AERN 240 - Aviation Weather

(4 hours) A largely non-mathematical undergraduate course in the study of the layer of air adjacent to planet Earth, focused upon aviation-related concerns and application. In this course you will study the composition, structure, and characteristics of this layer of Earth’s atmosphere and how the dynamic interactions therein produce the weather phenomena we observe and experience. You will study the origin of and changes in Earth’s atmosphere over geologic history, and how Earth’s atmosphere compares to that of other planets. You will examine how the energy from the Sun and Earth’s rotation on its axis and revolution around the Sun contribute to the weather phenomena we observe and experience. Meteorological phenomena addressed include: cloud formation and identification, wind, fog, precipitation, fronts, air masses, mid-latitude storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, dust devils, pressure gradient forces, geostrophic wind, Coriolis force, global atmospheric circulation, the greenhouse effect, inversions, El Niño, La Niña, lightning and other aspects of atmospheric electricity, as well as meteorological instrumentation. Optical properties of the atmosphere (rainbows, haloes, parhelia and parselene, coronae, and glories; mirages etc.), soli-lunar atmospheric tides, and interaction of the atmosphere with the oceans will be examined. Societal issues such as deterioration of the ozone layer, global warming, Milankovitch cycles, and other aspects of paleoclimatology will be discussed. You will explore how multiple aspects of the knowledge you acquire in this course will be used and of value to you as a professional aviator, and in everyday life. This course cannot be challenged. Note: This course satisfies the LAC; students will be able to choose between another course in either physics, biology, chemistry, or geology.