PGEOG 130 - Spring 2006

Weather and Climate

 

 

Instructor:                     Haydee Salmun

Email:                           wcsalmun@geo.hunter.cuny.edu

Phone                           (212) 772-5224

Office hours:                 Tuesday and Friday, 12:30 to 1:30 pm, or by appointment.
Room 1041 Hunter North. 

 

Please note: the best way to contact me is via email AND at the above address ONLY.

 

Course Prerequisite: It is assumed that all students taking this class have taken and passed the New York State Regents Earth Science exam or have the equivalent background.

 

Course Description: This course will describe the basic principles and elements that shape and determine our weather and the earth's climate.  The course will begin with a discussion of the Earth System, with particular emphasis on the atmosphere.  Next, we will discuss the energy that drives all we observe in the atmosphere.  The first part of the course will concentrate on describing in some detail the elements that are common to weather and climate: temperature, pressure, moisture, clouds and winds. The second part of the course will, then, concentrate on how all those elements, working together or by combinations, determine the general circulation patterns in the atmosphere and oceans, as well as our weather patterns. Finally, we concentrate on air pollution and the changing climate and in this context; we will discuss some current issues, such as the potential impact that human have on climate and climate change.  

Keep in mind: This is a science-base course and it will require that students learn to understand physical, and some quantitative, concepts.  It requires that students keep in mind that ‘everything relates to everything else’ and that information need to be analyzed and synthesized, not simply memorized.  One of your best friends in this course is the textbook.  Review questions at the end of each chapter in the assigned textbook are the best guide to study the material covered in lectures.  But memorizing the answers to these questions alone may not be enough to answer all questions in exams correctly.  If you have difficulties with the approach or material in this course, do not wait till the end of the term to discuss them with your professors and instructors!!

 

*** PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES/PAGERS DURING CLASS ***

 

Also:

  • Makeup exams will NOT be given except in the most extreme cases.
  • It is your responsibility to make it to exams ON TIME.  Dates and times are clearly written below in the syllabus; make a note of them in your calendars TODAY!
  • There is a web page for this course:   http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/~hsalmun/   then 'click' on courses  
  • You are advised (expected !!) to check this web page regularly for updated information and current announcements pertinent to course lectures, labs, exams, general questions and such.  

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism, dishonesty, or cheating in any portion of the work required for this course will be punished to the full extent allowed according to Hunter College regulations.

Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.

See the following report by the Hunter College Senate for more details:
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/senate/assets/Documents/Hunter%20College%20Policy%20on%20Academic%20Integrity.pdf

 

                    *** NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES WILL BE ALLOWED ON TOP OF DESKS DURING EXAMS ****

 

This is: Cell Phones, Programmable Calculators, PDAs, Walkmen (or any such electronic device) and/or ear phones of any kind MUST be stored away during all exams.

 

 

 

 

PGEOG 130 - Weather and Climate - Syllabus

 

Lecture hours/location:  Tuesday, Friday  2:10 - 3:25 pm   -   Hunter West, Room 615

 

Lab hours/location:       Each student MUST be registered for one of the lab sections.  Lab sections are held in Room 1028 Hunter North (except for occasional labs in the computer room, to be announced)

 

Required text:               Students are required to obtain the following texts prior to the first lecture, available at Shakespeare & Co. and at the Hunter book store:

The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology, 9th edition, Lutgens and Tarbuck, 2003, Prentice Hall.  

Lab Manual: Hunter College Department of Geography Weather and Climate (PGEOG 130) Lab Manual 2005/2006, Pearson / Prentice Hall Custom Publishing.

 

All students are required to have their lab manuals with them for all lab sessions.

 

Recommended but

not required:                 Goode’s World Atlas, 19th edition or later

 

 

Grades are based on:

                                   

2 midterm exams                      40% (20% each)               

      1 final exam                              30%                 

      Laboratory exercises                30%                

      5 map quizzes (in lab)               EXTRA CREDIT: up to extra 5 points my be obtained from these quizzes.

 

 

Grading is as follows: 90-100=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; <60=F.

