Download Introduction to components of climate science

Course No.:
Course title:
Number of credits:
No. of lectures-tutorial-practical:
Faculty:
NRC 131
Basics of Climate Science
4 (2.5-1-0.5)
35-14-14
Dr Kamna Sachdeva
Course outline
The aims of this course are to provide basic understanding about the climate system: its attributes,
underlying processes, and the drivers of climate change. It is anticipated that this course will
provide basic understanding about important climate variables, which are indicators and predictors
of the changes in the climatic systems. The course will include the analysis of relevant research
publications to impart appreciation and understanding about the important concepts underlying the
climate-system and changes therein.
Evaluation procedure
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2 minor tests:
15 + 15
Assignments and discussion on research papers: 15
Field visit:
5
1 major test (end semester):
50
Details of course content and allotted time
No
Topic
Allotted time
(hours)
L
Introduction to climate science
6
Fundamentals of meteorology, processes in planetary boundary layer,
atmospheric vertical profile of temperature and pressure, geostrophic
winds and characteristics of stratosphere, microphysical processes in
the atmosphere
T
2
Introduction to components of climate science
12
Climate System and Interaction among components of climate system
and feedback mechanisms, climate variability, Atmospheric
thermodynamics, radiation in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases and
climate forcing; kinetics and atmospheric chemistry; Contribution of
trace gases to the greenhouse effect; overview for weather systems,
extreme weather events and western disturbances, some important
atmospheric measurements
2
3
Paleoclimatology
Paleothermometry ,Peleotempestology, Palynology
Dendroclimatology,, Heinrich events, Dansgaard-Oeschger events
2
1
4
P
No
4.
5.
Topic
L
Aerosol science
8
Introduction and overview of aerosols, atmospheric optics, Properties
of atmospheric aerosols; thermodynamics of aerosols; Carbonaceous
aerosols; radiative effects of Atmospheric aerosols; Indirect effects of
aerosol particles, introduction to cloud microphysics and its
importance.
Introduction to climate modeling
5
Introduction to climate models, types of GCM models and its
importance, Projections of future climate
6.
Field visit
–With Glaciology group of TERI to some important glacier relevant for
climate study/CSIR labs/IARI/IMD/NCMRWF
7.
IPCC report (The scientific basis)- The Climate System: an
Overview, Observed Climate Variability and Change, The Carbon
Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Atmospheric Chemistry and
Greenhouse Gases, Physical Climate Processes and Feedbacks,
Projections of Future Climate Change, changes in Sea Level
Assignments and other discussions
Discussion on latest research findings and symposium
8.
Allotted time
(hours)
Total
T
P
2
2
10
4
6
35
14
14
The course is reviewed and commented by the following experts.
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Prof (Ms) Rashmi S Patil, Professor Centre for Environmental Science & Engg, IIT-Bombay
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Dr. Philippe Tulkens, Climate Change and Environmental Risks, Sientific Officer
European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

Ramesh P. Singh, Ph.D., Professor, Earth System Science and Remote Sensing, Department of
Physics, Computational Science, and Engineering, Schmid College of Science, Chapman
University

Professor Arun K. Attri, Atmospheric chemistry and aerosol science lab, School of
Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Suggested readings:
1. Barbara J. Finlayson Pitts and James N. Pitts,Jr (2000). Chemistry of the upper and lower
atmosphere- theory, experiments and applications Academic Press, San Diego
2. John H.Seinfeld and Spyros N.Pandis (2006). Atmospheric Chemistry and physics-from air
pollution to climate change, John Wiley and Sons, INC
3. John Marshall and R. Alan Plumb (2001). Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate, Elsevier,
Amsterdam
4. Lal,D.S (2008).Climatology. Sharda Puskak Bhawan,India
5. Potter, Thomas D (2003). Handbook of weather, climate, and water: Dynamics, climate,
physical meteorology, weather systems, and measurements. John Wiley and Sons, USA
Additional readings:
1.
Glenn R. McGregor and Simon Nieuwolt (1998). Tropical Climatology, An Introduction to the
Climates of the Low Latitudes 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 339 pp
Hanwant B. Singh (1995). Composition, Chemistry and Climate of the atmosphere, Edited by
VNR,Thomson Publishing Inc. USA.
Thomas Foken, (2008). Micrometeorology Springer,Berlin.
John E. Oliver and John J. Hidore (2008). Climatology: An Atmospheric Science, Prentice
Hall.
Ahrens, C. Donald (2003). Meteorology today: an introduction to weather, climate, and the
environment, Thomson - Brooks/Cole, Australia.
Rapp, Donald (2008). Assessing climate change: Temperature, solar radiation and heat
balance, Springer and Praxis,Berlin
Climate change 2001 - the scientific basis, Houghton, J.T. (Ed.) (2001). Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
Soloman, Susan (Ed.) 2001). Climate change 2007: The physical science basis, Cambridge
University Press,Cambridge.
Wallace, John M (2006) Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey, Academic Press,
Burlington.
Horrocks, N. K.(1981). Physical geography and climatology, Longman, England
Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions- National Academy of
Sciences Committee on the Science of Climate Change, (National Academy Press,
Washington, DC, 2001).
Summary for Policymakers" . Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007-02-05.
http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Assignments
Students will be divided into groups and each group will be given a broad topic to work on. For example
Carbon budgeting/ocean circulations/atmospheric processes and properties/Cloud physics and chemistry and
 Research paper reading and discussions
 Symposium on latest work in the related areas
Practical aspects of the course includes field visits and
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Radiative forcing calculations
Climate related data interpretation
Aerosols related experiments
Introduction to different analytical techniques used for climate studies
Some important research papers as suggested readings
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Santer, B. 1985. The use of general circulation models in climate impact analysis - a
preliminary study of the impacts of a CO2-induced climatic change on West European
agriculture. Climatic Change 7,71-93.
Kreutz, K.J., P.A. Mayewski, L.D. Meeker, M. Twickler, S. Whitlow and I.I. Pittalwala,
1997, Bipolar changes in atmospheric circulation during the Little Ice Age. Science 277,
1294-1296
Denton , G.H. and W. Karlén, 1973, Holocene climatic variations: their pattern and possible
cause. Quaternary Research 3,155-205
Saltzman, B., Maasch, K.A., and Verbitsky, M. Ya., 1993, Possible effects of
anthropogenically increased CO2 on the dynamics of climate: Implications for ice age
cycles. Geophys. Res. Lett., 20, 1051-1054. Saltzman, B., and K. A. Maasch, 1991, A firstorder global model of late Cenozoic climatic change.Clim. Dyn, 5, 201-210.
Saltzman, B. and K. A. Maasch, 1988, Carbon cycle instability as a cause of the late
Pleistocene ice age oscillations: modeling the asymmetric response. Global Biogeochemical
Cycles, 2, 177--185.
Ganopolski, A.; Rahmstorf, S. (2001). "Rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a
coupled climate model" . Nature 409,153–158. doi:10.1038/35051500
Grimm, E.C.; Jacobson Jr, G.L.; Watts, W.A.; Hansen, B.C.S.; Maasch, K.A. (1993-07-09).
"A 50,000-Year Record of Climate Oscillations from Florida and Its Temporal Correlation
with the Heinrich Events". Science 261 (5118), 198. doi:10.1126/science.261.5118.198.
PMID 17829277.
Richard B. Alley (2000). "Ice-core evidence of abrupt climate changes". PNAS 97 (4),
1331–1334. doi:10.1073
Stefan Rahmstorf (2003). "Timing of abrupt climate change: A precise clock" . Geophys.
Res. Lett. 30 (10), 1510. doi:10.1029/2003GL017115