Physics 103
An Introduction to Physical Meteorology
Course Objectives
Welcome to Physics 103-001 (or, for those of you taking the
course externally,
Physics 103-650). This course is designed so
that participants with only limited background in mathematics can participate.
Nevertheless, this should not exclude students with a strong mathematics
background from enrolling, since it is intended to be topical and useful
to students from all walks of life. The course aims to present an introductory
overview of the Physics of weather and its measurement. We will concentrate
on the weather between the ground and the upper cloud heights, but will
also occasionally venture into discussions about high levels like the ionosphere.
As far as possible, the two courses (103-001 and 103-650) will be identical, except that students taking section 650 will have no quizzes but will have additional assignments. Examination schedules may also be slightly different for the two courses. Section 650 is a web-based course and students will need to have access to the world-wide-web, and be able to download and upload assignments.
The current University Calendar for Physics 103 Entry reads as follows....
"An introduction to the physical properties of the atmosphere from ground level to the edge of space. Fundamental physical principles concerning matter, motion, gases, electricity and magnetism are introduced and applied to atmospheric phenomena such as the composition of the air, temperature, wind, clouds, storms, and the Northern Lights".
Associated courses
There are no prerequisites, corequisites or antirequisites for this
course.
Necessary Resources
The main resource which you require for this course is the text book.
You will also need to have access to local newspapers, or the world-wide-web.
A web site has also been established at physics103.com,
or equivalently,
www.physics.uwo.ca/~whocking/p103,
or you may reach it by following the links through the undergraduate portion
of the Physics and Astronomy general web site.
It is preferable that you have access to the World-wide-web, since we will make considerable use of that resource. If you do not have easy access to this facility, please contact the instructor as soon as possible so that alternative arrangements can be made. (Note that if you do not have access to the web, do not let this discourage you from taking section 001 - - we can certainly accommodate you!).
The text is:
"Meteorology Today", by C.
Donald Ahrens, and is subtitled "An
introduction to Weather, Climate, and the Environment".
You should use the sixth (6th) edition. The text also comes with a
useful CDROM which you can use as supplementary support.
The course will follow the text book very closely, with one or two exceptions. There will be one or two lectures which will cover material outside of the text book, especially when it comes to dealing with atmospheric radar. The material for these section will be included on this web site under the link "Online lectures" (if you are reading this from the www, please see the link to the left of this text). If you do not have www access, the notes can be distributed to you under special arrangement.
As a general guide, we will take about two lectures to cover each chapter of the text book, but occasionally there will be digressions as we discuss the physics behind certain concepts, or introduce new physics which will help you better understands the following chapters. In all there are 19 chapters in the text book, and the total course allows about 52 timetabled hours, which will be used for lectures and tutorials.
Timetable
Lectures take place at 2:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
in Room 137 of the Physics and Astronomy Building and will be of 50 minutes
duration, finishing at 10 minutes before the hour.
Instructor
Your instructor is Professor W. K. Hocking - that's me. I am
also an active researcher in Atmospheric Physics, and operate several research
radars in Canada, including one near London and one at Resolute Bay. I
will be available for questions after the lectures, and at the Physics
and Astronomy Department "Help Centre" on Thursday mornings from 10 to
11 am. In addition, I will generally be around my office (room 301) or
my laboratory (room 307) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. These
rooms may be reached by climbing to the very top of the stairs near lecture
theatre 137.
At other times I may be teaching other courses, and sometimes I am at my research field sites, but if you have a special need to see me outside of the above hours, please feel free to make an appointment, and we can negotiate a suitable time. You can also "take a chance" and check if I am there - there is a good chance that you might catch me anyway!
I can also be reached by email at whocking@uwo.ca
My phone number is +1 (519) 661 3652 , or 83652 from within
the University telephone system.
Exams and tests
Tests in this course will comprise assignments, quizzes and examinations.
Assignments will be done outside of class, and you will be given a specified
time frame in which to complete the tasks. Quizzes will take place at the
tutorials, which will be taken in lieu of a lecture. Tutorials/quizzes
will be announced at least one week prior to the event. There will be ONE
exam in late November (see "Calendar" for details) plus a final exam in
the usual end-of-year examination period (typically in April).
Students taking section 650 will have no quizzes but will have additional assignments. Examination schedules may also be slightly different for the two courses.
With regard to doing assignments, I realize that it is not unusual for students to work together in preparing the answers. I do not discourage this - if you truly work with your friends and colleagues, and everyone contributes to the discussions, I am sure you can all benefit. HOWEVER, you should be very careful to insure that the answers you hand up use different wording to those of your colleagues. The teaching assistants who mark the assignments are very careful to look for duplicate assignments, and if they find any, the authors of these documents are considered to have cheated. In such instances, students may be stripped of all their marks for the assignments and lose 5% of their overall mark. Two successive occurrences of such duplication may lead to failure of the entire course.
All exams and quizzes will be CLOSED BOOK.