 

 

NOTE:  

Exams can include material from text, from lectures, and from labs.  Lecture material can include things not covered in the text, and text may include things not covered in lecture!

Cheating in any portion of the work required for this course will be punished to the full extent allowed according to Hunter College regulations.

 

Laboratory work

 

Attendance at lab is absolutely REQUIRED.

 

Your lab instructor will specify requirements for lab work.  Lab instructors have a great deal of autonomy, and therefore each lab may have slightly different requirements.

 

 

Tentative Lecture Schedule, Spring 2006, PGEOG130, Weather and Climate

 

Month

Date

Day

Lecture #

Subject

Required Reading

 January

27

Friday

1

Introductory Lecture

The Earth, The Atmosphere

Chapter 1

 

 

31

Tuesday

2

The Atmosphere

 Ch. 1

February

3

Friday

3

The Atmosphere

 Ch. 1

 

7

Tuesday

4

Heating, Energy, Seasons

 Chapter 2 

 

10

Friday

5

Heating, Energy, Seasons

 Ch. 2

 

14

Tuesday

6

Temperature 

 Chapter 3

 

17

Friday

7

Temperature 

 Chapter 3

 

21

Tuesday

 

No Class - Monday Schedule

 

 

24

Friday

8

Temperature

Ch.

 

28

Tuesday

9

Mid-Term Exam I: includes everything up to and including Ch. 3 and week 3 of lab work

Come to classroom on time!

 March

3

Friday

10

Moisture and Stability

 Chapter 4

 

7

Tuesday

11

Moisture and Stability

 Ch. 4

 

10

Friday

12

Condensation and Precipitation

 Chapter 5

 

14

Tuesday

13

Condensation and Precipitation

 Ch. 5

 

17

Friday

14

Air pressure and winds

 Chapter 6

 

21

Tuesday

15

Air pressure and winds

 Ch. 6

 

24

Friday

16

Air pressure and winds

 Ch. 6 -

 

28

Tuesday

17

General Circulation of the atmosphere

 Chapter 7

 

31

Friday

18

Mid-Term Exam II: includes everything up to and including Ch. 6 and week 8 of lab work

Come to classroom on time!

April

4

Tuesday

19

General Circulation

 Ch. 7

 

7

Friday

20

General Circulation

 Ch. 7

  

11

Tuesday

21

Air Masses

 Chapter 8

 

14

Friday

 

No Class – Spring Recess

 

 

18

Tuesday

 

No Class – Spring Recess

 Ch. 9

 

21

Friday

 

No Class – Spring Recess

 

 

25

Tuesday

22

Weather Patterns

 Chapter 9

  

28

Friday

23

Weather Patterns

 Ch.

 May

2

Tuesday

24

Air Pollution

 Chapter 13

 

5

Friday

25

Air Pollution

 Ch. 13

 

9

Tuesday

26

Climate Change

 Chapter 14

 

12

Friday

27

Climate Change

 Ch.14

 

16

Tuesday

28

Review for Final Exam

 

Come prepared to ask questions!

May

23

Tuesday

 

Final Exam: 11:30 - 1:30

Includes all chapters covered in lectures and labs since the last midterm

 


   

Lab Schedule, Spring 2006, PGEOG130, Weather and Climate

Lab exercises will be reviewed during lab session, and will then be completed at home and handed in the following week.

Wk #

MON

TUES

WED

THU

FRI

 

LAB (numbers listed in lab manual)

1

Jan 30

Jan 31

Feb 1

Jan 26

Jan 27

1. Map Exercises (2 weeks)

 

Exercise 1: lat/lon,
problems part 1 #1,2; part 2 #1

Appendix: Question 5, general geography,
WORLD MAP: identify continents and oceans only (mountain ranges, deserts, and ocean currents are not required)

2

Feb 6

Feb 7

Feb 8

Feb 2

Feb 3

2. Time
problems part 1 #1-4, part 2 #1a

3. Isolines,
do all of parts 1 and 2 

3

Feb 21

(Tu, Mo Schedule)

