Applied Atmospheric Dynamics

Dr Amanda Lynch and Dr John Cassano, CIRES, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.

PART I: ANATOMY OF A CYCLONE. CHAPTER 1 ANATOMY OF A CYCLONE. 1.1 A "TYPICAL" EXTRA-TROPICAL CYCLONE. 1.2 DESCRIBING THE ATMOSPHERE. 1.3 AIR MASSES AND FRONTS. 1.4 THE STRUCTURE OF A TYPICAL EXTRA-TROPICAL CYCLONE. 1.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 2 MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN FLUID DYNAMICS. 2.1 SCALARS AND VECTORS. 2.2 THE ALGEBRA OF VECTORS. 2.3 SCALAR AND VECTOR FIELDS. 2.4 COORDINATE SYSTEMS ON THE EARTH. 2.5 GRADIENTS OF VECTORS. 2.6 LINE AND SURFACE INTEGRALS. 2.7 EULERIAN AND LAGRANGIAN FRAMES OF REFERENCE. 2.8 ADVECTION. 2.9 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 3 PROPERTIES OF FLUIDS. 3.1 SOLIDS, LIQUIDS AND GASES. 3.2 THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF AIR. 3.3 COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 3.4 STATIC STABILITY. 3.5 THE CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS. 3.6 PRACTICAL ASSUMPTIONS. 3.7 CONTINUITY EQUATION. 3.8 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 4 FUNDAMENTAL FORCES. 4.1 NEWTON'S SECOND LAW: F=MA. 4.2 BODY, SURFACE AND LINE FORCES. 4.3 FORCES IN AN INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME. 4.4 FORCES IN A ROTATING REFERENCE FRAME. 4.5 THE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATION. 4.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 5 SCALE ANALYSIS. 5.1 DIMENSIONAL HOMOGENEITY. 5.2 SCALES. 5.3 NON-DIMENSIONAL PARAMETERS. 5.4 SCALE ANALYSIS. 5.5 THE GEOSTROPHIC APPROXIMATION. 5.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 6 SIMPLE STEADY MOTION. 6.1 NATURAL COORDINATE SYSTEM. 6.2 BALANCED FLOW. 6.3 THE BOUSSINESQ APPROXIMATION. 6.4 THE THERMAL WIND. 6.5 DEPARTURES FROM BALANCE. 6.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 7 CIRCULATION AND VORTICITY. 7.1 CIRCULATION. 7.2 VORTICITY. 7.3 CONSERVATION OF POTENTIAL VORTICITY. 7.4 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE VORTICITY EQUATION. 7.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 8 SIMPLE WAVE MOTIONS. 8.1 PROPERTIES OF WAVES. 8.2 PERTURBATION ANALYSIS. 8.3 PLANETARY WAVES. 8.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 9 EXTRA-TROPICAL WEATHER SYSTEMS. 9.1 FRONTS. 9.2 FRONTAL CYCLONES. 9.3 BAROCLINIC INSTABILITY. 9.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS. PART II: ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. CHAPTER 10 BOUNDARY LAYERS. 10.1 TURBULENCE. 10.2 REYNOLDS DECOMPOSITION. 10.3 GENERATION OF TURBULENCE. 10.4 CLOSURE ASSUMPTIONS. 10.5 PROBLEM SET. CHAPTER 11 CLOUDS AND SEVERE WEATHER. 11.1 MOIST PROCESSES IN THE ATMOSPHERE. 11.2 AIR MASS THUNDERSTORMS. 11.3 MULTI-CELL THUNDERSTORMS. 11.4 SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES. 11.5 MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS. 11.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 12 TROPICAL WEATHER. 12.1 SCALES OF MOTION. 12.2 ATMOSPHERIC OSCILLATIONS. 12.3 TROPICAL CYCLONES. 12.4 PROBLEM SET. CHAPTER 13 MOUNTAIN WEATHER. 13.1 INTERNAL GRAVITY WAVES. 13.2 FLOW OVER MOUNTAINS 13.3 DOWNSLOPE WINDSTORMS. 13.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 14 POLAR WEATHER. 14.1 KATABATIC WINDS. 14.2 BARRIER WINDS. 14.3 POLAR LOWS. 14.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS. CHAPTER 15 EPILOGUE: THE GENERAL CIRCULATION. 15.1 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT. 15.2 RADIATIVE-CONVECTIVE EQUILIBRIUM. 15.3 THE ZONAL MEAN CIRCULATION. 15.4 THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM BUDGET. 15.5 THE ENERGY CYCLE. APPENDIX 1: SYMBOLS. APPENDIX 2: CONST.