Coursework

This page contains a list of my coursework so far. Courses are sorted by subject. Asterisks indicate a course that is in progress. Purple rows indicate courses took at Louisiana State University.

Courses planned for the Spring 2012 semested include:

• Mesoscale Meteorology (3 hours)
• Radar Meteorology (4 hours)
• Senior Capstone II (2 hours)
• Partial Differential Equations (3 hours)
• Weather Briefing (1 hour)

Upper-Division Meteorology Courses

For departmental knowledge expectation sheets, visit http://som.ou.edu/academics.php and click on "Current Students".

• Dynamics I (Introduction to Atmospheric Kinematics and Dynamics): basic concepts of Calculus and physics, Newton's Laws of Motion, coordinate systems, reference frames, forces, equations of motion, and force balances.
• Dynamics II (Theory of Atmospheric Flows): scale analysis, forces, viscous force, non-inertial reference frames, Coriolis force, hypsometric equation, isobaric coordinates, total derivatives, equations of motion in spherical coordinates, mass conservation, trajectories, streamlines, geostrophic flow, gradient flow, cyclostrophic flow, inertial flow, thermal wind, mass conservation, vorticity, circulation, vorticity dynamics, and barotropic potential vorticity.
• Dynamics III (Mid-Latitude Synoptic-Scale Dynamics): kinematics of the wind and pressure field, quasi-geostrophic theory, linear perturbation theory, and waves.
• Information Technology Skills for Meteorologists: HTML, Python, raster graphics, regular expressions, vector graphics, GemPak, and GrADS.
• Introduction to Tropical Meteorology: physical controls of tropical weather, tropical circulation, tropics versus mid-latitudes, ocean dynamics, El Nino Southern Oscillation, monsoons, tropical cloud dynamics, tropical cyclones, tropical cyclone dynamics, tropical cyclones and ENSO, Dvorak Scheme, and climate change.
• Meteorological Measurement Systems: observation systems, calibration techniques, static performance characteristics, barometry, thermometry, hygrometry, dynamic performance characteristics, anemometry, precipitation measurements, radiation measurements, visibility, cloud height, upper air measurements, data processing, and data presentation.
• Physical Meteorology I (Thermodynamics): atmospheric composition, state variables, thermodynamics processes, laws of thermodynamics, moist processes, and thermodynamic diagrams.
• Physical Meteorology II (Cloud Physics, Atmospheric Electricity, and Optics): cloud microphysics, cloud droplet and ice nucleation, diffusional growth of droplets and ice crystals, coalescence, riming, aggregation, precipitation, radar, atmospheric electricity, and atmospheric optics.
• Physical Meteorology III (Radiation and Climate): radiation and radiative transfer, atmospheric energy balances, general circulation, climate variability, and climate change
• Synoptic Meteorology: tropical cyclones, cyclone phase diagrams, satellite imagery, jet streams, jet streaks, quasi-geostrophic theory, surface cyclogeneis, and frontogenesis.
• Mesoscale Meteorology: severe storm parameters, single cell storms, multi-cell storms, quasi-linear convective systems, supercell storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, mountain waves, and planetary boundary layers.
• Weather Briefing: Students prepare and present daily weather briefings. The briefing should demonstrate ability to synthesize current weather information on all scales, prepare a forecast and communicate this clearly and succinctly to an audience.
• Radar Meteorology: Principles of weather radar and storm observations including: radar system design, em wave propagation, radar equation for point and distributed targets, Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, power spectrum, I&Q, moments of the power spectrum, ground clutter, attenuation, rainfall measurements using radar reflectivity and using polarization diversity radars, single- and dual-Doppler interpretation and analysis, polarimetric theory and applications, kinematics of convective storms (multi-cell, supercell, mesoscale convective systems, hurricanes) and their radar signatures.

Math Courses

Note that while only Calculus I, II, and IV are listed below, I did complete all 12 hours of calculus. My freshman year, I attended Louisiana State University where Calculus I was five hours and Calculus II was four hours, thus allowing me to begin in Calculus IV (three hours) after transferring to the University of Oklahoma. All calculus classes at the University of Oklahoma are three hours.

• Calculus I: derivatives, product rule, quotient rule, chain rule, optimization, integration, substitution, and integration by parts.
• Calculus II: integration by parts, trigonometric substitution, sequences, series, Taylor and MacLaurin Series, parameterization, polar and cylindrical coordinates, and vectors.
• Calculus IV: multidimensional calculus, partial derivatives, iterated integrals, integrals in polar, cylindrical, and spherical coorindates, and vector calculus.
• Physical Mathematics: ordinary differential equations, LaPlace transforms, Fourier Series, heat equation, and wave equation.
• Linear Algebra: matrix operations, systems of equations, and linear transformations.
• Applied Statistical Methods: central tendency, variation, probability, discrete random variables, continuous random variables, joint probability distributions, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and tests of hypotheses.
• Introduction to Partial Differential Equations: Inner product, Fourier sine and cosine series, convergence theorem, linear operators, heat equation, Laplace equation, wave equation, regular Sturm-Liouville problems, third kind boundary conditions, double Fourier series, Bessel functions, nonhomogeneous problems, Legendre functions, Fourier transforms, Fourier sine and cosine transforms, Green's function, Poisson's equation, images, reserve, multidimensional Fourier transforms, and source functions.