Ocean-Atmosphere Dynamics (Dartmouth)

Professor: GANGOPADHYAY, AVIJIT
PHY 655, 3 credits.
Core: Physical Oceanography
Course Webpage: n/a

This course is not currently available for registration.

Supports the following Option Areas:

Abstract:

This course covers the essential materials necessary to understand the dynamics of the ocean-atmosphere interaction that is relevant for long- and short-term climate variability. Topics include: the dynamics of the tropical Pacific in terms of shallow water equations and the predictability of such simple climate models; societal implications of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO); the study of a basin-wide Pacific ocean circulation model in comparison to available in-situ and satellite data; the basics of data assimilation techniques, such as the Optimum Interpolation (OI) and the Kalman Filter; satellite data sets, such as GEOSAT, TOPEX/POSEIDON, NSCAT, and ERS2, and their impact on climate modeling; the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO); and the linkage between different climatic events, such as the monsoon, ENSO, and NAO, in the context of global change and CLIVAR (the Climate Variability Program). During the semester, students will have an opportunity to interpret the state of the Pacific Ocean in real-time through Internet web sites.