Classes in AOSC
| AOSC123 | Causes and Implications of Global Change (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Also offered as GEOG123, and GEOL123. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AOSC123, GEOG123, GEOL123, or METO123. Formerly METO 123. This course offers a unique experience in integrating physical, chemical, geological and biological sciences with geographical, economic, sociological and political knowledge skills toward a better understanding of global change. Review of environmental science relating to weather and climate change, acid precipitation, ozone holes, global warming and impacts on biology, agriculture and human behavior. Study of the natural, long-term variability of the global environment, and what influence mankind may have in perturbing it from its natural evolution. Concepts of how physical, biological and human behavioral systems interact, and the repercussions which may follow from human endeavors. The manner in which to approach decision and policy making related to issues of global change. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC200 | Weather and Climate (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisites: MATH110 or MATH115. Recommended as a corequisite: AOSC201/METO201. Formerly METO 200. Broad survey of the state of knowledge and problems of atmospheric science. Origin and structure of the atmosphere, meteorological observations, weather maps, forecasting, satellites, energetics, wind, general circulation, storms, severe weather, climate change, air pollution. CORE Physical Science Lab (PL) course only when taken concurrently with METO 201. A Marquee Science and Technology Course designed for Non-Science Majors: http://www.marqueecourses.umd.edu/* Click here for more Marquee course information. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC201 | Weather and Climate Laboratory (1 credits) | ||||||||||
| Corequisite: AOSC200/METO200. Formerly METO 201. Laboratory exercises to supplement AOSC200, including weather observations, weather map analysis, use of the Internet, forecasting practice and climate modeling. CORE Physical Science Lab (PL) course only when taken concurrently with METO 200. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC401 | Global Environment (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: AOSC400/METO400. Formerly METO 401. The global weather and climate system; the natural variability of the atmosphere-ocean-biosphere. Potential human effects: greenhouse effects, deforestation, acid rain, ozone depletion, nuclear winter. Social, political and economic effects of changes in global environment. Policy options. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC432 | Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers II (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: AOSC431/METO431. Corequisite: MATH246. 3 semester hours. Formerly METO 432. The general character of the atmosphere and its weather and climate systems, phenomena and distributions of variables (winds, temperature, pressure and moisture). The formal framework of the science; the application of basic classical physics, chemistry, mathematics and computational sciences to the atmosphere. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC434 | Air Pollution (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisites: {CHEM113 and MATH241} or permission of department. Formerly METO 434. Production, transformation, transport and removal of air pollutants. The problems of photochemical smog, the greenhouse effect, stratospheric ozone, acid rain and visibility. Analytical techniques for gases and particles. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC611 | Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans II (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: METO 610. Formerly METO 611. Waves and instabilities in the atmosphere and the ocean. Gravity, Rossby, coastal and equatorial waves. Flow over topography. Dynamic instabilities including barotropic, baroclinic, inertial, and instabilities of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Stationary waves and multiple equilibria. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC615 | Advanced Methods in Data Assimilation for the Earth Sciences (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: METO 614 or permission of instructor. An overview of the most important methods of data assimilation. Theory, techniques and strategies of these methods, as well as their possible drawbacks. Hands-on experimentation with variational and other data assimilation systems. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC617 | Atmospheric and Oceanic Climate (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: METO 610 or approval of instructor. Formerly METO 617. The general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, historical perspective, observations, and conceptual models; wind-driven and thermohaline circulation of the oceans. Seasonal cycle and monsoon circulations; interannual to interdecadal climate variability; climate change. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC630 | Statistical Methods in Meteorology and Oceanography (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisite: STAT 400 or equivalent introductory statistics course. Formerly METO 630. Parametric and non-parametric tests; time series analysis and filtering; wavelets. Multiple regression and screening; neural networks. Empirical orthogonal functions and teleconnections. Statistical weather and climate prediction, including MOS, constructed analogs. Ensemble forecasting and verification. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC637 | Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Prerequisites: CHEM 481 or METO 620. Also offered as CHEM 637. Formerly METO 637. Application of the techniques of thermodynamics, kinetics, spectroscopy and photochemistry to atmospheric gases and particles. Investigation of the global cycles of C, H, O, N, and S species; the use of laboratory and field measurements in computer models of the atmosphere. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC658R | Special Topics in Meteorology:Air Pollution (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| Also offered as CHEM678A. | |||||||||||
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| AOSC675 | Carbon Cycle and Climate: Past, Present, and Future (3 credits) | ||||||||||
| The fundamentals of the Earth's carbon cycle, a key biogeochemical cycle that controls Earth's climate and life. The changing characteristics of the carbon cycle on several timescales, ranging from geological, interannual, and the more recent anthropogenic influences on carbon cycle and climate. The carbon cycle in the atmosphere, land, ocean, and the biosphere. The underlying human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation that are responsible for the increase in the atmosphere CO2 and our future options in dealing with the carbon problem such as alternative energy and carbon sequestration. | |||||||||||
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