GEO 391
GLOBAL
LAND
ATMOSPHERE
INTERACTION
DYNAMICS (GLAD)
(MWF 2:00-3:00)
Fall 2012
Goals:
To provide an introduction to the role of land in weather and climate systems,
and to transition the students from learning a course to doing a research
project.
Topics:
Basics of terrestrial surface energy, water and carbon balances.
Micrometeorology and atmospheric boundary layer. Ecohydrology, biometeorology,
hydrometeorology, and hydroclimatology. Theory, modeling, and
observations. Spatial scales: point scale (meters) to global. Temporal scales:
seconds to centuries. The students will be motivated to learn programming in
FORTRAN 90, doing graphics with NCAR Command Language (NCL), formulating science
questions, designing numerical experiments, obtaining results using the NCAR Community Land Model
(CLM4), visiting tower flux sites to see how radiative fluxes, ground heat
fluxes, and turbulent fluxes of CO2, water vapor, and sensible heat
are measured, discussing/interpreting the results, writing scientific reports,
and making scientific presentations.
Instructor: Dr. Zong-Liang Yang, Tel: 512-471-3824, Email: liang@jsg.utexas.edu
Lectures:
| Week | Monday | Wednesday | Friday | Topics |
| 1 | August 29 (first class) | August 31 |
GLAD;
History of Land Surface Studies;
Running
CLM on Lonestar Shuttleworth: Ch. 1 Hydrometeorology and the global water cycle |
|
| 2 | Sept 3: Labor Day Holiday | Sept 5 | Sept 7 |
Overview: land surface processes and
modeling Shuttleworth: Ch. 24 SVATs |
| 3 | Sept 10 | Sept 12 | Sept 14: Quiz #1 |
Radiation;
TACC,
Lonestar, Ranger, FORTRAN, UNIX Shuttleworth: Ch. 5: Terrestrial radiation |
| 4 | Sept 17 | Sept 19 | Sept 21 | Bonan,
Ch. 13, 14, 15; ABL,
SEB,
Turbulence,
Thermodynamics Shuttleworth: Ch. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12 |
| 5 | Sept 24 | Sept 26 | Sept 28 | Bonan: Ch. 16, 17; Leaf
energy fluxes and leaf photosynthesis (The
classic
Farquhar model; New applications:
Bonan
1995,
Bonan
et al. 2011,
Chen
et al. 2011) Shuttleworth: Ch. 21 Canopy processes and canopy resistances |
| 6 | Oct 1 | Oct 3: Quiz #2 | Oct 5 | Bonan: Ch. 18: plant canopy,
big leaf models,
z0,
d, LAI; LAI
measurements (in
situ method,
satellite remote sensing) Shuttleworth: Ch. 21, 22 Whole canopy interactions |
| 7 | Oct 8 | Oct 10: CLM4 Modeling with Yongfei Zhang | Oct 12: hydrology | Bonan: Ch. 11, 12: water
balance, watershed hydrology, and river routing Shuttleworth: Ch. 1, 12, 13, 14, 23 The global water cycle, precipitation, evaporation |
| 8 | Oct 15: Quiz #3; Soil map | Oct 17 | Oct 19 | Bonan: Ch. 9, soil physics:
soil classifications and soil temperatures Shuttleworth: Ch. 4, 6, 7 Surface energy fluxes |
| 9 | Oct 22 | Oct 24: 10-L Soil Model | Oct 26 | Bonan: Ch. 9, 10: soil
physics: soil moisture and soil biogeochemistry;
Soil Physics Multi-State Research Project Shuttleworth: Ch. 24 SVATs |
| 10 | Oct 29: Quiz #4 | Oct 31 | Nov 2: Field trip (TBD) (Driving directions, Site characteristics, Eddy covariance measurement and energy balance closure) | Bonan: Ch. 19-24: ecosystems, vegetation dynamics,
global biogeography Shuttleworth: Ch. 24: SVATs |
| 11 | Nov 5 (Literature Review Due) | Nov 7: LSMs | Nov 9 | Bonan: Ch. 25, 27, 28, 29:
Land-climate interactions Shuttleworth: Ch. 25: Sensitivity to land surface exchanges |
| 12 | Nov 12: Quiz #5; Urbanization; CLMU | Nov 14 | Nov 16: subgrid scale variability of land surface features; scaling up and down (zooming in and out) | Bonan: Ch. 27, 30: Land use
