Degrees and Program Index


Atmospheric Science

ATM 101X 4 Credits
Weather and Climate of Alaska

Focus on the Alaska atmosphere as an important part of our environment. Includes fundamental laws of physics and chemistry, the behavior of atmospheres on rotating planets, clouds, precipitation and weather systems. Includes societal impacts of weather worldwide and investigations into global climate change. (Prerequisite: High school level mathematics.) (3 + 3) Offered Spring


ATM 401 3 Credits
Introduction to Atmospheric Science

(Stacked with ATM 601 and CHEM 601)
Fundamentals of atmospheric science. Includes energy and mass conservation, internal energy and entropy, atmospheric water vapor, cloud microphysics, equations of motion, hydrostatics, phase oxidation, heterogeneous chemistry, the ozone layer, fundamentals of biogeochemical cycles, solar and terrestrial radiation and radiative-convective equilibrium. Also includes molecular, cloud and aerosol absorption and scattering. (Prerequisites: CHEM 105X, CHEM 106X, MATH 302 and PHYS 212X.) (3 + 0) Offered Fall


ATM 409 3 Credits
Atmospheric Thermodynamics

(Stacked with ATM 609)
Atmospheric thermodynamics including the fundamentals of internal energy, enthalpy and Gibb’s free energy in the atmospheric context, thermodynamic properties of ideal gases, internal equilibrium, gas and heterogenous systems, phase equilibria and nucleation of water, Clausius-Clapeyron equation, conserved variables. Includes thermodynamic diagrams: area equivalence computation of energy integrals, skew-T/log-P charts and tephigrams. Processes in the atmosphere include frost and dew points, isenthalpic processes, equivalent and wet-bulb temperatures, saturated ascent/descent, phase transition. Vertical stability: conditional and potential instability, Margule’s theorems, available potential energy, laboratory and field measurements of thermodynamic constants, solar initiated chemical processes, chemical origin of atmospheric temperature profile. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 401. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall


ATM 413 3 Credits
Atmospheric Radiation

(Stacked with ATM 613)
Atmospheric radiation including the fundamentals of blackbody radiation theory and radiative properties of atmospheric constituents. Discussion of gaseous absorption including line absorption, broadening effects and radiative transfer. Includes scattering, radiative properties of clouds and radiation climatology. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 401. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 445 3 Credits
Atmospheric Dynamics

(Stacked with ATM 645)
Examination of the fundamental forces and basic conservation laws that govern the motion of the atmosphere. Topics include momentum, continuity equations, circulation, vorticity, thermodynamics, the planetary boundary layer and synoptic scale motions in mid-latitudes. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 401.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 488 1-3 Credits
Undergraduate Research

Advanced research topics from outside the usual undergraduate requirements. (Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Recommendations: A substantial level of technical/scientific background.) Offered Fall, Spring


ATM 601 3 Credits
Introduction to Atmospheric Science

(Stacked with ATM 401 and cross-listed with CHEM 601)
Fundamentals of atmospheric science. Includes energy and mass conservation, internal energy and entropy, atmospheric water vapor, cloud microphysics, equations of motion, hydrostatics, phase oxidation, heterogeneous chemistry, the ozone layer, fundamentals of biogeochemical cycles, solar and terrestrial radiation, and radiative-convective equilibrium. Also includes molecular, cloud and aerosol absorption and scattering. (Prerequisite: Graduate standing.) (3 + 0) Offered Fall


ATM 606 3 Credits
Atmospheric Chemistry

(Stacked with CHEM 406 and cross-listed with CHEM 606)
Chemistry of the lower atmosphere (troposphere and stratosphere) including photochemistry, kinetics, thermodynamics, box modeling, biogeochemical cycles, and measurement techniques for atmospheric pollutants. Study of important impacts to the atmosphere which result from anthropogenic emissions of pollutants, including acid rain, the "greenhouse” effect, urban smog and stratospheric ozone depletion. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 601 or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 608 3 Credits
Global Chemical Cycles

