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Diploma (Dip.) Meteorology (30 credits)

Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences     Degree: Diploma in Meteorology

Program Requirements

The Department offers an intensive, one-year program in theoretical and applied meteorology to B.Sc. or B.Eng. graduates of suitable standing in physics, applied mathematics or other appropriate disciplines, leading to a Diploma in Meteorology. The program is designed for students with little or no previous background in meteorology who wish to direct their experience to atmospheric or environmental applications, or who need to fulfill academic prerequisites in meteorology to qualify for employment. For further information, contact the Undergraduate Program Director (/meteo/facultystaff/staff

An exemption of up to 6 credits may be allowed for courses already taken. Students granted such exemptions are required to add complementary courses from an approved list to maintain a total credit count of 30 completed at Â鶹AV.

Required Courses (15 credits)

  • ATOC 512 Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Introduction to the fluid dynamics of large-scale flows of the atmosphere and oceans. Stratification of atmosphere and oceans. Equations of state, thermodynamics and momentum. Kinematics, circulation, and vorticity. Hydrostatic and quasi-geostrophic flows. Brief introduction to wave motions, flow over topography, Ekman boundary layers, turbulence.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Straub, David N (Fall)

    • Fall

    • 3 hours lecture

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor

  • ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Review of dry and moist atmospheric thermodynamics concepts. Atmospheric aerosols, nucleation of water and ice. Formation and growth of cloud droplets and ice crystals. Initiation of precipitation. Severe storms and hail. Weather modification. Numerical cloud models.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Zuend, Andreas (Winter)

    • 3 hours

    • Prerequisites (Undergraduates): ATOC 315, MATH 314, and MATH 315, or permission of instructor.

    • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 621.

  • ATOC 531 Dynamics of Current Climates (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : The general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans. Atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models. Observations and models of the El Niño and Southern Oscillation phenomena.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Ioannidou, Evangelia (Fall)

    • Fall

    • 3 hours lecture

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 315 or permission of instructor

    • Corequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 312 or ATOC 512 or permission of instructor

  • ATOC 540 Synoptic Meteorology 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Analysis of current meteorological data. Description of a geostrophic, hydrostatic atmosphere. Ageostrophic circulations and hydrostatic instabilities. Kinematic and thermodynamic methods of computing vertical motions. Tropical and extratropical condensation rates. Barotropic and equivalent barotropic atmospheres.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Gyakum, John Richard (Fall)

    • Fall

    • 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor

  • ATOC 541 Synoptic Meteorology 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Analysis of current meteorological data. Quasi-geostrophic theory, including the omega equation, as it relates to extratropical cyclone and anticyclone development. Frontogenesis and frontal circulations in the lower and upper troposphere. Cumulus convection and its relationship to tropical and extratropical circulations. Diagnostic case study work.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 312 and ATOC 540 or permission of instructor.

Complementary Courses (15 credits)

6 credits selected from the courses below.
* Students may take either ATOC 519 or CHEM 519.

  • ATOC 309 Weather Radars and Satellites (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Basic notions of radiative transfer and applications of satellite and radar data to mesoscale and synoptic-scale systems are discussed. Emphasis will be put on the contribution of remote sensing to atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Tan, Ivy (Winter)

    • Winter

    • 3 hours lecture

    • Prerequisite: ATOC 215

  • ATOC 315 Thermodynamics and Convection (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Buoyancy, stability, and vertical oscillations. Dry and moist adiabatic processes. Resulting dry and precipitating convective circulations from the small scale to the global scale. Mesoscale precipitation systems from the cell to convective complexes. Severe convection, downbursts, mesocyclones.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Kirshbaum, Daniel (Fall)

  • ATOC 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits) *

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Selected areas of atmospheric chemistry from field and laboratory to theoretical modelling are examined. The principles of atmospheric reactions (gas, liquid and heterogeneous phases in aerosols and clouds) and issues related to chemical global change will be explored.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Ariya, Parisa A (Fall)

  • CHEM 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits) *

    Offered by: Chemistry (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Chemistry : Selected areas of atmospheric chemistry from field and laboratory to theoretical modelling are examined. The principles of atmospheric reactions (gas, liquid and heterogeneous phases in aerosols and clouds) and issues related to chemical global change will be explored.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Ariya, Parisa A (Fall)

9 credits ordinarily selected from:
* Students take either PHYS 432 or MATH 555.

