by Andreas Christen - 'Microscale Weather and Climate' introduces you the nature of the atmosphere and processes close to the Earth's surface on small scales, extending in space from those of a leaf up to that of a large valley. We focus on interactions between the surface, vegetation and atmosphere. We gain an understanding of and describe mass- momentum and energy exchange, turbulence, dispersion and atmospheric circulations in the context of forcing surface processes and global climate. The course introduces basic instrumentation and methods used in today's monitoring and modeling of microscale climate and surface-atmosphere exchange.

Lectures and Exams
Date	Topic		Assign- ments
07-Sep-11	1 Introduction and course overview.
09-Sep-11	2 Studying microclimates - concepts.
12-Sep-11	3 Energy and mass balances.
14-Sep-11	4 Radiation geometry and 'sun-paths'
16-Sep-11	5 Short-wave radiative transfer.
19-Sep-11	6 Short-wave reflection and albedo.
21-Sep-11	7 Long-wave radiation.
23-Sep-11	8 Surface and atmospheric emissivity.
26-Sep-11	9 Net all-wave radiation.
28-Sep-11	10 Field site visit - Radiation instrumentation. Meet 09:00 am at UBC Totem Field gate
30-Sep-11	11 Soil thermal properties.
03-Oct-11	12 Soil heat and water transfer.
05-Oct-11	13 Modelling sub-surface temperatures.
07-Oct-11	14 Radiation and heat transfer in water, snow and ice.
12-Oct-11	15 Radiation and energy balance in complex terrain.
14-Oct-11	Midterm Examination (FAQ, Exam, Answer Key, Statistics)
17-Oct-11	16 Laminar and turbulent flow.
19-Oct-11	17 Production of atmospheric turbulence.
21-Oct-11	18 Dissipation of atmospheric turbulence.
24-Oct-11	19 Turbulence - statistically approached.
26-Oct-11	20 Momentum transfer.
28-Oct-11	21 Models and theories of turbulence.
31-Oct-11	22 Velocity profile laws.
02-Nov-11	23 Convective heat transfer.
04-Nov-11	24 Flux-gradient relations.
07-Nov-11	25 Dynamic stability.
09-Nov-11	26 Turbulent exchage in non-neutral situations.
14-Nov-11	27 Field site visit (eddy covariance system). Meet 09:00 am at UBC Totem Field gate.
16-Nov-11	28 Energetics of the planetary boundary layer.
18-Nov-11	29 Advection.
21-Nov-11	30 Wind systems in complex terrain.
23-Nov-11	31 The water cycle at land-atmosphere interfaces.
25-Nov-11	32 Plant-atmosphere interactions.
28-Nov-11	33 Measuring and modeling evapotranspiration.
30-Nov-11	No lecture.
02-Dec-11	No lecture.
17-Dec-11 8:30 am	Final Examination (FAQ).

All dates and topics might be still subject to change.

Course Information

Lecture

Term 1 2011/12

Mon Wed Fri 09:00 to 09:50
Geography Room 101

Course prerequisites

The course is scientific in approach. Please be sure you have the prerequisite course (GEOG 200, GEOB 200 or ATSC 201). Credit will only be given for one of GEOB 204 or 300 or APBI 244. GEOB 300 is prerequisite for GEOB 401, and GEOB 402.

Course evaluation

Please be sure to know the rules for exams and assignments. Marks for the course will be allocated as follows:

Reading Assignments

Reading packages are available for download from this webpage for students enrolled in the course. It consists of draft chapters from an upcoming 3rd Edition of 'Boundary Layer Climates' by T. R. Oke and A. Christen (permission by authors for use only in this course).

List of recommended textbooks for in-depth readings and reference.

Glossary

Online glossary of terms.

Instructor

Andreas Christen
Department of Geography
132 - 1984 West Mall andreas.christen@ubc.ca
604-822-6620
 
Instructor Office hours
Weekly Sep 7 to Dec 2, 2011:
Mon 10:00 - 10:50 am
Wed 11:00 - 11:40 am

Teaching Assistant

Derek van der Kamp
Department of Geography
Rm 216A - 1984 West Mall
derek.vanderkamp@gmail.com
604-827-4520
 
TA Office Hours
Thu, 29-Sep-11, 10:30-12:30
Tue, 11-Oct-11, 10:30-12:30
Thu, 03-Nov-11, 10:30-12:30
Thu, 17-Nov-11, 10:30-12:30