(Stacked with CHEM 408 and Cross-listed with CHEM 608)
Discussion of the current understanding of global chemical cycles and the uncertainties associated with our knowledge. Examines experimental techniques used to investigate chemical cycles on a global scale. Recent scientific literature is critically reviewed to help provide an understanding of the uncertainties and difficulties involved in quantifying global scale cycles. Includes the interaction and exchange of chemicals between the atmosphere and earth’s surface (both land and ocean), chemical reservoirs and the implications for global change. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 601 or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 609 3 Credits
Atmospheric Thermodynamics

(Stacked with ATM 409)
Atmospheric thermodynamics including the fundamentals of internal energy, enthalpy and Gibb’s free energy in the atmospheric context, thermodynamic properties of ideal gases, internal equilibrium, gas and heterogenous systems, phase equilibria and nucleation of water, Clausius-Clapeyron equation, conserved variables. Includes thermodynamic diagrams: area equivalence computation of energy integrals, skew-T/log-P charts and tephigrams. Processes in the atmosphere include frost and dew points, isenthalpic processes, equivalent and wet-bulb temperatures, saturated ascent/descent, phase transition. Vertical stability: conditional and potential instability, Margule’s theorems, available potential energy, laboratory and field measurements of thermodynamic constants, solar initiated chemical processes, chemical origin of atmospheric temperature profile. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 601 and graduate standing. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall


ATM 613 3 Credits
Atmospheric Radiation

(Stacked with ATM 413)
Atmospheric radiation including the fundamentals of blackbody radiation theory and radiative properties of atmospheric constituents. Discussion of gaseous absorption including line absorption, broadening effects and radiative transfer. Includes scattering, radiative properties of clouds, and radiation climatology. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 601 and graduate standing. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 631 3 Credits
(Cross-listed with CHEM 631)
Environmental Fate and Transport

Examination of the physical properties that govern the behavior, fate and transport of contaminants released into the environment. Topics include air-water partitioning and exchange, organic solvent-water partitioning, diffusion, sorption, chemical and biological transformation reactions, and modeling concepts. (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 644 3 Credits
Synoptic Analysis and Forecasting
Weather systems and the techniques used to understand and predict their behavior. Topics include atmospheric observations, synoptic analysis techniques, satellite image interpretation, kinematics, fronts and frontogenesis, life cycles of extratropical cyclones, mesoscale phenomena, numerical weather prediction, and interpretation of forecast products. (Prerequisites: ATM 601 and 645.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall


ATM 645 3 Credits
Atmospheric Dynamics

(Stacked with ATM 445)
Examination of the fundamental forces and basic conservation laws that govern the motion of the atmosphere. Topics include momentum, continuity equations, circulation, vorticity, thermodynamics, the planetary boundary layer and synoptic scale motions in mid-latitudes. (Prerequisite/co-requisite: ATM 601 and graduate standing.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Spring


ATM 646 3 Credits
Atmospheric Dynamics II

Continuation of ATM 645. Includes geophysical fluid dynamics as applied to the atmosphere. Topics include linear perturbation theory, gravity waves, Rossby waves, numerical weather prediction, baroclinic instability, frontogenesis, general circulation, stratospheric and tropical dynamics.. (Prerequisites: ATM 645 or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall


ATM 656 3 Credits
Climate and Climate Change

The climate of planet Earth and its changes with time. Radiative fluxes, greenhouse effects, energy budget, hydrological cycle, the atmospheric composition and climatic zones. Physical and chemical reasons for climatic change. (Prerequisite: Graduate standing in physical sciences.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall


ATM 688 1 Credit
Atmospheric Science Informal Seminar

Review of ongoing research in atmospheric science to learn about research results, ideas and direction long before they are published in journals. Presentations cover the broad range of atmospheric sciences and links to other disciplines as required to answer questions on global variability, climate change and assessment studies. (Prerequisite: Graduate standing in physical sciences or permission of instructor.) (1 + 0) Offered Fall, Spring