An Introduction To
The General Circulation of the Atmosphere
AT605
Professor David Randall
Department of Atmospheric Science
Colorado State University
Course Outline
Copyright 2007 by David A. Randall
Last updated 3/13/08
About the Above Image
This image (actually pieced together from multiple images) was acquired on
December 8, 1992, by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, as it swung by Earth on its way
out to Jupiter. It shows a wonderful but physically impossible view of the
Southern Hemisphere. A substantial fraction of the image should be in darkness,
even though the image depicts a time near the summer solstice of the Southern
Hemisphere. This view was created by patching together a mosaic of several
images taken by Galileo over a 24-hour period, and remapping them as they would
be seen from above the pole. South America, Africa, and Australia are
respectively seen at the middle left, upper right, and lower right.
Of particular interest are the beautiful cloud patterns associated with
extratropical cyclones in the storm track ringing Antarctica. This picture is
reminiscent of photos of RdishpanS experiments, in which aspects of the general
circulation are simulated in a rotating, differentially heated laboratory tank.
Below are individual PDF sections of the course material. The complete AT605
book is linked below these if you wish to download it instead. Beware,
however; it is 17MB.
Cover Page
The new AT605 complete book will be available soon.
QBO Movie
Project 1
- readera40daily.f90 :
Fortran 90 read program.
NOTE: These files were created on
a big-endian computer. If you are using an intel or
PC-based
computer, you may need to byte-swap.
- Data files:
Project 2
- readncep.f90 :
Fortran 90 read program.
NOTE: The undefined flag of 1.e36 is used when the isentropic surfaces
are "underground".
- Data file:
ERA40-based atlas of the general circulation may be found
here: ERA40_PRS19.pdf
This file is 73MB!