This course provides a quantitative, order-of-magnitude understanding of atmospheric and climate dynamics in Earth's tropics. Emphasis is placed on the physical processes that control the horizontal and vertical thermal structure of the tropical atmosphere, and on the interaction between moist convection (thunderstorms) and large-scale atmospheric circulations. Key topics may vary each year depending on emerging developments in tropical climate science and student interests, and include: Hadley circulation, monsoons, equatorial waves, convective organization, the Madden-Julian Oscillation, tropical cyclones, ENSO, and tropical climate stability. The course also explores comparative planetary atmospheres, examining how tropical dynamics manifest on planets such as Venus, Titan, and slowly rotating exoplanets. Recommended Prerequisites: ESS 246A: Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics: The Atmospheric Circulation; ESS 363F: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics; GEOPHYS GEOPHYS 238 / ME 347: Waves in Solids and Fluids; or equivalent.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This course provides a quantitative, order-of-magnitude understanding of atmospheric and climate dynamics in Earth's tropics. Emphasis is placed on the physical processes that control the horizontal and vertical thermal structure of the tropical atmosphere, and on the interaction between moist convection (thunderstorms) and large-scale atmospheric circulations. Key topics may vary each year depending on emerging developments in tropical climate science and student interests, and include: Hadley circulation, monsoons, equatorial waves, convective organization, the Madden-Julian Oscillation, tropical cyclones, ENSO, and tropical climate stability. The course also explores comparative planetary atmospheres, examining how tropical dynamics manifest on planets such as Venus, Titan, and slowly rotating exoplanets. Recommended Prerequisites: ESS 246A: Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate Dynamics: The Atmospheric Circulation; ESS 363F: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics; GEOPHYS 238 / ME 347: Waves in Solids and Fluids; or equivalent.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.