Lecture outlines for GCC Summer School

Dr. Glen Lesins
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science
Dalhousie University

Atmospheric radiation

• Radiative forcing of the climate system (very general and introductory)
• Solar radiation
• Terrestrial radiation
• Radiative budget and balance
• Satellite observations of the Earth system
• Solar radiation and photochemistry
• Solar variability and climate change
• Remote sensing of clouds, aerosols and gases
• Radiative effects of greenhouse gases

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Dr. David Plummer
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
York University

Tropospheric ozone chemistry

• Solar radiation in the troposphere
  • cutoff at ~300 nm and importance for chemistry
  • difference between tropospheric and stratospheric ozone chemistry
• Methane oxidation cycle
  • photochemical production of ozone
  • role of NOx in controlling production/destruction
• Nitrogen species
  • sources of NOx, lifetime and fate
  • chemistry of HNO3, PAN
• Global ozone
  • distribution, seasonal cycle, budget
  • increase vs. pre-industrial and possible future perturbations
• Oxidizing capacity of the troposphere

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Prof. Ulrike Lohmann
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science
Dalhousie University

Clouds and aerosols

• Formation of warm clouds (Koehler theory)
• Formation of ice clouds (homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing)
• Cloud microphysics (precipitation formation via the liquid and ice phase)
• Aerosol indirect effect (on water and ice clouds)

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Prof. Parisa Ariya
Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
McGill University

Organic compounds in the troposphere

• Sources and sinks of organic compounds in the atmosphere
• Major chemical transformations of organics in the atmosphere
• Similarities and differences of organic oxidation in urban and suburban areas
• Impact on ozone formation and aerosol production

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Dr. Knut von Salzen
CCCma, MSC Victoria

The global water cycle

• The atmospheric energy cycle
• Nature of the global water cycles
• The terrestrial water balance
• Atmospheric water vapour transport and storage
• Aspects of evaporation
• Role of clouds in the global water cycle
• Tropical cloud systems
• Rainwater and atmospheric chemistry
• Climate change and the atmospheric water cycle

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Prof. Ian Folkins
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science
Dalhousie University

Tropical dynamics

• Vertical structure of the tropical troposphere
• Radiative and evaporative cooling as a function of height
• Transport and mixing in convection
• The tropical tropopause layer
• Determination of trace gas species profiles, mainly ozone and water vapor
• Partitioning of the tropical oceans into weakly and actively convecting regimes
• Coupling between tropical convection and atmospheric waves

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Dr. John Scinocca
CCCma, MSC Victoria

Extratropical dynamics

• The concept of balanced motion
• The extratropical tropopuase
• Mixing and transport

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Dr. Norm McFarlane
CCCma, MSC Victoria

How to build a GCM General Considerations - Purpose : (a)What will the model be used for? (b) Will it be coupled to other models modules (e.g. ocean, sea ice, hydrological, chemical)? (c) What will be the typical domain? (e.g. global, regional, mainly tropospheric, stratosphere and troposphere)

• Is a GCM the most useful type of model for the proposed project(s)?
• Are there existing GCMs that are suitable?
• What computing resources are available?

2. The dynamical core

• Basic equations
• Discretization methods
• Numerical/computational considerations

3. Physical processes, Parameterization

• What processes will be resolved?
• Which unresolved processes must be parameterized?
• What parameterization approaches are most appropriate? ("good" and "not so good" parameterizations).
• balancing of computational costs.

4. Evaluation of performance

• Global constraints (balances and budgets)
• Temporal and spatial variability
• Climate simulations vs environmental prediction

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Prof. Jon Abbatt
Department of Chemistry
University of Toronto

Aerosols and heterogeneous chemistry

• Aerosols: classification, primary sources, in situ formation, phase, composition, radiative properties
• Heterogeneous chemistry: examples of reactions, definitions of uptake coefficient, mass accommodation, etc., liquid vs surface chemistry, development of parametrizations that can be incorporated into a photochemical model

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Prof. Diane Michelangeli
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
York University

Heterogeneous reactions in the stratosphere

• Stratospheric ozone chemistry
• Stratospheric volcanic aerosols
• Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs): definition, formation, chemistry, and impact on the ozone hole

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Prof. Ted Shepherd
Department of Physics
University of Toronto

Stratospheric dynamics, ozone and climate

• Planetary waves, planetary wave drag, and the diabatic circulation
• Dynamics of the polar vortices
• The Brewer-Dobson circulation
• Ozone variability
• Understanding long-term ozone changes
• Climate change in the stratosphere