Geophysical Fluid Dynamics I

4 credits

Dynamics of rotating stratified fluid flow in the atmosphere/ocean and laboratory analogues. Equations of state, compressibility, Boussinesq approximation. Geostrophic balance, Rossby number. Poincare, Kelvin, Rossby waves, geostrophic adjustment. Ekman layers. Continuously stratified dynamics: Inertia-gravity waves, potential vorticity, quasigeostrophy. Prerequisite: ATMOS 505/OCEAN 511/AMATH 505. Offered: jointly with ATMOS 509; W.