Feb 14

Feb 15

Feb 9

Feb 10

4. Vertical Structure of Atmosphere
(1 week)
entire exercise

4

Feb 27

Feb 28

Feb 22

Feb 16

Feb 17

5. Earth-Sun Geometry
(1 week)
link to sin curve information
up to question 13

5

March 6

March 7

March 1

Feb 23

Feb 24

7. Surface Energy Budget
(1 week)
up to question 13
DEMO - albedo / emissivity

6

March 13

March 14

March 8

March 2

March 3

6. Atmospheric Moisture
(2 weeks)
questions 10-23
map quiz 1 (Australia / S. Pacific)

7

March 20

March 21

March 15

March 9

March 10

(Atmospheric Moisture continued)
map quiz 2 (The Americas)

8

March 27

March 28

March 22

March 16

March 17

8. Saturation / Stability
(2 weeks)
questions 1- 16, 18-21
DEMO - condensation / cloud formation

9

April 3

April 4

March 29

March 23

March 24

(Saturation / Stability continued)
DEMO - relative humidty / sling psychrometers

10

April 24

April 11

April 5

March 30

March 31

9. Weather Map Analysis
(1 week)
questions 1-3, 5-7
Map quiz 3 (Europe)

11

April 21

April 25

April 26

April 6

April 7

10. Mid-latitude Cyclones
(2 weeks)
up to question 17
map quiz 4 (Africa)

12

May 1

May 2

May 3

April 27

April 28

(mid latitude cyclones continued)
map quiz 5 (Asia)

13

May 8

May 9

May 10

May 4

May 5

climate / climate change web based exercises
(not in lab manual, available on class web site) 
(2 weeks)

14

May 15

May 16

May 17

May 11

May 12

(climate / climate change cont’d)

 

 

Map quiz place-name list

 
 

North America

Asia

Mojave Desert

Sea of Okhotsk

Great Basin

Arctic Ocean

The Great Plains

Pacific Ocean

Arctic Ocean

Sea of Japan

Gulf of Mexico

Siberia

Atlantic Ocean

Tian Shan Mountains

Pacific Ocean

Takla Makan Desert

Gulf of Alaska

Gobi Desert

Hudson Bay

Tibetan Plateau

Lake Huron

Bay of Bengal

Lake Superior

Arabian Sea

Lake Erie

Korean Peninsula

Lake Michigan

Himalaya Mountains

Lake Ontario

Malaysian Peninsula

Colorado River

Brahmaputra River

Mississippi River

Ganges River

Colombia River

Indus River

Ohio River

Indian Ocean

St. Lawrence River

Persian Gulf

Mackenzie River

Red Sea

Bering Strait

Tigres River

Appalachian Mountains

Euphrates river

Rocky Mountains

Jordan River

Sierra Nevada Range

Ural Mountains

Sierra Madre Oriental

Karakoram Mountains

Sierra Madre Occidental

Lake Baikal

Yucatan Peninsula

Ob River

 

Lena River

 

Yenisey River

 

Volga River

 

Europe

Central & South America

Mediterranean Sea

Caribbean Sea

Caspian Sea

Pacific Ocean

Aral Sea

West Indies

North Sea

Panama Canal

Black Sea

Andes Mountains

Baltic Sea

Patagonia

Pyrenees Mountains

Amazon River

Caucasus Mountains

Amazonas Selvas (Amazon Rain Forest)

Apennines Mountains

Lake Titicaca

Ural Mountains

Orinoco River

Alps

Altiplano

Rhine river

Atacama Desert

Seine River

Galapagos Islands

Danube River

 

 

Africa

Australia and S. Pacific

Indian Ocean

Australia

Atlantic Ocean

New Zealand

Mediterranean Sea

Indian Ocean

Red Sea

Great Sandy / Gibson / Great Victoria Deserts

Madagascar

Great Dividing Range

Sahara Desert

Tasmania

Lake Victoria

Southern Alps

Lake Tanganyika

Solomon Islands

Nile River

New Guinea

Lake Nasser

Fiji

The White Nile

 

The Blue Nile

 

Congo (Zaire) River

 

Niger River

 

Atlas Mountains

 

Ethiopian Highlands

 

Namib Desert

 

Kalahari Desert

 

Cape of Good Hope

 

Canary Islands