Syllabus for AGRON 590
Special Topics in Agronomy: Weather and Climate Prediction
Fall 2014

3 Credits

11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays

G541 Agronomy Hall

Instructor
Raymond W. Arritt  
email: wxpred@gmail.com
3009 Agronomy Hall
phone: 515-294-9870
Office Hours: By appointment (usually you can just drop by)

Teaching assistant
Taleena Sines
3019 Agronomy Hall
 

Learning objectives

This course will give students a basic familiarity with numerical models including numerical solution methods for the atmospheric govening equations, parameterizations for physical processes that cannot be represented explicitly, and the design of modeling experiments. The class will be informal and will include many in-class exercises. Since class meetings often will be spent largely in working problems that apply principles learned in the course, it is important to read the assigned material for each date before the start of class so that you are prepared to solve any in-class problems for that day.

We can modify the course to fit student needs and interests. If there are any specific topics you would like to cover please let me know as soon as possible. (You are not limited to topics in the textbook.) I will try to find a way to fit these topics into the course where appropriate.

Students in this course are strongly urged to enroll concurrently in AGRON 590 A2, "Research Tools." That course will give you practical skills that we will not cover here.

Course materials

Textbook: T.T. Warner, Numerical Weather and Climate Prediction. Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 978-0521513890. This textbook is available from various online booksellers.

You should also have access to a textbook on atmospheric dynamics, such as the widely used textbook by Holton.

The texbook will be supplemented with online reading and journal articles. Be sure you know how to log in to the ISU Library web site so that you can get access to articles that require subscriptions.

Some other important issues

I want you to be able to do your best. If you have a disability and need accommodations in this course, please contact me within the first two weeks of the semester or as soon as you become aware of your need. Before meeting with me, you will need to obtain a SAAR form with recommendations for accommodations from the Disability Resources Office. Their telephone number is 515-294-7220 or email disabilityresources@iastate.edu. Retroactive requests for accommodations, or requests made less than one week before the situation requiring accommodation, will not be honored.

This class will follow standard ISU policies on topics such as academic dishonesty, harassment and discrimination, and religious accommodations. See here for details.

Grading

15% - Mid-term exam

35% - Assignments (homework, class presentations, other assignments).

35% - Semester project. Each student will design and complete a project in which they develop or modify a numerical model. That is, the project must be hands-on and may not be a literature review or similar. You will present results from your project in a written manuscript, and in an oral presentation in a format similar to an American Meteorological Society or American Geophysical Union conference.

15% - Final exam

Schedule of Topics

The course schedule will be adjusted as needed in light of student interests and time needed to cover each topic. It will be revised to keep track of what we have done during the term.