0-262-19513-3.

 

AS 301 (JAN) 3:0

Tropical Climate

 

Annual and seasonal mean energy budget, Dominant modes of variability, El-Nino and Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Tropical biennial oscillation, Quasi-biennial oscillation, Madden Julian Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, Monsoon, Tropical cyclones, Interactions and energy exchange between different scales.

 

Arindam Chakraborty

 

Hastenrath, S., Climate Dynamics of the Tropics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996.

Diaz, H.F., and Markgraf, V.(Eds), El-Nino and the Southern Oscillation, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Philander, G., El-Nino and Southern Oscillation, Academic Press, 1990.

 

AS 302 (JAN) 3:0

Climate Modeling

 

Introduction to basic equations for the atmosphere. Brief overview of hierarchy of models. Numerical methods: finite difference, spectral and semi-Lagrangian techniques. Model physics: parameterization of subgrid-scale phenomena such as cloud-convection, land-surface processes, boundary-layer effects and radiation. Introduction to coupling with ocean models.

 

Ravi S Nanjundaiah

 

Satoh, M., Atmospheric Circulation Dynamics and General Circulation Models, Springer, Praxis Publishing, 2004.

Trenberth, K.E. (Ed), Climate System Modelling, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Henderson-Sellers, A., and McGuffe, K., Climate Modelling Primer, John Wiley and Sons, 1987.

Pre-requisite:     AS 207: Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics and

AS 203: Atmospheric Thermo-dynamics or an equivalent background in fluid

mechanics and thermodynamics.

 

 

AS 306 (AUG) 3:0

Radiative Transfer in the Atmosphere

 

Electromagnetic spectrum, fundamentals of atmosphere and radiation, laws of thermal radiation, emissivity, absorptivity and albedo of surfaces, Beer’s law, theory of scattering, principles of radiative transfer, radiative transfer in a plane parallel atmosphere, approximation of radiative transfer, the role of radiation in climate.

 

J Srinivasan and S K Sateesh

 

Liou, K.N., An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, Academic Press, 1980.

Thomas, G.E., and Stammes, K., Radiative transfer in the atmosphere and oceans, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

 

Relevant journal articles.

Online materials.

 

Pre-requisite:     AS 202: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics;

AS 203: Atmospheric Thermodynamics;

AS 207: Introduction to atmospheric dynamics; or

an equivalent background in the dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere.

 

AS 308 (JAN) 2:1

Ocean Modeling

 

Equations governing ocean dynamics and thermodynamics, approximations, initial and boundary conditions, one dimensional ocean models: bulk, shear instability and turbulent closure models, reduced gravity ocean models, primitive equation models of ocean circulation. Sub-grid scale processes, mixed layer parameterization, sigma coordinate models, finite difference schemes, time differencing, convergence and stability, testing and validation, test problems.

 

P N Vinayachandran, Ravi S Nanjundaiah

 

Pre-requisite:     AS 205: Ocean Dynamics

 

Kowalik, Z., and Murthy, T.S., Numerical Modeling of Ocean Dynamics, World Scientific, 1995.

Kantha, L.H., and Clayson, C.A., Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes, International Geophysics Series, Vol.66, Academic Press, NY2000.

Haidvogel, D.B., and Beckmann, A.B., Numerical Ocean Circulation Modeling, Imperial College Press, 1999.

Chassignet and Vernon J. (Ed), Ocean Modeling and Parameterization, NATO Advanced Study Institute, Kluwer Academics, 1998.

 

AS 310 (JAN) 3:0

Climate change and the global carbon cycle

 

Climate feedbacks, climate variability, greenhouse gases, carbon on earth, fossil fuels, terrestrial ecosystems, vegetation dynamics, land cover change, the perturbed global carbon cycle, climate-carbon cycle feedback.

 

Govindaswamy Bala

 

David Archer, Global warming: Understanding the forecast, Blackwell Publishing.

Gordon Bonan, Ecological climatology, Cambridge University Press.

Kevin Trenberth (Ed), Climate system modeling, Cambridge University Press.