Courses for Non-Majors

The following courses are open to lower division undergraduates, including freshman.

AOS 100: Weather & Climate (3 credits) Nature and variability of wind, temperature, cloud and precipitation. Storm system, fronts, thunderstorms, tornadoes and their prediction. Air composition and pollution. Global winds, seasonal changes, climate and climatic change. Discussion session will include weather map analysis and basic quantitative lab exercises. Credit is not given for both 100 and 101. See Fall 2006 syllabus for Lec 1 or Lec 2. See Spring 2006 syllabus for Lec 1 or Lec 2.

AOS 101: Weather & Climate (4 credits) Nature and variability of wind, temperature, cloud and precipitation. Storm system, fronts, thunderstorms, tornadoes and their prediction. Air composition and pollution. Global winds, seasonal changes, climate and climatic change. Discussion session will include weather map analysis and basic quantitative lab exercises. Credit is not given for both 100 and 101. See Fall 2006 syllabus. See Spring 2006 syllabus.

AOS 105: Survey of Oceanography (3-4 credits) (Also Geology 105). See Geology 105 for description. See Fall 2006 syllabus. See Spring 2006 syllabus.

AOS 121: Atmospheric Environment and Society (2 credits) (Same as Geog., Env. St. 121). The changing interactions between humans, other animals and plants, and the atmospheric environment are investigated, both in time and space. See Fall 2006 syllabus.

AOS 132: Earth's Water: Natural Science and Human Use (3 credits) (Same as Soil Science 132). Water is central to the functioning of planet Earth. As humans increase their impact on Earth's systems and cohabitants, our understanding of the multiple roles of water becomes critical to finding sustainable strategies for human and ecosystem health. This course explores the science of Earth's hydrosphere, with constant attention to human uses and impacts. Prereq: high school math and science. See Spring 2006 syllabus.

AOS 151: Weather for Sailors (2 credits) Surface wind speed and direction variations, sea/land breezes, other daily variations, gusts, thunderstorms, shore effects, global winds, migratory weather systems, interpreting weather maps, wind-driven water waves.

AOS 152: Weather for Pilots (1-2 credits) Weather for Pilots is an applied meteorology course designed for pilots and student pilots. The goal of the course is to provide a learning opportunity for those interested in studying advanced aviation-weather topics. Prereq: Open to Fr. See Fall 2006 syllabus.

AOS 171: Global Change (2-3 credits) (Same as Env. St. 171) Atmospheric problems of global significance. Greenhouse warming, ozone layer, acid rain, climate change. Study based on elementary principles of atmospheric science. Systems approach applied to changing atmospheric composition. Interactions among geochemical cycles, anthropogenic inputs and other parts of the environment. See Fall 2006 syllabus. See Spring 2005 syllabus.

AOS 252: Introduction to Weather Analysis and Forecasting (3 credits) Elementary issues in dynamics, thermodynamics, local and synoptic-scale circulations examined in the context of daily diagnoses and forecasting of the weather. Includes analysis of surface upper air observations, satellite and radar data, output from numerical weather prediction models. Prereq: Physics 201 or 207, Math 221 or cons. inst. See Spring 2006 syllabus.

AOS 265: The Oceans and Climate (3 credits) Introduction to the climate system. Interaction between atmosphere and ocean. Principles of the ocean currents. Major current systems. Global fluxes and the deep-sea circulation. The ocean and climate change. Waves and tides. Climate forecasting. Wave forecasting. Prereq: high school physics, and 1 year high school calculus or con reg in Math 211 or 221. Open to Fr.