Dynamical Meteorology 2022-2023 (NS-MO402M)

A course on the theory of the dynamics of "'weather systems"

Given by Aarnout van Delden (a.j.vandelden@uu.nl) (room 615 BBG), Michiel Baatsen (m.j.l.baatsen@uu.nl) (room 6.68), Sanne Veldhuijsen (s.b.m.veldhuijsen@uu.nl), Julia Weiffenbach (j.e.weiffenbach@uu.nl) and Amber Boot (d.boot@uu.n)

IMAU, Utrecht University

Schedule/Plan of the course: pdf.

First lecture on Wednesday, 16 November 2022, 13:15-17:00

Lectures: every Wednesday (13:15-15:00) and Friday (9:00-10:45)

Tutorials: every Wednesday (15:15-17:00) and Friday (11:00-12:45 )

Exam: on week 5 of 2022

Retake: week 16 of 2022

Grading: pdf.

(see osiris link: Dynamical Meteorology)

 

Lecture notes: the most recent version of the lecture notes: Latest Version Lecture Notes of Dynamical Meteorology

Recommended book: "An introduction to dynamical meteorology", fourth edition (2004) by J.R. Holton, Academic Press. pdf.

Students will be informed on course details via Blackboard (password needed)

 

Slides of lectures and tutorials of the course of 2021-2022 (lectures 9-15) and 2022-2023 (lectures 0-8) (answers to tutorial exercises are given on Blackboard).

Lecture 0 ... Lecture0DYME2022.pdf...introduction, schedule/plan, exam, grading

Lecture 1 ... Lecture1DYME2022.pdf...variables and basic equations

GlobalPrecipitation (slide 4 of lecture 1) : animation

Lecture 2 ... Lecture2DYME2022.pdf...potential temperature, Boussinesq approximation, buoyancy

Making a weather forecast : pdf

Lecture 3 ... Lecture3DYME2022.pdf...buoyancy oscillations and hydrostatic (in)stability, Convective Available Potential energy (CAPE), radiative equilibrium temperature

Lecture 4 ... Lecture4DYME2022.pdf...moisture in the atmosphere and its effects - 1

Lecture 5 ... Lecture5DYME2022.pdf...moisture in the atmosphere and its effects - 2; Introduction to the effect of rotation, illustrated with the Hadley circulation and the sea breeze

Lecture 6 ... Lecture6DYME2022.pdf...the influence of rotation (Coriolis-effect) illustrated with the sea breeze; introduction to geostrophic flow and its stability

Lecture 7 ... Lecture7DYME2022.pdf...stability of geostrophic balance, inertial oscillations and instability. thermal wind and jets, meridional exchange of cold and warm air masses in middle latitudes

Lecture 8 ... Lecture8DYME2022.pdf...circulation and vorticity, potential vorticity, isentropic density, the tropopause, division of the atmosphere into an Underworld, Middleworld and Overworld

Potential Vorticity at 315 K in the winter of 2006-2007 (slide 232, lecture 8) : animation

Lecture 9 ... Lecture9DYME2022.pdf...pressure and potential temperature as a vertical coordinate; Hadley-, Ferrel-circulations and isentropic meridional mass flux, cross-isentropic mass transport

Lecture 10 ... Lecture10DYME2022.pdf...mass-conservation equation and vorticity equation in flux form; meridional fluxes of mass and vorticity: mean and eddy contributions; residual circulation of mass (Brewer-Dobson circulation)

Lecture 11 ... Lecture11DYME2022.pdf...quasi-balance, quasi-geostrophic approximation, quasi-geostrophic (barotropic) vorticity equation, linear theory of planetary (Rossby) waves, baroclinic instability, baroclinic life-cycles

The subtropical jet (u) at 200 hPa and potential vorticity in January 2010 (slide 317, lecture 11) : animation

Lecture 12 ... Lecture12DYME2021.pdf...balanced circular vortex (tropical cyclone), thermal wind balance and potential vorticity inversion, Kleinschmidt's principles

Lecture 13 ... Lecture13DYME2021.pdf...different manifestations of Rossby waves (jetstreaks, potential vorticity-mixing and Sudden Stratospheric Warmings)

Simulated ideal life cycle of a baroclinic wave on a "beta-plane""/font : animation

Simulated life cycles of baroclinic waves showing upstream development (eastward group velocity exceeds eastward phase velocity) : animation

A sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in January 2009 (PV and zonal wind in the "isentropic layer" between 600-700 K) : animation

Cross section of the zonal mean state in January 2009 (see slide 392 of lecture 13), showing an SSW starting on 17 January, which is manifest as rising isobars(magenta; labeled in hPa) over the polar cap, a zonal-mean zonal wind reversal and the appearance of a negative polar cap PV anomaly : animation

Lecture 14 ... Lecture14DYME2021.pdf...accelerations/decelerations of the jet stream in relation to ageostrophic motion (jet streaks), vertical motion in relation to propagating Rossby waves, frontogenesis/frontolysis (Q-vector)

A Rossby wave in a vertical/zonal cross section: tropopause (green), meridional velocity (blue - dashed:equatorward, solid:poleward), potential vorticity anomaly and potential temperature (black) : animation

A Rossby wave in a vertical/zonal cross section: tropopause (green), vorticity (red:+/blue:-) and potential temperature (black) : animation

A Rossby wave in a vertical/zonal cross section: tropopause (green), vertical velocity (red: down/blue: up), potential vorticity anomaly and potential temperature (black) : animation

Lecture 15 ... Lecture15DYME2021.pdf...large-scale vertical motion in a hydrostatically stable atmosphere (omega-equation)

Lecture 16 ... Lecture16DYME2021.pdf...Recap before the exam and discussion/final score of the weather forecasting competition

 

Projects for 2021:

Project 1 (problem 1.6 on page 53 of the lecture notes) ... PROJECT1[DYME2021].pdf ... (Modelling the vertical displacement of a buoyant air parcel)

Project 3 (problem 1.14 on page 126 of the lecture notes) ... PROJECT3[DYME2021].pdf ... (Modelling the sea breeze at the coast)

Project 5 (problem 1.24 on page 189 of the lecture notes) ... PROJECT5[DYME2022].pdf ... (A small research project using Principle Component Analysis)

 

More animations:

Inter Tropical Convergence Zone and Atmospheric Rivers (Total Column Water): : animation

Meridional mass flux and jet-streaks in the layer between 330 and 350 K: : animation

Sudden Stratospheric Warming in a vertical/meridional cross-section of the zonal-mean state (see section 1.29 of the lecture notes) : animation