StudyQA — Master: Meteorology — University of Hawaii at Manoa (Page 8)

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

Through courses in dynamic, synoptic, and physical meteorology, students develop a strong foundation in tropical meteorology, the department’s special field, and are prepared to do research in the atmospheric sciences. Candidates should have a thorough preparation in physics (with calculus), chemistry, and mathematics through differential equations. Undergraduate courses in physical, dynamic, and synoptic meteorology are expected, but they can be taken in the first year.

Our students come from Hawai‘i, from the US mainland and from other countries. The main qualification to join our program is good performance in an undergraduate program that includes basic training in mathematics (at least through differential equations) and physics. Some of our graduate students have come to us with undergraduate degrees in atmospheric science, but many others have come with undergraduate degrees in physics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering or related subjects, and without any prior courses in meteorology.

MET/ATMO 101 Introduction to Meteorology (3) For nonscience majors and prospective science teachers. Basic atmospheric physics, sun-Earth-atmosphere interrelationships, pollution, major weather systems, weather forecasting, weather of Hawai'i. DP
MET/ATMO 101L Introduction to Meteorology Lab (1) (1 3-hr Lab) Exercises with meteorological data and measurement systems. Characteristics of Hawaiian winds, temperatures, and rainfall. Pre: 101 (or concurrent) or 200 (or concurrent). DY
MET/ATMO 102 Pacific Climates and Cultures (3) Highlights the interface between the observed weather and climate of the Pacific and the past and future culture of the people of the Hawaiian and Pacific islands. A-F only. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 199 Introduction to MET Undergraduate Directed Research (V) Students gain familiarity with MET/ATMO research. Students can select 1-3 credits per semester for maximum 6 credits over 4 semesters. Students must pre-arrange research and reading content with instructor. Repeatable up to six credits. Freshman and sophomore standing only. CR/NC only. Pre: instructor approval.
MET/ATMO 200 Atmospheric Processes and Phenomena (3) Atmospheric variables, gas laws, radiation processes, thermodynamics, conservation laws, dynamic approximations, clouds and precipitation, convection, atmospheric circulations, mid-latitude and tropical weather systems, forecasting, climate. Pre: PHYS 170 and MATH 241. DP
MET/ATMO 302 Atmospheric Physics (3) Energy and thermodynamics, statics and stability, physical processes of cloud formation, radiation and Earth-atmosphere heat balance, kinetic theory, optical effects. Pre: 200, MATH 242, and PHYS 272; or consent. DP
MET/ATMO 303 Introduction to Atmospheric Dynamics (3) Scalar and vector development of basic laws of hydrodynamics, equations of motion, kinematics, divergence and vorticity, viscosity and turbulence, introduction to numerical weather prediction, general circulation. Pre: 302 and MATH 244. DP
MET/ATMO 305 Meteorological Instruments and Observations (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) First- and second-order measurement systems. Response of wind, temperature, and recording instruments. Discussion of advance system including radar. Planning of field programs. Pre: 302 and PHYS 272/272L. DP
MET/ATMO 310 Global Environmental Change (3) Global environmental change problems such as carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect, acid rain, chlorofluorocarbons and the ozone layer, global deforestation and the effect on climate, etc. Pre: 200, OCN 201, GG 101, GG 103, or GG 170; or consent. (Cross-listed as OCN 310) DP
MET/ATMO 320 Programming for Meteorologists (3) Scientific programming in Fortran 77, graphics software and meteorological applications. A-F or Audit. Pre: 302 (or concurrent) and MATH 241; or consent.
MET/ATMO 395 Undergraduate Internship (V) Experiential approach to earth science; students serve as interns to field professionals; responsibilities include supervised field work. Open to undergraduate SOEST majors. Repeatable one time. CR/NC only. Pre: junior/senior standing and consent. (Fall only)
MET/ATMO 399 Undergraduate Directed Reading (V) Individual reading in Atmospheric Sciences. Repeatable one time, up to three credits. MET/ATMO students only. Junior and senior standing only. A-F only. Pre: consent.
MET/ATMO 402 Applied Atmospheric Dynamics (3) Advanced concepts in dynamics: vorticity, cyclogenesis, jet streams, fronts, mesoscale circulations. Pre: 303. DP
MET/ATMO 405 Satellite Meteorology (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Orbital elements, ephemerides, viewing geometry; radiation, satellite sensors; interpreting satellite data; applications to synoptic meteorology and forecasting. Pre: 302. DP
MET/ATMO 406 Tropical Meteorology (3) History; tropical clouds and hydrometeors; typhoons; monsoons; local and diurnal effects. Pre: 303. DP
MET/ATMO 412 Meteorological Analysis Lab (3) (2 3-hr Lab) Techniques of portraying and analyzing atmospheric structure and weather systems in middle and high latitudes; modern methods of forecasting extratropical systems. Pre: 303 or concurrent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 416 Tropical Analysis Lab (3) (2 3-hr Lab) Techniques of portraying and analyzing atmospheric structure and weather systems in tropical and equatorial regions; forecasting tropical systems. Pre: 303 or concurrent.
MET/ATMO 499 Undergraduate Thesis (3) Capstone for senior Meteorology majors. Undergraduate thesis project includes literature review, experiment or research design, data collection and analysis, technical writing of a final thesis paper and oral presentation of the paper. Junior and senior standing only. A-F only. Pre: 302, 303 (or concurrent).
MET/ATMO 600 Atmospheric Dynamics I (3) Governing equations for moist atmospheric motions, approximations, basic theoretical models, boundary layer dynamics, atmospheric waves, quasi-geostrophic theory for mid-latitudes. Pre: 402, and either MATH 402 or MATH 405; or consent.
