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Note: This is the 2021–2022 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Program Requirements
This Minor may be taken in conjunction with any program in the Faculty of Science.
Required Courses (3 credits)
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ATOC 214 Introduction: Physics of the Atmosphere (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : An introduction to physical meteorology designed for students in the physical sciences. Topics include: composition of the atmosphere; heat transfer; the upper atmosphere; atmospheric optics; formation of clouds and precipitation; instability; adiabatic charts.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Zuend, Andreas (Fall)
Complementary Courses (15 credits)
3-6 credits selected from:
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ATOC 215 Oceans, Weather and Climate (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Laws of motion, geostrophic wind, gradient wind. General circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, local circulation features. Air-sea interaction, including hurricanes and sea-ice formation, extra-tropical weather systems and fronts, role of the atmosphere and oceans in climate.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Dufour, Carolina (Winter)
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ATOC 219 Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits) *
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : An introduction to the basic topics in atmospheric chemistry. The fundamentals of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and its chemical reactions. Selected topics such as smog chamber, acid rain, and ozone hole will be examined.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Zuend, Andreas (Winter)
Winter
3 hours lecture
Prerequisites: CHEM 110 and CHEM 120, and one of MATH 139 or MATH 140 or MATH 150, or a CEGEP DEC in Science, or permission of instructor.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken CHEM 219, CHEM 419 or ATOC 419
Offered in odd years. Students should register in CHEM 219 in even years
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CHEM 219 Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits) *
Overview
Chemistry : An introduction to the basic topics in atmospheric chemistry. The fundamentals of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and its chemical reactions. Selected topics such as; a smog chamber, acid rain, and the ozone hole, will be examined.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Zuend, Andreas (Winter)
* Note: Students may select ATOC 219 or CHEM 219 but not both.
Complementary Course
9-12 credits selected from:
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ATOC 309 Weather Radars and Satellites (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Basic notions of radiative transfer and applications of satellite and radar data to mesoscale and synoptic-scale systems are discussed. Emphasis will be put on the contribution of remote sensing to atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Fabry, Frederic (Winter)
Winter
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ATOC 215
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ATOC 312 Rotating Fluid Dynamics (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Lagrangian and Eulerian time derivatives. Vorticity, divergence and Helmholtz decomposition. Two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation for non-divergent flows. Rotating coordinate systems and the shallow water equations. Linear solutions, potential vorticity, and geostrophy in the shallow water context. Shallow-water quasi-geostrophic approximation, including Rossby waves and barotrophic (Rayleigh) instability.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Toque, Nathalie (Fall)
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ATOC 315 Thermodynamics and Convection (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Buoyancy, stability, and vertical oscillations. Dry and moist adiabatic processes. Resulting dry and precipitating convective circulations from the small scale to the global scale. Mesoscale precipitation systems from the cell to convective complexes. Severe convection, downbursts, mesocyclones.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Ioannidou, Evangelia (Fall)
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ATOC 357 Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Laboratory (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Students will gain hands-on experience in several fundamental atmospheric and oceanic science topics through practical experimentation. A diverse set of experiments will be conducted, ranging from in situ observations in Montreal, to remote sensing of clouds and radiation, to laboratory chemistry and water-tank experiments. As a background for these experiments, students will receive training on sensor principles and measurement error analysis, as well as the fundamental physical processes of interest in each experiment. They will learn to operate, and physically interpret data from, various sensors for in situ and remote observation of meteorological variables. Their training will also extend to operational weather observations, analysis, and forecasting.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Pal, Devendra (Winter)
Prerequisite(s): ATOC 214 or permission of instructor.
