Climatology
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide knowledge and skills related to physical climatology as a tool for understanding atmospheric and climatic processes and for a correct understanding of the dynamics and evolution of natural systems.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will have knowledge and skills related to physical climatology as a tool for understanding atmospheric and climatic processes and for the correct understanding of dynamics and evolution of natural systems. Through lectures, practical activities in the field (on the largest of the Italian valleys equipped by UNIMI with meteo-glacial instrumentation) and laboratory activities in the computing room, students will acquire skills and capacity for collecting, processing, analyzing and modeling meteorological data.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Introduction to Physical Climatology
Climate: definition
The solar system, its planets and their atmospheres
The Earth atmosphere: composition and features
Classification of Earth atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the lower atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the mean atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the upper atmosphere
The radiative terrestrial energy budget
The radiative atmospheric energy budget
Not radiative contributions to Earth energy budget
The greenhouse effect
Global warming: evidences and effects
Sub-surface energy fluxes: magnitude, measurements and features
The hydrological balance (terrestrial and atmospheric): definition and features
Introduction to meteorology
Weather stations
Instruments and sensor for meteorological studies
Accuracy and precision of meteo instruments
Analysis and processing of meteo data
Meteorological data base
Climate: definition
The solar system, its planets and their atmospheres
The Earth atmosphere: composition and features
Classification of Earth atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the lower atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the mean atmosphere
Processes and phenomena characterizing the upper atmosphere
The radiative terrestrial energy budget
The radiative atmospheric energy budget
Not radiative contributions to Earth energy budget
The greenhouse effect
Global warming: evidences and effects
Sub-surface energy fluxes: magnitude, measurements and features
The hydrological balance (terrestrial and atmospheric): definition and features
Introduction to meteorology
Weather stations
Instruments and sensor for meteorological studies
Accuracy and precision of meteo instruments
Analysis and processing of meteo data
Meteorological data base
Prerequisites for admission
Maths, Physics, Physical Geography
Teaching methods
The course will permit to the students to know the atmospheric processes and the climate system thus supporting their understanding of dynamics and evolution of natural phenomena. During the course will be given both lectures on the theoretical basis of Climatology and technical practical activities to understand how to manage and analyse climate and meteo data.
The practical activities will be done in the computer rooms (Labs) of UNIMI.
The course makes use of teaching material made available through Ariel (which is the specific University portal for the teaching sites of the courses): lecture notes, exercises with solutions, in-depth material.
Method of attendance: not compulsory but strongly recommended.
The practical activities will be done in the computer rooms (Labs) of UNIMI.
The course makes use of teaching material made available through Ariel (which is the specific University portal for the teaching sites of the courses): lecture notes, exercises with solutions, in-depth material.
Method of attendance: not compulsory but strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Slides of the lectures available at the ARIEL web site.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will take place in oral form. The students can present an original work they performed by analyzing climate and/or meteo data or they can discuss a paper (dealing with a climatological topic) they have selected on an international peer reviewed journal. After this presentation, the teacher makes a list of questions with the aim of evaluating how much of the used methodologies have been assimilated by the student and how much the student is able to critically approach the investigated problem (in case of data analysis), or evaluating how much of the presented methodologies have been assimilated by the student critically discussing the results (in case of the peer reviewed paper). Finally the teacher makes a couple of questions about the other part of the program.
Type of evaluation: vote out of thirty.
Type of evaluation: vote out of thirty.
GEO/04 - PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY - University credits: 6
Lessons: 48 hours
Professor:
Senese Antonella
Professor(s)