ATM693, Hydrometeorology

Spring 2007

Class time: TR 11:30am to 1pm

Classroom: IARC 407

Instructor: Nicole Mölders

Email: molders@gi.alaska.edu

Office: IARC 309

Office hours: Tuesday 1-2 pm, Thursday 1-2 pm

Course Description: Hydrometeorology covers principles related to the modeling, observing, and forecasting of processes related to water and energy fluxes and storage terms. This includes the interactions with the boundary layer and lower atmosphere, and processes related to radiation, cloud and precipitation formation processes.

Course objective: By the end of the semester you should be able to understand and explore the hydrometeorological processes, and put them into equations. You should be able to solve fundamental problems related to the basics of hydrometeorology how they typically occur in hydrometeorological applications (e.g. fire weather forecasting, drought forecatsing, water resource management, flood forecasting). You should be able to read and analyze a weather map or climate diagram, interpret diagrams and satellite images and numerical weather prediction and climate model data in terms of typical hydrometeorological application tasks. Fundamental goals are that you develop skills to analyze meteorological, hydrological and climate so data that they can serve in decision making processes. This includes application of learned material to totally different problems or putting learned material together in a new context to solve a problem.

Suggested readings/textbooks: There is no text book available that covers the course material. I recommend making use of the excellent libraries on campus and work with several books as you need them. Textbooks that provide good material are:

Bronstert, A., J. Carrera, P. Kabat, S. Lütkemeier (eds), 2005. Coupled models for the hydrological cycle, Springer, p. 345.

Cotton, W.R., and R.A. Pielke, 1995. Human impacts on weather and climate, Cambridge University Press, p. 288.

Dingman, S.l., 1994. Physical hydrology, Macmillan Publishing Company, p. 575.

I will give a short evaluation of these books in the first class. It is not required that you buy them all. It is recommended to have a look at other books frequently. You should also read other printed material, as assigned.

Other course resources: I will put material on Blackboard. I expect you to download them from the web and to read them.

It is your responsibility to apply for an UAF email account because Blackboard access is only available with a UAF account. You will be hooked up automatically for access to Blackboard when you registered for this class. However, if problems occur with this automatic procedure and you cannot log in, send me an email so that I can verify the email address, enroll you into Blackboard, and set up your Blackboard account.

Attendance: You should attend class regularly and use a book of your choice related to hydrometeorology. Class attendance and participation in the in-class exercises are required and will be a part of your grade. Missing 50% of the classes will result in an F. Unexcused absences lead to deduction of the attendance points and lessens your chances to accumulate points for presentation of your homework that would have been discussed the day of your absence. Excused absences are approved in advance or absences due to a documented emergency. Such documentation must be made immediately upon the student's return to class. Please understand that this is a college course - you are expected to be on time for class and have all the required material unpacked.

Homework: due at the start of class on Tuesdays. Each student is expected to be able to present the tasks in front of the class. The contributions should be thorough and complete, reflecting the thought that you have put into your tasks. You are expected to present your homework at the board when you are called to do so. This presentation will be graded for completeness, correctness, and understanding. For students taking this class at the graduate level also the way of presentation will be graded. You will be randomly picked several times per semester for presenting the homework. If you cannot present or do not have the homework, when you are chosen to be the presenter, you will get an F.

No late homework will be accepted (except in excused absences). Late homework should be submitted in readable style. "Readable style" means typed, double-spaced, using at least a 12-point font, one-inch margins, and in hard copy format. It is simply too tricky to edit and make comments in single-spaced type. If you have not met these stipulations, I will return it to you ungraded. Late homework will not be accepted via e-mail or fax unless you make prior arrangements with me.

It is the student's responsibility to prepare homework on time. I strongly suggest that you plan and schedule your work. I recommend having backup systems in place so you can have all work completed on schedule. Getting work done on time is a key to early success in your business, consultant or scientific career. A major complaint of employers is that faculty do not instill a sense of responsibility in students.

It is part of your homework - even when not said explicitly - to read parts of books on the subject of the class, the readings and the notes provided. This means that at the beginning of the class I will ask questions and you can offer to answer them, but I also reserve the right to randomly ask students who do not volunteer. The answers are also part of your homework grade. There may be "pop quizzes" to examine your knowledge. They will be graded as homework. Note that if you have an unexcused absence when a pop quiz occurs you will lose points both on attendance and the quiz.

In-class exercises: These will often involve group work and are an important learning element to develop your ability to solve scientific questions, and to improve your understanding by applying the material you learned in class. They are also preparation for the exams and your future education at UAF and professional life.

