Semester project

Each student will complete a research project that complements our in-class work by applying your knowledge to a research problem. You have wide discretion in your choice of topic as long as it involves hands-on work with data or a model. This could be a topic related to your graduate thesis research or some other problem that you are interested in.

There will be several steps in carrying out the project. These correspond to things you will need to do as you carry out projects during your career: deciding on an idea, writing a prospectus (proposal), submitting progress reports, publishing your results in journals or other venues, and explaining your work to your colleagues.

You will build your report step-by-step with intermediate deadlines. Material from your prospectus will be included in your progress report, and your progress report will be a starting point for your final written report.

• Topic selection: By Tuesday, Aug 29 send a brief description of your topic and how you plan to study it to mteor605@gmail.com. Although this need not be more than a few sentences it should be as specific as possible (not just "I will work with a model" or similar). Include a tentative title for your project report.
• Prospectus (including literature review): Submit a prospectus by Thursday, Sept 28. This is similar to a prospectus you would write for a thesis or dissertation. Describe what you plan to do, how you intend to go about it, and what results you expect to find. Include a description of the data and methods that you will use. The prospectus will help you to structure your thoughts on the overall goals and procedures for your project. It also gives me an opportunity to advise whether your topic is appropriate and can reasonably be done within the time available. The prospectus must include a thorough literature review that shows you are familiar with past work on your topic. Submit as a PDF file to mteor605@gmail.com (please do not use other formats).
• Progress report: By Tuesday, Oct 31, submit a progress report that summarizes your work to date. This will be similar to a first draft of your written report but you do not need to give conclusions at this point. Your prospectus will be useful as a starting point for progress report. Describe the progress you have made along with any changes to your original plan as presented in your prospectus. Describe activities you have undertaken (such as data gathering or numerical simulations), preliminary results, and your plans for bringing your project to completion. Include the literature review from your prospectus and rework it as necessary to include any additional references you have consulted in carrying out your project. It is especially important to include any problems you have encountered along with whether you have been able to resolve them and if so, how. Submit as a PDF file to mteor605@gmail.com (do not use other formats).
• Written report: This will describe how you conducted your project, what results you found, and your interpretation of your findings. It should be structured like a manuscript to be submitted to a professional journal, with an abstract, double-spaced text, and figures at the end with explanatory captions. The reference format specified for either American Geophysical Union journals or American Meteorological Society journals is recommended but you can use any similar referencing style. I prefer that you not use numbered references (sometimes called Vancouver style), but if that is the standard referencing style in your discipline you can use them. The report is limited to 20 double-spaced pages of text not including your reference list, tables, and figures. Submit both a printed and PDF copy of your report not later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 30 (this is a "hard" deadline and late reports will not be accepted).
• Oral presentation: Each student will present his or her findings to the class during the last week of the course (December 5 and 7). The format will be the same as a professional conference such as the American Geophysical Union or American Meteorological Society. You will have 12 minutes for your presentation followed by a few minutes for discussion and changeover of speakers (total 15 minutes). These presentations will be open to attendance by other students and faculty. Presentations will be peer reviewed by other class members.

Titles of some past projects

Numerical investigation of loads and power of wind turbine under stable and neutral atmospheric boundary layer

Investigation of mechanical and natural turbulence using multiresolution decomposition analysis

Laboratory investigation of the effect of translation on tornado-like flow

A comparison of the aerodynamic resistance of corn and sorghum canopies under different atmospheric stability criteria

Comparison of four planetary boundary layer schemes in the WRF model to recent high resolution datasets

An exploration of surface flow convergence using large-eddy simulation

Comparison of WRF simulated ramp events to observed events in stable and unstable boundary layers

Evaluation of the MYNN PBL scheme closure constants for low-level jet events in a stable boundary layer

Analysis and predictability of the three-dimensional Great Plains low level jet structure in high resolution modeling

Proficiency of WRF-ARW boundary-layer schemes in replicating heavy precipitation

Evaluation of different microphysics and PBL schemes in a squall line case

Fluctuations in solar radiation and their effect on surface winds

Comparison of an urban canopy parameterization to observations for urban-influenced precipitation