MET 3503: Weather & forecasting
Fall 2017
T period 5-6 (11:45 AM - 1:40 PM) and R period 5 (11:45 AM - 12:35 PM)
New Engineering Bldg (NEB) 202
Instructor: Sanghoon Kim
Office: 3108 B Turlington Hall
Office hour: R period 6-7 (12:50 PM to2:45 PM) or by appointment
Email:
Note: For best results – utilize office hours. If you are having trouble with the course, come and see me so that I can help you!I am always available and approachable!
PREREQUISITE: GEO2200, GEO2242, or instructor permission
Course Information
It is assumed that you have a basic understanding of meteorological concepts such as the difference between high and low pressure systems and the type of weather associated with each. You are responsible for any prerequisite knowledge. Individual time spent completing exercises and homeworks will vary among students depending upon prior knowledge and ability to visualize/recognize spatial patterns.Your enrollment in this course acknowledges your acceptance of the information contained within this syllabus.
Required Materials
- Storm Watchers: The turbulent history of weather prediction from Franklin’s Kite to El Nino
(Hard copy or Digital) (ISBN 047138108X)
- Explorations in Meteorology: A Lab Manual: Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(ISBN 0495010294) (Recommended)
- Colored pencils(Red, Blue, Green, Purple, Brown, Black)
Grades and Grading Scale
Exam1: 20%
Exam2: 20%
Homeworks: 20%
Reading Assignments: 15%
Weather Discussion: 15%
Final Project: 10%
A: 93.0 % and above B+: 87.0 – 89.9% C+: 77.0 – 79.9% D+: 67.0 – 69.9%
A-: 90.0– 92.9 % B: 82.0–86.9% C: 72.0 – 76.9% D: 62.0 – 66.9%
B-: 80.0 – 81.9% C- : 70.0 – 71.9% D- : 60.0 – 61.9%
It is your responsibility to know your grade. Grades will be posted to Canvas. You have 2 weeks after an assignment or exam is returned to meet with me to discuss its grade. After two weeks your grade on any given assignment is final and is non-reviewable.
Exams
A midterm and a final exam will be given. Exams are closed book and will take place in our normal classroom during our normal class time. No programmable calculators, cell phones, iPads, iPods, etc. will be permitted. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for an exam OR after the first person has left the room (whichever comes first) you will not be permitted to take the exam. Be on time.
No make-up exams will be given. Exceptions will be made in those cases where they can provide proper documentation (doctor’s note, police report, etc.) of the absence.
Homeworks
5 assignments will be given during the semester. If you know you will miss a class that an assignment is due, you will need to turn it in early. I will accept these assignments up to one class late for 70% credit; no credit will be given for assignments turned in beyond that.
Historical readings
You will be expected to read a number of chapters in John D. Cox’s nicely written Storm Watchers. Each chapter in this book profiles a famous meteorologist. You will be expected to turn in a paragraph for each assigned chapter during a particular week to Canvas. During most weeks you can expect to read two chapters (15-30 pages). These paragraphs should be thought of as summaries or overviews of each meteorologist. A reading assignment will be due at the beginning of class on Tuesdays.
Weather Discussion
After a couple weeks of class, we will start the weather discussion (weather analysis and forecast) as groups. Details about the weather discussion will be given out at a later date.
Final Project (Case Study)
Towards the end of the semester, you will work individually to analyze the weather patterns of extreme events such as heat waves, floods, droughts, snow, tornadoes or hurricanes that occurred on a specific date. You will analyze data obtained from any sources such as weather stations and radiosondes to analyze this event.You will present your case study with your analyzed data and weather maps. Details about the final project will be given out at a later date.
Canvas Information
This syllabus,announcements concerning exams,all lecture contents,grades, and other course information will be posted to Canvas. Access this page at you miss a class, it is your responsibility to learn the material covered during your absence. Come see me if you have questions.
Disability Statement
Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. This office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. Please provide this documentation to me as soon as possible, particularly if you have a physical disability that requires modification of the outdoor data collection portion of the course.
Academic Honesty
You are bound by the student academic honor code.“We, the members of the University of Florida Community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.”
“On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.”
You are encouraged to work together on projects and to discuss strategies for completing map analyses, etc, but all assignments must represent your work and be written in your words. The first case of academic dishonesty will receive a grade of zero for the assignment or exam. A second offense will result in a report to the appropriate student body.
Attendance
I have no policy regarding lecture attendance. You are adults and the decision of whether or not to come to class is your own, however, your performance in this course will suffer if you do not attend class regularly. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to obtain the material covered for the day you missed. Once class starts, you don’t interfere with other students’ ability to hear the lectures by talking, using cell phones, and/or otherwise being distracting. If you have a question, raise your hand or ask me at the end of class.
Schedule
Date
/Tuesday
/Thursday
Aug 22/24
/Syllabus
/Lec1 Intro
Aug 29/31
/Lec2 Forecasting Process
/Lec3 Satellite Images
Chap 1,2 due
Sep 5/7
/Lec3Satellite Images + Radar
/wx discussion 1
Chap 4,5 due
Sep 12/14
/Lec4 Isopleths
/wx discussion 2
Chap 6,7 due
Sep 19/21
/Lec5 Metarcodes
HW1 due
/wx discussion 3
Chap 9, 12 due
Sep 26/28
/Lec6 Fronts
HW2 due
/wx discussion 4
Chap 13, 14 due
Oct3/5
/Lec7 Froces & Winds
HW3 due
/Review
Oct 10/12
/Midterm
/Lec8 Winds
Oct 17/19
/Lec8 + wx discussion5
/Lec9 Skew T
Chap 15, 16 dueOct 24/26
/Lec9 + wx discussion6
/Lec10 Stability
Chap 17,18 dueOct 31/Nov 2
/Lec10 + wx discussion7
HW4 due
/Lec11Vertical Motion & QG theory
Chap 19, 20 due
Nov7/9
/Lec11 + wx discussion8
HW5 due
/Guest Speaker
Chap 21 due
Nov 14/16
/wx discussion9
/TBD
Chap 22, 23 dueNov 21
/Working day
/No Class – Thanksgiving
Nov 28/30
/Final Project
/Review
Chap 26, 27 due
Dec 5
/Final Exam