MET/ATMO 601 Atmospheric Dynamics II (3) Overview of dynamic meteorology, numerical weather prediction, geophysical fluid instabilities, approximate dynamical systems, atmospheric general circulation, stratospheric dynamics. Pre: 600 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 606 Cumulus Dynamics (3) Dynamics of convective systems: tornadoes, waterspouts, squall lines. Interactions with synoptic scale. Pre: 620 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 607 Mesoscale Meteorology (3) Scale analysis. Observational and theoretical aspects of mesoscale circulation systems. Pre: 600 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 610 Tropical Climate and Weather (3) Climate and general circulation of the tropics; El Niño and Southern Oscillation; intraseasonal oscillation; trade winds; tropical weather systems; energy balance; typhoons. Pre: 303 or consent.
MET/ATMO 611 Satellite Data Applications (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr. Lab) Principles and practices of satellite remote sensing as used in the atmospheric sciences, specifically clouds, aerosols, precipitation, ocean and land cover datasets from various satellites. Develop skills including data manipulation, analysis, and visualization using Matlab. A-F only. Pre: 620 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 614 Tropical Cyclones (3) Lecture covering fundamentals of tropical cyclone structure, motion, and impacts on society. Observations from satellites, aircraft, ships and buoys, and numerical simulations focusing on storm structure and track. Some forecasting exercises. Repeatable one time. Pre: 600 and 610, or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 616 Monsoon Meteorology (3) Synoptic components of monsoons, regional and temporal variability, numerical models, research exercises. Pre: 610 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 620 Physical Meteorology (3) Molecular kinetics, atmospheric thermodynamics, cloud physics, precipitation processes, atmospheric electricity, scattering and absorption of solar radiation, absorption and emission of infrared radiation, radiative transfer. Pre: 302 or consent.
MET/ATMO 628 Radar Meteorology (3) (2 lec, 1 3-hr lab) Radar hardware, electromagnetic propagation and scattering, radar equation, signal processing, precipitation estimation and polarimetric applications, Multi-Doppler wind synthesis, mobile and spaceborne radars, forecasting, and data assimilation applications. A-F only. Pre: 620 (with a minimum grade of B- or higher) or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 631 Statistical Meteorology (3) Probability; frequency distributions of atmospheric variables; linear models; time series analysis (frequency and time domain); principal component analysis; statistical weather forecasting and verification. Pre: MATH 371. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 632 Advanced Statistical Methods in the Geosciences (3) Methods for numerous multivariate analyses will include singular spectrum, extended empirical orthogonal function, singular-value decomposition, canonical correlation, discriminant and cluster analysis. Other advanced topics include wavelet analysis, statistical downscaling and Bayesian analysis. A-F only and audit. Pre: 631 or consent. (Every 3rd year)
MET/ATMO 665 Small-Scale Air-Sea Interaction (3) Observations and theory of small-scale processes which couple the atmosphere and ocean boundary layers, including introduction to turbulence theory and parameterization of turbulent fluxes. Pre: MATH 402 and 403 (or their equivalents) and either 600 or OCN 620; or consent. (Alt. years) (Cross-listed as OCN 665)
MET/ATMO 666 Large-Scale Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (3) Lecture/seminar introduces physical oceanography and meteorology students to the state-of-the-art theories and observations of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction, as well as conveying the fundamental understanding that has been developed during the past 30 years. Emphasis will be on phenomena such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and global climate change. Repeatable one time. Pre: 600 or OCN 620, or consent. (Alt. years) (Cross-listed as OCN 666)
MET/ATMO 699 Directed Research (V) Repeatable unlimited times. Pre: consent.
MET/ATMO 700 Thesis Research (V) Repeatable unlimited times.
MET/ATMO 702 Numerical Weather Prediction (3) (2 Lec, 1 3-hr Lab) Fundamental methods and techniques in numerical weather prediction: time differencing, spatial finite differencing, spectral methods, numerical stability, explicit and implicit methods. Modern operational and research forecast models. Hands-on laboratory includes simple to complex dynamic models, with a term project. Repeatable one time. Pre: 600 or OCN 620; MATH 407 or 408; or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 704 Climate and Climate Variability (3) Physical basis of climate, numerical climate models, paleoclimatic indicators, modern instrumental climate records, assessment of human impact on climate, predictions of future climate. Repeatable one time. Pre: 600 or OCN 620, or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 706 Tropical Climate Dynamics and Modeling (3) Overview of current progress in tropical climate dynamics with a particular focus on large-scale atmosphere-ocean interactions; introduction of basic numerical techniques for students to construct and run immediate tropical atmosphere and ocean models. Pre: 600.
MET/ATMO 708 General Circulation of the Atmosphere (3) Theory, observations, large-scale analyses, and global model simulations that describe characteristic large-scale circulation of the Earth's atmosphere. Includes zonally averaged climatology, asymmetric features of the general circulation, and El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon. Repeatable one time. Pre: 600 or consent. (Alt. years)
MET/ATMO 752 Special Topics in Meteorology (3) Concentrated studies on selected atmospheric problems. Repeatable two times. Pre: 600 or consent.
MET/ATMO 765 Seminar in Meteorology (1) Participation in departmental seminars and presentation of a seminar on research results. Includes written critiques of departmental seminars. Repeatable three times. Pre: consent.
MET/ATMO 800 Dissertation Research (V) Repeatable unlimited times.

Requirements

Application form;
One official copy of transcripts directly from the registrar of each institution attended;
Official GRE (GEN) scores (required of all doctoral applicants; strongly recommended for M.S. applicants);
Official TOEFL score report (Foreign applicants); and
Application fee $100
Interest statement;
Three letters of recommendation from former professors or employers;
Curriculum vitae (one page).