GEO9962 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere

Course content

The course gives a broad overview of the general circulation of the atmosphere, including tropospheric and stratospheric circulation. The lectures will cover the transport of climate and ozone-relevant gases, which are important for the chemical composition and for the radiative budget of the atmosphere. Future climate and ozone changes affecting the general circulation of the atmosphere will be highlighted.

Learning outcome

After finishing this course, you will have obtained a basic knowledge of the general circulation of the atmosphere, in particular

• Tropospheric Circulation
• Brewer-Dobson Circulation
• Stratospheric Ozone distribution
• Dynamics and chemistry of key trace gases
• Climate change and the Ozone Hole

Admission to the course

PhD candidates from the University of Oslo should apply for classes and register for examinations through?Studentweb.

If a course has limited intake capacity, priority will be given to PhD candidates who follow an individual education plan where this particular course is included. Some national researchers¡¯ schools may have specific rules for ranking applicants for courses with limited intake capacity.

PhD candidates who have been admitted to another higher education institution must?apply for a position as a visiting student?within a given deadline.

The courses GEO4962 and GEO9962 have a joint admission?with a joint capacity of 20 students. If the number of applicants exceeds the course capacity, applicants will be ranked in the following order:

1. PhD candidates at the Department?of?Geosciences?and master's students admitted into the following programme options:
   • Water and Climate (programme option)
   • Hydrology and Glaciology (programme option) (being phased out)
2. Other PhD candidates and visiting PhD candidates, master's students in Geosciences, other programme options and master's students in Computational Science.?
3. Master¡¯s level exchange students and other master¡¯s level students at the MN Faculty
4. Single course students on master¡¯s level

Applicants will be ranked?within each category: all applicants within category 1 are ranked before applicants in category 2. If there are space limitations in the course, available places will be given to students selected randomly.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

• GEO2300 ¨C Geophysical Modelling / GEF1100 ¨C The Climate System (discontinued)

Recommended previous knowledge

• GEO4900 ¨C Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics (continued) / GEF4450 ¨C Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (continued)

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with GEO4962 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere.
• 10 credits overlap with GEF4530 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere (continued).
• 10 credits overlap with GEF9530 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere (continued).

Teaching

Teaching consists of 3 hours of lectures per week. Candidates are expected to participate actively in discussions. A written topic summary and presentations by the candidates will be part of the course. These must be approved before you can sit the final exam. Approved assignments are valid for 2 years if the final exam is retaken.

You must attend at least 80% of the lectures in order to take the final exam.

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 written topic summary and presentations (both mandatory) must be approved before you can sit the final exam.
• You must attend at least 80% of the lectures and practicals in order to sit the final exam.
• One student presentation of a given topic counts 50% towards the final grade.
• A final oral examination counts 50% towards the final grade.
• Both parts must be passed separately in order to pass the course.

Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.

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:?

• GEO4962 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere
• GEF4530 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere (continued)
• GEF9530 ¨C The General Circulation of the Atmosphere (continued)

Examination support material

Approved calculator

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. 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.