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ATOC 512 Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Introduction to the fluid dynamics of large-scale flows of the atmosphere and oceans. Stratification of atmosphere and oceans. Equations of state, thermodynamics and momentum. Kinematics, circulation, and vorticity. Hydrostatic and quasi-geostrophic flows. Brief introduction to wave motions, flow over topography, Ekman boundary layers, turbulence.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Bartello, Peter (Fall)
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ATOC 513 Waves and Stability (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Linear theory of waves in rotating and stratified media. Geostrophic adjustment and model initialization. Wave propagation in slowly varying media. Mountain waves; waves in shear flows. Barotropic, baroclinic, symmetric, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Wave-mean flow interaction. Equatorially trapped waves.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Toque, Nathalie (Winter)
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ATOC 515 Turbulence in Atmosphere and Oceans (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Application of statistical and semi-empirical methods to the study of geophysical turbulence. Reynolds' equations, dimensional analysis, and similarity. The surface and planetary boundary layers. Oceanic mixed layer. Theories of isotropic two- and three- dimensional turbulence: energy and enstrophy inertial ranges. Beta turbulence.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2021-2022 academic year.
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ATOC 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Selected areas of atmospheric chemistry from field and laboratory to theoretical modelling are examined. The principles of atmospheric reactions (gas, liquid and heterogeneous phases in aerosols and clouds) and issues related to chemical global change will be explored.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Prerequisites: CHEM 243, and CHEM 263 or CHEM 213 and CHEM 273, MATH 222 and MATH 315 (or equivalents) or permission of instructor.
Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken or are taking ATOC 419, ATOC 619, CHEM 419, CHEM 519 or CHEM 619.
Winter
3 hours lecture
Offered in odd years. Students should register in CHEM 519 in even years.
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ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Review of dry and moist atmospheric thermodynamics concepts. Atmospheric aerosols, nucleation of water and ice. Formation and growth of cloud droplets and ice crystals. Initiation of precipitation. Severe storms and hail. Weather modification. Numerical cloud models.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Tan, Ivy (Winter)
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ATOC 525 Atmospheric Radiation (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Solar and terrestrial radiation. Interactions of molecules, aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with radiation of various wavelengths. Radiative transfer through the clear and cloudy atmosphere. Radiation budgets. Satellite and ground-based measurements. Climate implications.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Huang, Yi (Fall)
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ATOC 531 Dynamics of Current Climates (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : The general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans. Atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models. Observations and models of the El Niño and Southern Oscillation phenomena.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Ioannidou, Evangelia (Fall)
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ATOC 540 Synoptic Meteorology 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Analysis of current meteorological data. Description of a geostrophic, hydrostatic atmosphere. Ageostrophic circulations and hydrostatic instabilities. Kinematic and thermodynamic methods of computing vertical motions. Tropical and extratropical condensation rates. Barotropic and equivalent barotropic atmospheres.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Gyakum, John Richard (Fall)
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ATOC 548 Mesoscale Meteorology (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Theory of meteorologically important mesoscale phenomena including mesoscale instabilities, cumulus convection and its organization (including thunderstorms, squall lines, and other forms of severe weather), internal gravity waves, and topographically forced flows. Application of theory to the physical interpretation of observations and numerical simulations.
Terms: Winter 2022
Instructors: Romanic, Djordje (Winter)
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ATOC 557 Research Methods: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : This course is focused on the analysis of observational and modeling data, and the advantages and limitations of different data are discussed. The course covers several analysis methods (regression, principle component analysis, optimal estimation) commonly used in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. In addition to the theory underlying these methods, there will be hands-on applications to observations of Earth.
Terms: Fall 2021
Instructors: Huang, Yi (Fall)
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ATOC 558 Numerical Methods and Laboratory (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Numerical simulation of atmospheric and oceanic processes. Finite difference, finite element, and spectral modelling techniques. Term project including computer modelling of convection or large-scale flows in the atmosphere or ocean.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2021-2022 academic year.
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ATOC 568 Ocean Physics (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Research methods in physical oceanography including data analysis and literature review. Course will be divided into five separate modules focusing on temperature-salinity patterns, ocean circulation, boundary layers, wave phenomena and tides.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Winter
3 hours lecture
Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 512 or permission of instructor
Restriction: Graduate students and final-year Honours Atmospheric Science students. Others by special permission.
Faculty of Science—2021-2022 (last updated Apr. 7, 2021) (disclaimer)