In-class presentations: You must always be able to present the tasks that you provided as homework in front of the class. This means that you will not be told in advance when you will be the person who presents the homework in class. Should you not be able to explain and reproduce the homework you provided or the homework is incomplete or incorrect points will be deducted. If you co-work in groups, everybody of the group must be able to calculate the homework at the board in class. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of and to be prepared for each assigned task when it is due. Give the person who is speaking your undivided attention. It is not only common courtesy, but whispering or talking can distract, annoy, and even intimidate students around you as well as myself. Essentially, you should treat classmates as you would like, and expect, to be treated yourself.

Examinations: It is the student’s responsibility to find out when and where the examinations will take place and to be there in time. Only in case of emergency I will allow you to start later on the exam. There is usually another exam scheduled in this classroom right after your own exam so the room has to be free in time. This means that I cannot give you extra time if you arrive late.

Additional policies:

1. No weapons allowed in class.

2. Due dates are firm, with the exceptions mentioned above as well as documented emergencies.

3. If you have a disability and require any auxiliary aids, services or accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact me after class, see me in the my office, or call me during the first week of the semester to be able to define specific accommodation needs and have enough time for any necessary preparation. If you have any kind of a physical or learning disability you must tell me about it. All disabilities are documented by UAF's Center for Health & Counseling and instructors receive a formal letter requesting that accommodation are made for any student with disabilities.

4. Any student who is an UAF sponsored athletic or who has other personal or situational difficulty that might affect class performance is invited to contact me in the first week of the semester (or as soon as such matters emerge) so that ways of accommodating the difficulty may be anticipated.

5. Please also let me know if you have condition that could require direct medical attention (e.g. allergies, diabetes, pregnancy).

Other important information: It is essential that you (1) keep up with the assigned readings, (2) budget your time wisely to complete all of your assignments, and (3) seek clarification on any material, which you do not understand, during business or class hours. If I am not covering subjects adequately, or the in-class exercises are confusing or difficult, or if you do not understand the questions in your homework or examination, please let me know. I want you to understand the material.

Grading Policy: This is a success-oriented course. My aim is for all students to meet their individual learning and grade goals. Of course, this does not mean that you can avoid working hard. Instead it means that (1) all students who do well in the in-class exercises, homework presentation, and examinations will be rewarded accordingly and (2) the grade distribution will not be adjusted to make sure it fits a bell-shaped curve. I expect that (1) you aim to give your personal best in the course, and (2) use in-class exercises, homework, and examinations as an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the material. Each of you enters the course as an average student, i.e. with a "C" grade and proceeds to work from there. To obtain an "A" grade you will need to produce work that far exceeds my normal expectations. My normal expectations are regularly attending the classes, hard work evidence of time spent with the material and an ability to demonstrate understanding of all concepts.

Grading for this class will follow the UAF guidelines included in the following table:

GRADE

UAF GUIDELINES

A

An honor grade indicates originality and independent work, a thorough mastery of the subject, and the satisfactory completion of more work than is regularly required

B

Indicates outstanding ability above the average level of performance

C

Indicates a satisfactory or average level of performance

D

The lowest passing grade indicates work of below average quality and performance

F

Indicates failure to meet lowest standards

The grade will be 10% attendance, 25% quizzes, homework and class presentations, 30% mid-term exam and 35% on the final exam. To get a "C" grade, 50% of the points in each category have to be earned. This means, for instance, that you must pass both examinations with at least 50% of the points. The grade distribution for attendance, homework presentations, in-class exercises, and examinations is as follows:

GRADE

PRECENTAGE OF ALL AVAILABLE POINTS

A

90-100%

B

70-89%

C

50-69%

D

30-49%

F

29 and under

Grades of "incomplete" will be given only in cases where an extraordinary, exceptional reason, submitted in writing by the student and judged valid by me. See UAF policies for details.

Learning is an interactive process and each class is individual. Although I have put a lot of thought into the sequence of topics, this schedule is tentative by purpose and subject to change as necessary due to availability of support materials, adaptation to specific needs of the class, etc. The schedule for this class will remain an on-going construction in light of what is accomplished in each class meeting. To get a better understanding for hydrometeorology it will be required to pick up subjects that are caused by actual hydrometeorological events. Departures from the schedule, such as additional readings, assignments, deadline changes, and activities, may be announced in class. These changes will take priority over the printed schedule. It is your responsibility to be in class and to keep up-to-date on whatever changes I make, or the class negotiates.

Tentative Spring 2007 Schedule:

week 1: Introduction to hydrometeorology

week 2-3: Basic hydrometeorological concepts

week 3-4: Statistical analysis in hydrometeorology

week 5: Overview on climate and the hydrological cycle

week 5-6: Clouds and Precipitation

week 6-7: Snow and snowmelt

week 8: Review and mid-term

week 9: Discussion of mid-term

week 9-10: Infiltration of precipitation

week 10-11: Evapotranspiration

week 11-12: Droughts and floods

week 12-13: Hydrometeorology and water resource management

week 13-14: Human impact on weather and climate

week 14: Review

Final as posted by UAF schedule