Corso di laurea magistrale in Chimica dell'Ambiente

1) Introduction
Meteorology and climatology – Rotating reference frame of the Earth –
Fundamental physical quantities – Local and total derivatives.
2) Overview of the main course topics
Optical properties of the atmosphere – Mass – Present chemical
composition – Vertical structure – Winds – Precipitation – Average
climatological distributions, etc.
3) The Earth System (Climate System)
The Sun – Earth rotation and revolution motions – Mean daily insolation of
the Earth’s surface as a function of season and latitude. The various
components of the Climate System and their roles in determining Earth’s
present climate.
4) Thermodynamics of a “dry” atmosphere
Equation of state for a mixture of gases – Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity
distribution – Hydrostatic equilibrium – Geopotential, geopotential height,
geopotential thickness – Scale height and hypsometric equation –
Orographic effect on atmospheric pressure and pressure reduction to sea
level – Why do the Earth's atmosphere gases not escape into the nearvacuum
of space – Energy and the 1st Lawof Thermodynamics – Enthalpy
– Dry static energy – Entropy and the 2nd Principle of Thermodynamics –
Concept of an “air particle” – Potential temperature – Dry adiabatic lapse
rate – Thermodynamic diagrams – Static stability of dry air – Buoyancy
forces.
5) Thermodynamics of a moist atmosphere
Vapor pressure – Virtual temperature – Absolute measures of water vapor
content in air – Clausius-Clapeyron equation – Potential temperature of
unsaturated moist air – Saturation mixing ratio – Static stability of of
unsaturated moist air - Measures of water vapor content in air with
respect to saturation – Wet-bulb temperature – Moist static energy –
Saturated adiabatic lapse rate – Normand’s rule.
6) Cloud microphysics
Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation of water droplets - Cloud
Condensation Nuclei – Formation of fogs. Homogeneous and
heterogeneous nucleation of ice crystals. International classification of
clouds. Formation of precipitation in “warm” and “cold” clouds. Types of
precipitation.
8) Radiative tranfer
Physical quantities used to describe the energy carried by radiation –
Solar irradiance and radiance on Earth – Brightness temperature and
color temperature – Emission temperature of the Sun and of the Earth –
Greenhouse effect – Thermalization of solar radiation – Grey bodies and
selective absorbers – Reflection and albedo – Transmission – Scattering –
Simple multi-layer models of radiative equilibrium. Transfer of solar and
terrestrial radiation in the atmosphere – Outgoing longwave radiation –
Radiative heating rate – Radiative effects of clouds - Radiative
equilibrium temperature profile.

9) Atmospheric Dynamics
Kinematics of the large-scale horizontal flow. Dynamics of horizontal flow:
real forces and apparent forces in a rotating reference frame –
Meteorological charts and main pressure structures – Lagrangian and
Eulerian approaches - The horizontal equation of motion – The
geostrophic wind – The effect of friction near the Earth’s surface – The
gradient wind – Cyclostrophic equilibrium – Rossby number – The vertical
equation of motion – The thermal wind – Barotropic and baroclinic
atmosphere – Geostrophic temperature advection – Absolute and
potential vorticity - The thermodynamic energy equation – The continuity
equation - Inference of the vertical motion field – The set of primitive
equations. The atmospheric general circulation – Jet streams – Barotropic
and baroclinic instability – Poleward heat transport.
10) Meteorological concepts and phenomena
Air masses – Fronts – Extratropical cyclones and the polar front theory.
11) Elements of Climate Dynamics
Climate variability and climate change – The present-day climate – Global
energy balance – Radiative-convective equilibrium model. Climate
equilibria, sensitivity, and feedbacks - Projections of future greenhouse
warming.