Meteorology Minor
The Meteorology minor will provide students with a comprehensive education in the dynamics of the earth's atmosphere, weather analysis, and weather forecasting. The minor includes course work on the impact of air pollution on people and the environment, the threat of changing climate due to global warming as well as severe weather, and world climates. Meteorology is an interdisciplinary program and includes application in mathematics, hydrology, physics, and chemistry for academic research in the following areas: weather modeling and forecasting, air pollution studies, hydrology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in meteorology, and education. Students should take additional courses in mathematics, especially calculus courses, as part of the preparation in operational meteorology, because these mathematics courses are necessary for successful completion of the upper-division Meteorology courses.
Requirements
22 hours as follows
The course explores the physics of the primary ground-based remote sensors used for operational monitoring of the atmosphere. The capabilities and limitations of the various systems will be studied to determine their impact on applications. The use and applications of remote sensors will include meteorological radar and wind profilers.
Prerequisite
METR 1430
This is part I of the weather forecasting sequence. A survey forecast guidance products and the application of physical principles to weather forecasting and the interpretation and use of computer-generated forecast guidance products of the National Weather Service.
Prerequisite
METR 3335 and METR 3356
The course involves an application of physical principles to weather forecasting and the use and interpretation of computer-generated forecast guidance products of the National Weather Service. The course includes an introduction to the structure and dynamics of convective and mesoscale phenomena, including mesoscale convective systems, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, low-level jets, mountain waves, and hurricanes.
Prerequisite
METR 3320
Severe weather involves a detailed descriptive account of the physical processes important in the formation of various severe and unusual weather phenomena including thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail storms, lightning, hurricanes, mid-latitude snowstorms, lake effect snows, atmospheric optical effects, and global climate change.
Prerequisite
METR 1430
The course is an overview of hydrological processes with emphasis on the hydrological cycle, surface hydrology, groundwater hydrology, measurement techniques and interpretation of streamflow, precipitation, soil moisture, and rainfall runoff.
Prerequisite
METR 1430
The course is a study of the theory and practice of weather analysis and forecasting, surface and upper air analysis, fronts and wave cyclones, satellite meteorology, sounding analysis, thermodynamic diagram, cross sections, forecasting, NMC models, MOS, radar meteorology, severe weather.
Prerequisite
METR 3310
The course focuses on applications of remote sensing of the atmosphere using satellite observations, including cloud detection and the retrieval of atmospheric temperature, and atmospheric moisture and ozone content. The course also teaches the interpretation of imagery collected from weather satellites.
Prerequisite
METR 3310