GEO4922 – Cloud Physics
Course description
Course content
Clouds, precipitation and aerosols are important elements of the climate system. This course introduces cloud physics and chemical processes important for aerosol formation.
It covers the following topics: oxidation of gases and aerosol formation, condensation and cloud thermodynamics, droplets, collision and coalescence, ice crystals, air mixing, and cloud convection.
The course also covers precipitation, thunderstorms and hail, and teaches you how numerical cloud models can be used to understand and explore relevant problems in meteorology.
Learning outcome
After taking this course, you will be able to
- understand the processes governing the formation of secondary aerosols
- understand and describe the different cloud-forming processes
- describe the key micro- and macroscale cloud processes related to precipitation
- understand the differences between warm and cold clouds and how micro- and macroscale processes interact in clouds
- learn how numerical models can be used to understand and explore central processes in cloud physics
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Recommended previous knowledge
- basic knowledge of atmospheric thermodynamics and cloud physics
- GEO2310 – Meteorology /?GEF2200 – Atmospheric physics (continued)
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with GEF4310 – Cloud physics (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with GEO9922 – Cloud Physics.
- 10 credits overlap with GEF9310 – Cloud Physics (continued).
- 7 credits overlap with GEO4928 – Clouds and Chemistry (discontinued).
- 7 credits overlap with GEO9928 – Clouds and Chemistry (discontinued).
Teaching
Approximately 2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of exercises/colloquia per week. You will work on a mandatory project report that must be approved before you can sit the final examination.
Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the Student administration (studieinfo@geo.uio.no).
We reserve the right to change the teaching?form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.
Examination
A mandatory project report must be approved before you can sit the final exam.
The final examination counts 100% towards the final grade.
The exam format is determined by the number of enrolled students. If there are 12 or more students enrolled in the course, the exam will be written. If fewer than 12 students are enrolled, the exam will be oral.
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses:
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
In this course any written exam questions or assignment questions may be available in English only.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are?offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.
Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.