PHY392, 2014

Physics of Climate

• Aids allowed in final exam: a non-programmable calculator and one handwritten 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.

• Here is the sheet of possibly useful constants and equations that will be provided.

• The term test will be on Wednesday Feb 26th at 1:10 pm. The only allowed exam aid will be a calculator.

• The test will be in MP102, not in MP408.
  

• PHY392 has been assigned drop box 36 for homework assignments.
  

• Introduction
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 1

• Thermodynamics and vertical structure of the atmosphere
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 2 (excluding 2.4 and 2.7.3)
• Wallace and Hobbs: Chapters 3.1, 3.3, 3.4 (excluding 3.4.4), 3.5 (excluding 3.5.5 - 3.5.7), and 3.6.3
  
• Marshall and Plumb: Chapters 3 and 4 (excluding 4.4.1 and 4.6)
  

• Global energy balance
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 3.1 - 3.3, and 3.6
  
• Wallace and Hobbs: Chapters 4.3.3 - 4.3.6
  
• Marshall and Plumb: Chapter 2
  

• Climate sensitivity
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 3.4
• Wallace and Hobbs: Chapters 10.3 - 10.5

• Radiative transfer and models of radiation balance
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 4.1, 4.2, 4.3.1, 4.4.1, and 4.4.2
  
• Wallace and Hobbs: Chapter 4 (excluding 4.4.1)
  

• Variation of temperature with season and latitude
• Pierrehumbert: Chapter 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4.1, and 7.6
  
• Wallace and Hobbs: Chapters 10.1 and 10.2.3
• Marshall and Plumb: Chapters 5.1 and 12.3

• New York Times article on the Colorado River drought.

• Washington Post article on the polar vortex.
  

• Fourier, General Remarks on the Temperatrue of the Terrestrial Globe and the Planetary Space, 1827.

• Arrhenius, On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air Upon the Temperature of the Globe, 1896.

• Callendar, The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and its Influence on Temperature, 1938.

• Lindzen et al., Does the Earth Have an Adaptive Infrared Iris?, 2001.

• Fu et al., Tropical Cirrus and Water Vapor: An effective Earth Infrared Iris Feedback?, 2002.

• Sherwood et al., Spread in Model Climate Sensitivity Traced to Atmospheric Convective Mixing, 2014.

• Pistone et al., Observational Determination of Albedo Decrease Caused by Vanishing Arctic Sea Ice, 2014.

• Roe and Baker, Why is Climate Sensitivity So Unpredictable, 2007.

• Budyko, The effect of solar radiation variations on the climate of the Earth, 1969.

• Problem Set 1; Due January 29th
• Solutions

• Problem Set 2; Due February 14th
• Solutions


• Problem Set 3; Due March 21st
• Solutions


• Problem Set 4; Due April 4th
• BudykoEnergyBalanceModel.py
• calc_solar_insolation.py
• solar_insolation_data
• Solutions

• Term test 2014

• Solutions to 2014 term test
  

• Term test 2013
  

• Solutions to 2013 term test
  

• Lecture 1 - Monday, January 6

• Lecture 2 - Wednesday, January 8

• Lectures 3 and 4 - Monday and Wednesday, January 13 and 15

• Lecture 5 - Monday, January 20

• Lecture 6 - Wednesday, January 22

• Lecture 7 - Monday, January 27

• No Lecture - Wednesday, January 29

• Lectures 8 and 9 - Monday and Wednesday, February 3 and 5

• Lectures 10 - Monday, February 10

• Lectures 11 - Wednesday, February 12

• Lecture 12 - Wednesday February 24, midterm review

• Lectures 13 and 14 - Monday and Wednesday, March 3 and 5

• Lectures 15 and 16 - Monday and Wednesday, March 10 and 12

• Lectures 17 and 18 - Monday and Wednesday, March 17 and 19

• Lecture 19 - Monday, March 24: no slides

• Lecture 20 - Wednesday, March 26

• Lecture 21 - Monday, March 31
  

• Lecture 22 - Wednesday, April 2