A Brief Survey of the Atmosphere (Chapter 1)
Week 1 - Origin and composition (1-11)  (Basics of structure)
Week 1/2 - Distributions of temperature, pressure, and composition (11-44)

• read about  radiosondes
• (more on radiosondes)
• An NCAR study of the dry bias of radiosonde humidity measurements

Atmospheric Thermodynamics (Chapter 2)
Week 3 - Gas law, hydrostatic balance and scale height (47-61)
Week 3/4 - First law of thermodynamics, adiabatic lapse rate (61-71) (pdf version)(html version)
Week 4/5 -  Water vapor, latent heat , and the wet adiabatic lapse rate (71-81)
Week 5 - Atmospheric stability  and thermodynamic diagrams (81-102)

• read more on stability

Midterm 1 - Friday, February 14

Week 6 - 2nd Law of Thermo and Clausius Clapeyron equation

• read more on entropy and thermodynamic state variables

 Postponed to Week 9 Cloudsand Storms (Chapter 5)
Cloud types and classifications (215-238)

• How clouds form
• More on clouds and precipitation
• Gordo's cloud gallery
• Tops of clouds
• Lifting mechanisms
• Simple cloud formation slide show

Atmospheric Aerosol and Cloud Microphysics (Chapter 4)
Week 7 - Aerosols, cloud nucleation, and droplet growth (143-181)

• read about why aerosols are important
• read about  condensation

Midterm 2 - Friday, March 14

Radiative Transfer (Chapter 6)
Week 10 - The electromagnetic spectrum, absorptivity, emissivity (279-296)

Spring Break - March 24-28

Week 11 - Attenuation and scattering of solar radiation (296-309)

The Global Energy Balance (Chapter 7)
Week 12 - Earth's changing climate
Week 13 - Distribution of solar radiation and energy balance (316-338)  (earth, sun and radiation)
Week 14 - Trace gases, aerosols, clouds, and climate change (338-354)

General Circulation (Chapter 9)
Week 15 - General Circulation (441-448)

Final exam - 10:30 am -1:00 pm, Saturday, May 3