and land cover change, urbanization Shuttleworth: Ch. 25C: The influence of imposed persistent changes in land cover |
| 13 | Nov 19: Biomes, PFTs, and DGVMs | Nov 21 | Nov 23: Thanksgiving | Modeling discussions:
Bonan, G. B., and
S. Levis (2010), Quantifying carbon-nitrogen
feedbacks in the Community Land Model (CLM4),
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
37, L07401,
doi:10.1029/2010GL042430. Lawrence, D.M., K.W. Oleson, M.G. Flanner, P.E. Thornton, S.C. Swenson, P.J. Lawrence, X. Zeng, Z.-L. Yang, S. Levis, K. Sakaguchi, G.B. Bonan, and A. G. Slater, 2011: Parameterization improvements and functional and structural advances in version 4 of the Community Land Model, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, [pdf] |
| 14 | Nov 26: Quiz #6: Accomplishments, Challenges, and Opportunities | Nov 28 | Nov 30 | Modeling discussions; Presentations |
| 15 | Dec 3 | Dec 5 | Dec 7 (Last class) | Presentations |
Office Hours:
Friday, 3-5pm or by appointment, JGB Room 5.220DA
Required Textbook:
Ecological Climatology:
Concepts and Applications (Gordon Bonan, 2008, Second Edition, Cambridge
University Press, pp. 550)
Assignments: click here
Prerequisite:
Basic calculus and physics (M308M and PHY 303K or equivalent courses) and an
interest in interdisciplinary processes.
Grading Policy:
Generally, homework will be
due one week from the date when it is given; if it is given on Monday, it will
be due next Monday in the beginning of the class. Late homework will not be
accepted without a pretty good reason. You are encouraged to work together on
your homework if you wish, but make sure you understand what you write down.
Pop-quizzes will be given at
random times without prior notice, about every 2 weeks. In these you will
be given a question related to the subject matter and/or assigned reading
materials to write about or a problem to solve, and about 5 minutes to do
it. Please bring loose-leaf paper, a pencil, and a scientific calculator to
every class.
There will be no mid-term test
and final examination. Participation in class discussions, and raising good
questions during lecture are strongly encouraged. Grades will be determined from
the following formula:
| Homework/Participation and Basic Programming | 40% |
| Bi-weekly 5-minute quiz | 15% |
| Land Surface Modeling (CLM4) | 15% |
| Literature Review (Due November 5, 2012) [see Elements of Style and A Guide to Write a Paper by G.H. Jirka (1992)] | 15% |
| Presentation (final report due November 30, 2012) | 15% |
Graduate
students need to read and comment on cutting-edge research articles in the
literature. In addition, graduate students are expected to demonstrate more
skills in quantitative analysis and numerical modeling.
Final Letter Grades: The percent-letter grade relationship will usually be:
>90 A, 80-89 B, 70-79 C, 60-69 D, and < 60 Ouch.
Your attendance and extra credits will affect your final grades.
Major References:
Global Physical Climatology, D. L. Hartmann, 1994
The Atmospheric Boundary Layer,
J. R. Garratt, QC 880.4 B65 G37 1992.
Handbook of Hydrology,
D. R. Maidment, GB 662.5 M35 1993.
Land Surface Evaporation: Measurement and Parameterization, T. J. Schmugge and J.-C. Andre, QC 915.6 L36 1991.
An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, 2nd edition, K.N. Liou, 2002
A Climate Modeling Primer, 2nd edition, K. McGuffie and A. Henderson-Sellers, 1997
Climate System Modeling,
K. E. Trenberth, QC 981 C65 1992.
Mesoscale Meteorological Modeling, Second Edition, R. A. Pielke, Sr., Academic
Press, 2002.