  • ATOC 513 Waves and Stability (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Linear theory of waves in rotating and stratified media. Geostrophic adjustment and model initialization. Wave propagation in slowly varying media. Mountain waves; waves in shear flows. Barotropic, baroclinic, symmetric, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Wave-mean flow interaction. Equatorially trapped waves.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Straub, David N (Winter)

    • Winter

    • 3 hours lecture

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor

  • ATOC 515 Turbulence in Atmosphere and Oceans (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Application of statistical and semi-empirical methods to the study of geophysical turbulence. Reynolds' equations, dimensional analysis, and similarity. The surface and planetary boundary layers. Oceanic mixed layer. Theories of isotropic two- and three- dimensional turbulence: energy and enstrophy inertial ranges. Beta turbulence.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 3 hours lecture

    • Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, a previous course in fluid dynamics (such as ATOC 512), or permission of instructor

  • ATOC 517 Boundary Layer Meteorology (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Turbulence and turbulent fluxes, atmospheric stability, Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, surface roughness and surface fluxes, power law and logarithmic wind profiles including their application in wind energy and engineering sectors, convective and stably stratified boundary layers, internal boundary layer development, large-eddy simulations, fundamentals of boundary-layer parameterization in numerical models, and introduction to urban boundary layers.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

  • ATOC 525 Atmospheric Radiation (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Solar and terrestrial radiation. Interactions of molecules, aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with radiation of various wavelengths. Radiative transfer through the clear and cloudy atmosphere. Radiation budgets. Satellite and ground-based measurements. Climate implications.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Huang, Yi (Fall)

  • ATOC 548 Mesoscale Meteorology (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Administered by: Graduate Studies

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Theory of meteorologically important mesoscale phenomena including mesoscale instabilities, cumulus convection and its organization (including thunderstorms, squall lines, and other forms of severe weather), internal gravity waves, and topographically forced flows. Application of theory to the physical interpretation of observations and numerical simulations.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

  • ATOC 557 Research Methods: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science (3 credits)

    Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : This course is focused on the analysis of observational and modeling data, and the advantages and limitations of different data are discussed. The course covers several analysis methods (regression, principle component analysis, optimal estimation) commonly used in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. In addition to the theory underlying these methods, there will be hands-on applications to observations of Earth.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

  • MATH 317 Numerical Analysis (3 credits)

    Offered by: Mathematics and Statistics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Error analysis. Numerical solutions of equations by iteration. Interpolation. Numerical differentiation and integration. Introduction to numerical solutions of differential equations.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Lessard, Jean-Philippe (Fall)

  • MATH 319 Partial Differential Equations (3 credits)

    Offered by: Mathematics and Statistics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : First order equations, geometric theory; second order equations, classification; Laplace, wave and heat equations, Sturm-Liouville theory, Fourier series, boundary and initial value problems.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Bélanger-Rioux, Rosalie (Winter)

  • MATH 555 Fluid Dynamics (4 credits) *

    Offered by: Mathematics and Statistics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Mathematics & Statistics (Sci) : Kinematics. Dynamics of general fluids. Inviscid fluids, Navier-Stokes equations. Exact solutions of Navier-Stokes equations. Low and high Reynolds number flow.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.

  • PHYS 331 Topics in Classical Mechanics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Physics : Forced and damped oscillators, Newtonian mechanics in three dimensions, rotational motion, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, small vibrations, normal modes. Nonlinear dynamics and chaos.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Gervais, Guillaume (Winter)

  • PHYS 340 Majors Electricity and Magnetism (3 credits)

    Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Physics : The electrostatic field and scalar potential. Dielectric properties of matter. Energy in the electrostatic field. Methods for solving problems in electrostatics. The magnetic field. Induction and inductance. Energy in the magnetic field. Magnetic properties of matter. Maxwell's equations. The dipole approximation.

    Terms: Fall 2022

    Instructors: Du, Lipei (Fall)

  • PHYS 342 Majors Electromagnetic Waves (3 credits)

    Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Physics : Maxwell's equations. The wave equation. The electromagnetic wave, reflection, refraction, polarization. Guided waves. Transmission lines and wave guides. Vector potential. Radiation. The elemental dipole; the half-wave dipole; vertical dipole; folded dipoles; Yagi antennas. Accelerating charged particles.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Gervais, Guillaume (Winter)

  • PHYS 432 Physics of Fluids (3 credits) *

    Offered by: Physics (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Physics : The physical properties of fluids. The kinematics and dynamics of flow. The effects of viscosity and turbulence. Applications of fluid mechanics in biophysics, geophysics and engineering.

    Terms: Winter 2023

    Instructors: Cumming, Andrew (Winter)

Faculty of Science—2022-2023 (last updated Aug. 24, 2022) (disclaimer)
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