GEOG 4331 / 5331          Mountain Climatology            Spring 2007
Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15 pm Hellems 255


Roger G. Barry CIRES/Geography, phone 492-5488
Office - 1540 30th St., Research Lab. 2 Room 203
e-mail: rbarry@kryos.colorado.edu
Office Hours: Guggenheim 203: 1:30-2:00 pm T, Th; RL2 by appointment

Structure The course will survey research on alttitudinal and topographic effects on weather and climate in mountain areas and discuss mountain climate characteristics in several different regions. A basic weather/climate college background course is required.
Grading 4331 : Mid-terms I & II 25%, Final 50%
5331: Mid-terms I & II 20%, Final 30%, Paper 30%.
Text: R.G. Barry, 1992 Mountain Weather and Climate, (2nd edn. Paperback) Routledge

DATES                                                              MAJOR TOPICS
16 Jan. INTRODUCTION: Scale considerations; physical characteristics of mountains.
18 Jan. CLIMATIC OBSERVATIONS
23 Jan. CLIMATE FACTORS
25 Jan. - 6 Feb. ALTITUDE EFFECTS: Pressure, water vapor, radiation components, temperature, wind.
8 - 20 Feb. OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS: Airflow-lee waves and larger-scale effects, dynamically-forced winds, thermal wind systems
22 Feb. Review
27 Feb. MID-TERM EXAM I [5331 PROJECT PAPER ABSTRACTS DUE]
1 - 20 Mar. CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS: Topo & Micro Climate, Slope & aspect effects, Energy budget & temperature, Cloud regimes, Precipitation, Moisture budget.
27 - 29 Mar. Spring Break
3 - 5 Apr. BIOCLIMATOLOGY: (altitude and cold)
10 - 17Apr. REGIONAL CASE STUDIES: Equatorial, tropical, and mid-latitudes.
19 Apr. MID TERM EXAM II
24 Apr. CLIMATE CHANGE IN MOUNTAIN AREAS:
26 Apr. PROJECT REPORT PRESENTATIONS (5331):
1 May Review
3 May No Class
5 May (Sat.) FINAL EXAM: 10:30am - 1:00 p.m.


Downloadable Syllabus in MSWord