Calendar

Calendar Legend

(P): Lecture taught by Prof. Ronald Prinn
(M): Lecture taught by Dr. Robert McClatchey

LEC # TOPICS KEY DATES
1

Course Overview and Role of Radiation in Climate System (P and M)


  • Global Energy Budget
  • Chemical Composition and Radiative Effects
  • Thermal Structure of the Atmosphere
2

Physics of Radiation (P)


  • Thermodynamic Concepts
  • Energy Levels in Molecules
3

Molecular Spectroscopy (P)


  • Absorbtion and Emission Rules
  • Spectra (Rotational, Vibrational, Electronic)
  • Line Shapes
4

Equation of Radiative Transfer (M)

Derivation - Special Cases
5

Equation of Radiative Transfer (cont.) (M)

Fluxes and Simple Solutions - Radiative Equilibrium Approximation (Exercise 1)
6

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (M)

The HITRAN Data Base and Applications (Exercise 2)

 Exercise 1 due
7

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)

Band Models (Weak Line, Strong Line, Random, Regular, k Distribution)

 Exercise 2 due
8

Modeling Atmospheric Transmission and Emission (cont.) (M)

MODTRAN - R.M. (Exercise 3)
9

Scattering of Radiation by Molecules and Particles (1 Class Period) (M)


  • Single Scattering
  • Size Distributions
  • Mie Scattering (Exercise 4)
 Exercise 3 due
10

Multiple Scattering (1 Class Period) (M)

Discrete Ordinates (Exercise 5)

 Exercise 4 due
11

Remote Sensing (4 Class Periods) (cont.) (M)


  • Scattered Sunlight (Observations from Ground, from Satellite)
  • Retrieval of Gases, Particulate Information, Surface Properties
 Exercise 5 due
12

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)


  • Thermal Emission
  • Weighting Functions
  • Temperature and Water Vapor Retrieval
  • Limb Scanning
13

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)

Application of MODTRAN to Remote Sensing (Exercise 6)
14

Remote Sensing (cont.) (M)

Miscellaneous Topics and Summary (Microwave Remote Sensing, Active Remote Sensing - LIDAR and RADAR)

 Exercise 6 due five days after Lec #14