This course introduces observations of and physical principles governing the circulation of the Earth’s atmosphere in relation to weather and climate.

The topics covered include atmospheric composition and structure, convection, fundamentals of atmospheric motions, and the basic principles for weather and climate modeling. Physical principles covered include basic conservation laws, balanced flows, atmospheric thermodynamics, circulation and vorticity, atmospheric waves, and theories for various weather systems.


This course describes the physical characteristics of the ocean, the observed mean ocean circulation, and explains the latter’s governing dynamical principles. Related biological and chemical processes are introduced. Climate and climate variability, as well as the role played by the ocean are also described.

Topics include wind-driven circulation, thermohaline circulation, inertial motions and tides, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and the roles of the ocean in climate and climate variability.


This course introduces the phenomena and motions in the tropical atmosphere.

The topics covered include the role of the tropics in the global energy and momentum balance, ITCZ, subtropical high, upper-level anticyclones, weather and climate phenomena including meso-scale convective systems, tropical waves, the Hadley and the Walker circulation, El Nino-Southern Oscillation, tropical cyclones, Madden Julian Oscillation, and monsoons.


Recent research methods, experimental, and computational techniques applied in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Topics extend over a diversity of research areas in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, with a consistent theme that many of the operative processes are intertwined and advances in elucidating them hinge on the adoption of an interdisciplinary framework.


This course introduces the basics of geophysical fluid dynamics.

Topics include fundamental governing equations, scale analyses of geophysical flows in the Earth's atmosphere and ocean, filtered models, waves, vorticity, quasi-geostrophic theory, barotropic and baroclinic instabilities.