Description
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics is the study of planetary flows in the atmosphere and ocean
basins. It underpins the study of climate dynamics. After a review of the physics of mass,
momentum, and energy balances within approximations suitable to planetary flows, and
exposition of the effect of planetary rotation (the Coriolis effect), the course continues with the
study of boundary layers, waves, instabilities, mixing and turbulence in their planetary
manifestations. These concepts are then utilized to study the general oceanic and atmospheric
circulations, heat transfer at the hemispheric scale, and climate-affecting large-scale oscillations
such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and
the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It concludes with specific topics related to sea-ice
interactions.
Prerequisites
ENGS 034 or permission of instructor