+1 614 688 5758
(Geography)
+1 614 247 6899 (Byrd Polar
Research Center)
email: box.11@osu.edu
- GEOG
210: Physical Geography - Environmental Issues (call number
09697-1)
- Course
Description and Goals -
This course provides an introduction to physical geography using an
environmental science perspective. We
focus on environmental processes and their impacts on our daily lives,
including social issues. From an objective standpoint, we investigate
how interactions of physical and social factors define ‘environmental
problems’. We aim for solutions and ultimately, sustainability.
- Textbook - Physical
Geography: Environmental Issues, ISBN 0-470-03877-2 Wiley,
- History - Taught Autumn 2003,
2004, Winter 2006
- Course
web page
- Course
Description and Goals
-
This course is designed to provide an introduction to Climatology, the
study of the average state of weather on planet earth. Emphasis of
planetary energy budgets, regional climates, climate change, and past
and future climates.
- Textbook - Oliver
J.E. and J.J. Hidore, 2001: Climatology:
An Atmospheric Science, 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall, 410 pp.
ISBN: 0130922056
- Course web
page
- History - Taught Autumn quarter 2006
- GEOG
622.01: Boundary Layer Meterologoy and
Microclimatology
- Course
Description and Goals -
This course covers fundamentals of the energetic atmosphere-surface
interactions, i.e. radiaiton fluxes,
turbulent heat moisture and momentum fluxes, and subsurface conductive
fluxes. The 'surface boundary layer' is the part of the atmosphere
affected by energetic interactions of turbulence and radiation fluxes
with the surface. Humans live in the surface boundary layer.
Atmospheric pollutants are concentrated near the surface and diffuse
into the atmosphere by turbulence regulated by daily and seasonal
cycles of surface solar heating and depending further on surface
properties. Large scale atmospheric motions are largely attributable to
surface energy exchanges. Students will gain the conceptual framework
necessary for an understanding of surface atmosphere interactions and
their potential effects on weather development and human impacts.
- Textbook - Arya, S. P. S., 2001: Micrometeorology,
Academic Press, 2nd Ed., 307 pp., ISBN 0-12-059354-8
- History - Taught Winter 2004,
2005, 2006
- Course web
page
- GEOG
622.02: Microclimatological Field Methods and Data Analysis
- Course
Description and Goals -
This course is designed to apply knowledge gained in 622.01 (Boundary
Layer Meteorology), and experience the ‘real-world’ of instrumented
field observations. Development of useful data products from the
original data is an important goal. Small-scale (micro) meteorological
instrumentation, experimental design, electronics, computer-aided data
analysis, and logistics techniques are taught from a practical and
introductory perspective.
- Textbook - Arya, S. P. S., 2001: Micrometeorology,
Academic Press, 2nd Ed., 307 pp., ISBN 0-12-059354-8
- Course web
page
- History - Taught Autumn quarter 2005, 2006
- GEOG
820.01: Readings in Climatology
- Course
Description and Goals - It
is extremely valuable to keep pace with the continually output and
increasing literature-base in ones discipline. In the climate and
atmospheric sciences, there are exciting advancements continually
unfolding, spanning the interdisciplinarian
topics of: climate change and melting ice caps; severe weather; climate
and health; air pollution; remote sensing results; physical processes
and more. In this seminar we endeavor to keep abreast with a flood of
information by collectively reviewing numerous journals of interest,
e.g. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Journal of
Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research, Climatic Change, Monthly
Weather Review, Geophysical Research Letters, Science, Nature, etc. The
format of the course is a 1-hour meeting twice per week. We will divide
journals of interest among the group. Each week each person brings
articles of interest to the attention of group and presents a brief
synopsis of a single article, potentially including a critique. In
addition, each week, a different participant makes a short presentation
on their current work or on a topic of interest. One research report
will be due at the end of the quarter on: a topic related to your
interests; a thesis segment; or the foundation of an article to be
published. This seminar will: broaden your perspective on the
atmospheric sciences; refine your public speaking skills; and allow you
to stay informed on the cutting edge in the climate and atmospheric
sciences.
- journals
online journals
- History - Taught Winter quarter 2004
- Course
Description and Goals - Earth’s climate has
fluctuated widely
in the past, between droughts, ice ages, and climatic optima. Indeed,
climatic
change is a certainty. We are presently faced with the potential for
abrupt
climate change resulting from inadvertent human-induced environmental
modification. Paleoclimatology, the study of the past climate and
environments
of the Earth, provides a long-term perspective on the nature of global
climate
variability that is critical for evaluating the sensitivity of the
Earth system
to past, present and future changes in forcing. This course
will provide students
with a overview of paleoclimatology by examining the use of proxy
records such
as marine and lake sediment sequences, ice cores, tree rings, corals
and
documentary data to reconstruct past climatic conditions.
Dating methods will be introduced. Seminal
publications in paleoclimatology will
be reviewed in tandem with state of the art research papers addressing
outstanding paleoclimate questions. Throughout,
we critically analyze our current
understanding of past climates and environments and identify promising
directions for future research. Topics
include: abrupt climate change, human
evolution and climate, biosphere-climate interactions and paleoclimate
modeling.
- reading list
- History - Taught Winter 2005
to main page
last edited: 5-Feb-2006,
webmaster