Geography 4331 / 5331
Mountain Climatology
Spring 2006
Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15 pm MCOL-E-186
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: 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) Routledge |
DATES
MAJOR TOPICS
| 17 Jan. | INTRODUCTION: Scale considerations; physical characteristics of mountains.(M.C. Serreze) |
| 19 Jan. | CLIMATIC OBSERVATIONS: (M.C. Serreze) |
| 24 Jan-7 Feb. | CLIMATE FACTORS AND ALTITUDE EFFECTS: Pressure, water vapor, radiation components, temperature, wind. |
| 9-23 Feb. | OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS: Airflow-lee waves and larger-scale effects, dynamically-forced winds, thermal wind systems |
| 28 Feb. | Review |
| 2 Mar. | MID-TERM EXAM I [5331 PROJECT PAPER ABSTRACTS DUE] |
| 9-16 Mar. | CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS: Energy budgets and temperature, cloud regimes, precipitation, moisture budget. |
| 21-23 Mar. | BIOCLIMATOLOGY: (altitude and cold) |
| 27-31 Mar. | Spring Break |
| 4-18 Apr. | REGIONAL CASE STUDIES: Equatorial, tropical, and mid-latitudes. |
| 20 Apr. | MID TERM EXAM II |
| 25-27 Apr. | CLIMATE CHANGE IN MOUNTAIN AREAS: |
| 2 May | PROJECT REPORT PRESENTATIONS (5331) |
| 4 May | Review |
| 6 May (Sat.) | FINAL EXAM: 4:30-7:00 p.m. |