General Circulation of the Atmosphere

Course website

Dates: The class will run during Semester 1 2026

Lecture / Workshop Times: (tbc).

Location: School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment (9 Rainforest Walk), Monash University Clayton Campus.

Costs: None

This subject provides an introduction to the large-scale circulation features of the atmosphere and the processes that maintain them. Students will be introduced to a set of mathematical tools that will be used to analyse the transport of energy, momentum and moisture through the atmosphere and to build a conceptual picture for how these transports are achieved by the atmospheric circulation. Topics covered will include:

  • Review of the governing equations
  • Reynolds decomposition and atmospheric transports
  • Atmospheric reanalysis
  • Angular-momentum budget of the atmosphere
  • Midlatitude eddies and jet formation
  • The Hadley circulation
  • Monsoons
  • The Ferrel Cell
  • Eliassen-Palm fluxes and the transformed Eulerian mean

Learning outcomes:

  • Ability to identify the main features of the atmospheric circulation and the processes that contribute to their maintenance.
  • Ability to apply mathematical tools to analyse the transports of energy/momentum through the atmosphere
  • Ability to critically engage with the scientific literature regarding the large-scale atmospheric circulation and its possible changes under climate change

Prerequisites: Students should have taken an introductory course in dynamical meteorology and be familiar with partial differential equations.

Assessment: Two assignments (30%), one presentation and report (20%) and a final examination (50%).

Registration Deadline: No deadline - students just need to show up for the first lecture.

Registration

Coordinator:
Martin Singh
School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
Monash University, VIC 3800
Australia

Phone: +613 9902 0421
Room:  2.23
Email: martin.singh@monash.edu