Mathematics of Climate

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In this course, mathematics and statistics will be used to answer current questions of interest in climate science and sustainability, and climate science will be used to motivate and explain techniques from applied mathematics and statistics. Mathematical and statistical topics will be selected from theories and methodologies for dynamical systems, bifurcation theory, ordinary and partial differential equations, signal processing, regression analysis, extreme value theory, and data assimilation. The course will emphasize conceptual models that capture important aspects of the Earth's climate system: Energy balance and temperature distribution, ocean circulation patterns such as the Gulf Stream and El Niño – Southern Oscillation, glaciation cycles, extreme weather events, and data assimilation for weather and climate. Some knowledge of R is required.