1. The Study of the Atmosphere
1.1 Weather and Climate
1.2 The Earth-Atmosphere System
1.3 The Role of Science
1.4 The Role of Math - A Language and a Tool
1.5 Dimensions and Units
1.6 The Structure of the Atmosphere
2. The Composition of the
Atmosphere
2.1 The Chemical Composition of Air
2.2 Gases in the Climate System - Stocks and Flows
2.3 Nitrogen (N2)
2.4 Oxygen (O2)
2.5 Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
2.6 Water Vapour (H2O)
2.7 Ozxone (O3)
2.8 Compositional Layers
2.9 Atmospheric Aresols
2.10 The
Formation and Evolution of the Atmosphere
2.11 Earth as a Habitable Planet
3. The Behaviour of the Atmosphere
3.1 The Kinetic Theory of Matter
3.2 Early Contributions to the Kinetic Theory of Gases
3.3 The Ideal Gas Law
3.4 Hydrostatic Balance
3.5 The Hypsometric
Equation
3.6 The Influence of Temperature on Pressure Distribution
3.7 Weather Maps
4. Energy
4.1 Heat
4.2 Work
4.3 The First Law of Thermodynamics
4.4 Heat Transfer
5. Radiation
5.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
5.2 Emission of Radiation
5.3
Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission of Radiation
5.4 Albedo
5.5 Radiation in the Atmosphere: Scattering and Absorption
5.6 The Greenhouse Effect
5.7 The Temperature Structure of the Atmosphere
5.8 Arctic Amplification
5.9 Solar, or Shortwave, Radiation
6. Energy
Balance
6.1 Effective Radiating Temperature
6.2 Flows of Solar (Shortwave) Radiation
6.3 Flows of Terrestrial (Longwave) Radiation
6.4 Planetary Energy Balance
6.5 Latitudinal Radiative Imbalances
6.6 Surface Energy Balance
7. Water Vapour
7.1 Vapour
Pressure
7.2 Evaporation and Condensation
7.3 Saturation Vapour Pressure
7.4 The Concept of Saturation
7.5 Absolute and Relative Measures of Humidity
7.6 Methods of Measuring Atmospheric Humidity
7.7 Humidity and Human Comfort
8. Adiabatic Lapse Rates and Atmospheric
Stability
8.1 Adiabatic Processes
8.2 Environmental Lapse Rates (ELR)
8.3 Thermodynamic Diagrams
8.4 Stability Types
8.5 Factors Influencing Stability
8.6 Stability Conditions over a Clear Day
9. Condensation
9.1 Formation of Cloud Droplets
9.2
Nucleation below Freezing
9.3 Clouds
9.4 Fogs
10. Precipitation
10.1 Cloud Droplets versus Raindrops
10.2 Terminal Velocity
10.3 Growth of Cloud Droplets
10.4 Precipitation Types
10.5 Hail
10.6 Snow-Making
10.7 The Distribution and Character of
Precipitation
11. Winds
11.1 Forces That Influence Atmospheric Motion
11.2 The Winds
11.3 Variation of the Winds with Height: The Thermal Wind
11.4 Local Winds
12. The Planetary Circulation System
12.1 Transport of Energy and Momentum
12.2 Descriptions
of the Planetary Circulation
12.3 Explanations for the Planetary Circulation
12.4 Vorticity
12.5 Rossby Waves
12.6 Ocean Currents
12.7 Climate Oscillations
13. Air Masses and Fronts
13.1 Formation of Air Masses
13.2 Classification of Air Masses
13.3 Cold
Air Masses
13.4 Warm Air Masses
13.5 Fronts
13.6 The Structure of Fronts
13.7 Weather Associated With Cold and Warm Fronts
13.8 Occluded Fronts
14. Storms
14.1 Characteristics of High- and Low-Pressure Systems
14.2 Mid-latitude Cyclones
14.3 Tropical
Cyclones: Hurricanes
14.4 Thunderstorms
15. Weather Forecasting
15.1 The Forecasting Process
15.2 Forecasting Methods
15.3 The History of Weather Forecasting
15.4 Observations
15.5 Analysis and Diagnosis
15.6 Numerical Weather Predication
15.7
Long-Range Forecasting
16. Global Climate
16.1 Climate Controls
16.2 Vegetation and Climate
16.3 Climate Classification
16.4 Tropical Climates
16.5 Mid-latitude Climates
16.6 Polar Climates
16.7 Natural Climate Change
17. The Changing
Atmosphere
17.1 Air Pollution
17.2 Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone
17.3 Anthropogenic Climate Change
17.4 Chapter Summary
Appendix
Glossary
Index
Instructor's Manual:
- Sample syllabus
-- List of 3-5 recommended texts
-- 13-week schedule outlining the following for each week: topics covered, relevant chapters from text, required reading and assignments from the text
- Suggestions for labs/projects (2 per chapter)
- For each of the chapters:
-- Learning goals
-- Sample answers for all in-text review questions
-- Sample solutions and answers for all in-text problems
PowerPoint Slides:
For each chaper
- 25 lecture outline slides
Test Generator:
For each chapter:
-
35 multiple choice questions
- 10 true-or-false questions
- 15 short answer questions
- 10 problem equations
- Answers and page references for each question
Student Study Guide:
- Learning goals
- Chapter summaries
- Sample answers for odd-numbered in-text
review questions
- Sample solutions and answers for odd-numbered in-text problems (for chapters 3-8, 11 only)
- Self-testing quizzes
For each chapter:
-- 10 multiple choice questions
-- 5 true-or-false questions
-- 5 short answer questions
-- Problem equations
-- Answers and relevant page numbers supplied for each question
Image Bank:
- All images, figures, and tables from the text
Animations:
- Video clips illustrating key concepts
E-Book (ISBN 9780199021369)
Sheila Ross is an instructor at Capilano University.
