Meteorology

This course serves as an introduction to the study of weather. Among the things students learn in this course are topics such as how weather is monitored; the origin, composition, and structure of our atmosphere; solar and terrestrial radiation; heat, temperature and atmospheric circulation; air pressure; humidity; saturation and stability; clouds, precipitation and weather radar; wind and weather; the atmosphere’s planetary circulation; weather systems of middle latitudes; thunderstorms and tornadoes; tropical weather systems; weather analysis and forecasting; atmospheric optics; and climate and climate change. The course includes two online observations which must be completed each week by visiting the American Meteorological Society’s Online Weather Studies website.