Fabio MADONNA | PHYSICS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Fabio MADONNA PHYSICS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
cod. 0512600041
PHYSICS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
| 0512600041 | |
| DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS "E. R. CAIANIELLO" | |
| EQF6 | |
| PHYSICS | |
| 2024/2025 |
| YEAR OF COURSE 3 | |
| YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2017 | |
| SPRING SEMESTER |
| SSD | CFU | HOURS | ACTIVITY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIS/06 | 6 | 48 | LESSONS |
| Exam | Date | Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| APPELLO DI FEBBRAIO 2025 | 17/02/2025 - 10:00 | SESSIONE DI RECUPERO |
| Objectives | |
|---|---|
| OBJECTIVES: THE COURSE AIMS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES OCCURRING IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ATMOSPHERE, OCEAN, AND SOLID EARTH. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: THE COURSE AIMS TO PROVIDE DETAILED KNOWLEDGE ON THE MAIN TOPICS OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS AND THE CONCEPTUAL BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MOST IMPORTANT PROCESSES GOVERNING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE. ADDITIONALLY, IT INTRODUCES STUDENTS TO GROUND-BASED AND SATELLITE OBSERVATION TECHNIQUES OF THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE. IN ADDITION TO A GENERAL INTRODUCTION RELATED TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE, ITS MAIN CONSTITUENTS, AND BASICS OF METEOROLOGY, THE MAIN TOPICS COVERED WILL BE DIVIDED INTO FOUR MODULES: 1.ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS 2.PLANETARY RADIATIVE BALANCE 3.ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS 4.REMOTE SENSING MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES AND DATA APPLICATIONS APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO OBSERVE AND DESCRIBE THE STATE OF THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE FROM A PHYSICAL PERSPECTIVE. THEY WILL ALSO ACQUIRE DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAIN EQUATIONS UNDERLYING ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS AND THERMODYNAMICS, AS WELL AS IN SITU AND REMOTE SENSING MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES. COMMUNICATION SKILLS: THE COURSE AIMS TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO PRESENT ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE CLEARLY AND RIGOROUSLY, USING EXAMPLES AND ANALYSES OF MAPS AND TIME SERIES. STUDENTS WILL ALSO DEVELOP THE CAPACITY FOR INDEPENDENT COMPREHENSION OF TEXTS. AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT: STUDENTS WILL BE GUIDED TO CRITICALLY LEARN THE PROVIDED CONTENT AND ENHANCE THEIR JUDGMENT SKILLS, BOTH THROUGH STUDYING THE MATERIAL INDICATED BY THE INSTRUCTOR AND THROUGH INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ON SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES RELEVANT TO THE TOPICS COVERED. |
| Prerequisites | |
|---|---|
| BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS IS REQUIRED, PARTICULARLY IN THERMODYNAMICS, FLUID MECHANICS, AND ELECTROMAGNETISM. |
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| THE TEACHING CONTENT IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR MAIN MODULES. MODULE 1: THE EARTH SYSTEM AND THERMODYNAMICS OF THE ATMOSPHERE (1 CFU) COMPONENTS OF THE EARTH SYSTEM. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE. CARBON CYCLE. COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. ESSENTIAL CLIMATE VARIABLES. GENERAL BASICS OF METEOROLOGY. EVOLUTION OF CLIMATE FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT. CLASSICAL THERMODYNAMICS. FIRST AND SECOND PRINCIPLES OF THERMODYNAMICS FOR THE ATMOSPHERE. CARNOT CYCLE. HYDROSTATIC EQUATION. HYDROSTATIC EQUATION. GEOPOTENTIAL, GEOPOTENTIAL HEIGHT AND HYPSOMETRIC EQUATION. ISOBARIC MAPS. POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE. DRY ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE. VERTICAL STABILITY AND BRUNT-VAISALA FREQUENCY. STATIC STABILITY. ATMOSPHERIC LAPSE RATE. PARTIAL PRESSURE, MIXING RATIO, SPECIFIC HUMIDITY, VIRTUAL TEMPERATURE. HUMIDITY MEASUREMENT. SATURATED AIR: SATURATION MIXING RATIO, DEW TEMPERATURE, WET ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE. LIFTING CONDENSATION LEVEL. EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE. THERMODYNAMIC DIAGRAMS. USE OF DIAGRAMS TO STUDY ATMOSPHERIC ADIABATIC PROCESSES, STATIC STABILITY, TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS.TOTAL POTENTIAL ENERGY AND KINETIC ENERGY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. WAVE PHENOMENA. CLAUSIUS-CLAPEYRON EQUATION. MODULE 2: RADIATIVE TRANSFER (2 CFU). ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES. RADIATIVE VARIABLES: RADIANCE, IRRADIANCE, FLUX. BLACK BODY: LAWS OF PLANK, STEFAN-BOLTZMANN, WIEN, KIRCHHOFF. SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL EMISSION. RADIATIVE BALANCE. GREENHOUSE EFFECT: SINGLE AND DOUBLE LAYER MODEL. ABSORPTION AND EMISSION OF RADIATION: ABSORPTION CROSS SECTIONS. ELASTIC SCATTERING: RAYLEIGH AND MIE THEORY, SCATTERING CROSS SECTION, PHASE FUNCTION. GENERAL EQUATION OF RADIATIVE TRANSFER. APPROXIMATIONS: BEER-LAMBERT AND SCHWARZCHILD LAWS, PLANE-PARALLEL ATMOSPHERE. OPTICAL THICKNESS. ABSORPTION, EMISSION, AND SCATTERING COEFFICIENTS, ALBEDO OF SINGLE SCATTERING. ACTINIC FLUX. OZONE CHEMICAL CYCLES. HINTS AT CLOUD PROPERTIES. AEROSOL-CLOUD INTERACTIONS. FORMATION OF HOT AND COLD CLOUDS. KOELER'S THEORY. CONDENSATION NUCLEI. MODULE 3: ELEMENTS OF DYNAMICS (2 CFU) LAGRANGIAN AND EULERIAN APPROACH. FLOW LINES AND TRAJECTORIES. KINEMATIC VARIABLES: SHEAR, CURVATURE, DIVERGENCE, VORTICITY, DEFORMATION. MASS CONSERVATION. CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM: GRAVITY FORCE, PRESSURE GRADIENT FORCE, VISCOUS FORCE. CONSERVATION OF THERMODYNAMIC ENERGY. EQUATION OF STATE. PRIMITIVE EQUATIONS IN LAGRANGIAN AND EULERIAN FORM: ADVECTIVE TERMS. ROTATING REFERENCE SYSTEM: CORIOLIS FORCE, CENTRIFUGAL FORCE. GEOCENTRIC SYSTEM: CURVATURE TERMS. WEATHER FORECASTING, DATA ASSIMILATION PROBLEM. SCALE ANALYSIS. APPROXIMATION AND GEOSTROPHIC WIND. ISOBARIC COORDINATES: GEOSTROPHIC WIND AND VERTICAL VELOCITY. BALANCED FLOW: INERTIAL FLOW, GRADIENT WIND. FRICTION WITH THE SURFACE. ECKMAN SPIRAL. PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER. TURBULENT FLOWS. BAROTROPIC AND BAROCLINE ATMOSPHERE. THERMAL WIND EQUATION. FORMATION OF JET STREAMS. TEMPERATURE ADVECTION. THE DYNAMIC VORTICITY EQUATION. THE POTENTIAL VORTICITY. LAW OF CONSERVATION OF POTENTIAL VORTICITY. VERTICAL COMPONENT EQUATION OF VORTICITY AND SCALING ANALYSIS. MODULE 4: MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES AND DATA APPLICATIONS (1 CFU) THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASIS OF REMOTE SENSING OF THE ATMOSPHERE FROM GROUND AND SATELLITE. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES. OPTICAL SENSORS. SENSORS IN MICROWAVES. POLAR AND GOSTATIONARY SATELLITES. GNSS AND RADIO-OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS. IN SITU MEASUREMENTS. CLIMATE MODELS AND ATMOSPHERIC REANALYSIS. ESSENTIAL CLIMATE VARIABLES. TIME SERIES AND TREND ANALYSIS. APPLICATIONS TO REAL AND SIMULATED DATA. |
| Teaching Methods | |
|---|---|
| 48 HOURS, FRONTAL LECTURES (6 CFU) |
| Verification of learning | |
|---|---|
| THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE COURSE OBJECTIVES WILL BE CERTIFIED BY AN ORAL FINAL EXAMINATION WITH A GRADE IN THIRTIETHS. THE EVALUATION, IN THIRTIETHS, WILL TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE QUALITY OF THE ENTIRE EXAMINATION AND OVERALL INVOLVEMENT IN THE COURSE ACTIVITIES. THE EXAMINATION WILL FOCUS ON THE DISCUSSION OF A REPORT WITHIN WHICH EACH STUDENT WILL BRIEFLY DISCUSS AN APPROACH USED TO ANSWER A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION OF INTEREST, BASED ON THE USE OF DATA, SIMULATIONS, AND/OR THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS. THE REPORT'S DISCUSSION WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED BY SOME QUESTIONS TO TEST STUDENTS' PREPARATION FOR ALL COURSE MODULES. NO COURSEWORK IS SCHEDULED. |
| Texts | |
|---|---|
| THE LISTED BOOKS HAVE BEEN SELECTED AMONG THE AVAILABLE OPTIONS BECAUSE THEY CAN COVER ALL THE CONTENTS OF THE COURSE. HOWEVER, THE PROFESSOR WILL ALSO PROVIDE LECTURE NOTES TO FACILITATE THE STUDENTS' LEARNING PROCESS. |
| More Information | |
|---|---|
| MAIL TO: EMAIL: FMADONNA@UNISA.IT |
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