Climate and Weather B-module

The B-module of Climate & Weather consists of theoretical units (8EC), a lab project (4EC) and Fieldwork (3EC).

Theory (8EC):

Students choose 8 EC of theoretical units, of which at least 4 EC need to be in Climate & Weather. For the rest, students may choose any other unit(s) in the B-modules of the AES/EC&T programme.

Units specific to Climate & Weather:

• Water in the Atmosphere (4 EC): This course explores atmospheric processes involving water across a broad range of scales: from global (clouds and climate) to intermediate scales (deep convection, turbulence), down to the microphysics of cloud droplets and aerosols. After a review of key principles in radiative transfer and atmospheric thermodynamics, students are introduced to the dynamics of turbulent boundary layers and the physical processes governing cloud and precipitation formation.

• Remote Sensing of Precipitation (2EC): This unit provides an introduction to radar meteorology, focusing on how weather and atmospheric radar measurements are obtained and interpreted. Emphasis is placed on understanding the physical meaning of these measurements and how to convert them into key atmospheric parameters such as rainfall rate, raindrop size distribution, and horizontal wind.

• Multi-Sensor Cloud and Atmospheric Observation (2EC): In this course, multi-sensor observations and advanced retrieval techniques are used to convert measurements into physical quantities essential for understanding atmospheric processes. The intricate interactions between microwaves and atmospheric constituents are explored. The working principle of microwave radiometers, cloud radars and atmospheric lidar is explained for remote sensing of temperature and water vapor density, cloud and aerosols, respectively.

Lab Project (4EC):

The Lab is a research project where students perform inquiry-based learning in small teams. In week 4.1, students select a lab project topic from a list provided by the instructors. They then reach out to the responsible instructor(s) to get more detailed information and fine-tune the objectives, scope and boundary conditions of the project. The lab also includes an ethical component (0.5 EC) in the form of a debate on topical propositions.

Fieldwork (3EC):
During the fieldwork, students define and implement their own measurement, modeling or simulation experiment of a key phenomenon/process in weather and climate. The Climate & Weather fieldwork differs from the other Fieldworks in the sense that it has no fixed location or topic. We aim to tailor the experience to students' interests as much as possible. This means that students can choose themselves how/where/why they want to perform measurements, in agreement with the fieldwork coordinators.