| CODE | GSC2341 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Atmospheric Processes | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Geosciences | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Understanding of geophysical processes requires thorough knowledge of the relevant science, notably atmospheric physics and chemistry. The study-unit will provide grounding in relevant aspects of atmospheric physical and chemical processes. The main topics (and sub-topics) to be covered in the study-unit are the following: (1) Introduction: - description of the study-unit content; - basics, scales, interactions, stability and feedbacks. (2) Atmospheric Energy Budget: - blackbody, solar and Earth’s radiation; - Planck's curve, Planck's law, Stefan-Boltzmann law and Wein-Displacement law (no derivations); - fate of radiation as an expression of the law of conservation of energy; - the effect of the Earth's atmosphere on the solar radiation spectrum; - atmospheric optical depth; - Earth system energy balance and the greenhouse effect; - vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere (stratification); - concept of seasons, equinoxes, solstices and the solar constant. (3) Aerosols: - aerosol characteristics (types; sizes; density (or concentration) distributions for aerosols in terms of number, surface area and volume); - aerosol sources (at least five major sources will be discussed), sinks (dry and wet deposition; gravitational settling; coagulation) and effects (human health and environmental effects e.g. visibility). (4) Atmospheric Dynamics - atmospheric stability (including derivation of the adiabatic lapse rate; variation in the ambient temperature lapse rate and its effect on pollution dispersion; temperature inversions; stability classes); - laws of motion (detailed discussion of the various (real and pseudo) forces that come into play in atmospheric motion; Ekman spiral); - local wind systems (land breeze; sea breeze; valley winds; urban heat island effect; regional winds on the urban canopy); - general circulation (Polar Hadley cells; jet stream; Tropical Hadley cells; inter-tropical convergence zones; trade winds); - ventilation, stagnation, inversions (revisited) and air pollution case histories; - wind velocity and turbulence. Study-unit Aims: The main objective of the study-unit is to introduce and give grounding in atmospheric physical and chemical processes. Consequently, the aims of the study-unit are the following: - introduce the students to radiation and its laws, and apply the latter to the Sun-Earth system; - convey a discussion (excluding derivations) of Planck's curve, Planck's law, Stefan-Boltzmann law and Wein-Displacement law; - discuss the law of conservation of energy in the context of radiation energy; - discuss how the incoming solar radiation spectrum is modified by the Earth's atmosphere; - introduction to the concept of optical depth and its application in atmospheric physics; - provide a qualitative discussion of the Earth's energy budget, and its implications e.g. global warming, greenhouse effect; - discuss the atmospheric vertical temperature profile and the associated stratification; - discuss the arising of seasons, equinoxes, solstices and the solar constant; - introduce and familiarize the students with atmospheric aerosols (characteristics, sources, sinks and their effects); - provide a broad discussion of atmospheric dynamics from two perspectives, namely weather formation and air quality (the necessary and relevant mathematical expositions will be included). Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - recall and apply the relevant science in understanding atmospheric physical and chemical processes; - demonstrate knowledge of radiation and its laws, the global energy budget and its implications, atmospheric aerosols and atmospheric dynamics, with emphasis on weather formation and air quality; - solve problems related to atmospheric physical and chemical processes, especially those pertaining to air quality and weather formation. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - demonstrate knowledge of science relevant to atmospheric physical and chemical processes; - appreciate how one area of science can contribute to the understanding of another; - have sufficient theoretical understanding to solve problems of relevance in the geosciences; - appreciate the importance of specific mathematical tools in solving problems in the geosciences. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Textbooks: - R B Stull. Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers. Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning (latest edition) - T E Graedel and P J Crutzen. Atmospheric Change: An Earth System Perspective. W H Freeman and Company (latest edition) Course Notes: - The course convenor (Alfred Micallef) will provide the students with a comprehensive set of course notes. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: Qualifications necessary for admission to the Bachelor of Science Joint Honours Degree in Geosciences and another area of study e.g. Physics, Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research. Pre-Requisite Study-Unit: GSC1300 |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Alfred Micallef |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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