C244A.
Radiation and Climate. (4) Lecture, three hours.
Requisites: courses C203C/C165 or instructor's consent
Introduction to solar and thermal radiation in the Earth's climate;
Radiation budgets determined from satellites; Radiative and convective atmospheres
and one-dimensional climate models for temperature perturbation study associated
with increases in greenhouse gases and aerosols, the role of clouds; One-dimensional
energy-balance models for paleoclimate study; Introduction to general circulation
models for climate research; Cloud radiative forcing, greenhouse warming, and
feedback; Aerosol radiative forcing; Radiation in El Nino and Southern Oscillation.
(Offer every other year).
Text book: An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, Academic Press,
2002, Chapter 8; additional references will also be provided.
Letter grades: students are required to write a term paper on a subject
of radiation and climate of their interests and present it in the class
Outline of the course