Adjustments to mid-term exam marks (if required) will NOT be permitted more than two weeks after posting of the exam results. Therefore if you feel that you have been unfairly treated in one of your exam questions, be sure to act promptly in making inquiries. Major complaints may require re-marking of the entire exam (including both the question under scrutiny plus all others).
When can you find out your final exam mark?
The final marks will be posted on the notice board across from
room 122 in the Physics and Astronomy building as soon as they have been
approved by the office of the Dean of Science. They will also be placed
on the web site. This will be about ten days after the final exam
has been written. Under no circumstances will the Department of
Physics and Astronomy release marks over the telephone. Furthermore, the
office will not answer the question "Are the marks posted yet?".
There have been so many such requests in previous years that these queries
have actually delayed final posting of the marks by up to 48 hours! We
regretfully do not have the resources to cope with hundreds of phone calls
at this very busy time of year.
There is no laboratory component to this course.
Evaluation
For Physics 103 students, your exams will be worth 60% (25% for the
first exam and 35% for the final one), your assignments worth 20% and your
quizzes will be worth 20%. For external students (section 650), your exams
will be worth 60% and your assignments worth 40%.
Distribution of Assignments,
and Keeping Track of your Marks.
Assignments will be posted on the world-wide-web, but can also be distributed
as handouts if special arrangements are made with the instructor. Solutions
will also be posted on the web. If you cannot access the web, solutions
will be posted on the pin-up board in the glass cabinet across from room
113 in the Physics and Astronomy building. See the personnel in room 125
for directions.
Marks for assignments, quizzes and exams will also be posted on the world-wide web, and again on the pin-up board in the glass cabinet opposite room 113 (same location as for the solutions just described). Marks will be listed by student number only.
World-Wide-Web Facilities
If you have access to the web, then the following features will be
useful to you. If you do not have access, then please read the next section.
(I am going to include a discussion of both cases - i.e. the case where
you have access to the web, and the case where you do not - because I know
that even if you are reading this on the web, you may only have occasional
access, and may still require the "non-www" option).
Calendar
Please watch the link entitled "Calendar", because it will contain
information about topics to be discussed in each lecture, assignment deadlines,
exam dates and so forth. It will also keep a cumulative list of topics
covered to date.
Assignments
Assignments will be posted on this web site at regular intervals -
to see the latest assignment, please click on the link entitled "Assignments".
Assignment deadlines will be strictly enforced. Solutions to assignments
will be posted under the link entitled "Solutions", but only after
the assignment submission deadline has passed!
Marks
The link entitled "Marks" will hold a summary of the marks to date
for each student, including assignments and examinations. Your marks will
be assigned by your student number only, so that anonymity is assured.
Please check your marks on a regular basis - it is your responsibility
to ensure that they are accurate. Corrections to marks will only be permitted
for a period of TWO WEEKS after any mark first appears, so please check
your marks regularly and promptly.
Please also check that your marks
are correct PRIOR to the final end-of-year examination.
Links
The final link, entitled "Links", gives you access
to many different weather-related sites on the World-wide-web. Just click
on the tablet and then select your area of interest. Specific topics include
the local London weather and local London radar images, as well as weather
across Canada and world-wide. Satellite and radar images across North America
and world-wide are also available, as well as upper level winds and temperatures.
You can follow the progress of the Jet Stream, and monitor conditions of
fog, icing and upper level turbulence, which can be useful to know if you
intend to fly anywhere. There are many other points of access - I hope
you find the links useful for more than just this course.
Distribution of Assignments,
Display of solutions, and Posting of Marks for non-web users.
For non-web users, assignments will be handed out in class. Solutions
will be posted on pin-up boards within the department - see the section
entitled "Distribution of Assignments, and keeping track of your marks"
(above) for location details. Your marks (cumulative) will be posted together
with the solutions.
Please check your marks on a regular basis - it is your responsibility to ensure that they are accurate. Corrections to marks will only be permitted for a period of TWO WEEKS after any mark first appears, so please check your marks regularly and promptly.
Please also check that your marks are correct PRIOR to the final end-of-year examination.
Absences and Make-ups.
Quizzes
If you are unable to write a tutorial quiz, please contact your instructor.
Mid-Term and Final Examinations
The only acceptable excuses for missing Term Tests or the Final Examination
are personal illness, family bereavement, or other events of a serious
nature. Supporting evidence such as a medical certificate is required and
should be presented to your instructor. For the final exam, students must
appeal to the Dean's office.
Help Centre
Room 106 in the Physics and Astronomy building is the home of
the Physics and Astronomy Help Centre. It is open from 8:00 am to 10:00
pm from Monday to Friday during the academic year. It will be staffed on
most days from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm by a faculty member who will help you
with any difficulties you may have with the subject matter of the course.
Complaints and Suggestions
If you have a genuine concern about something, please do communicate
with us. We rely on feedback from our students. Please contact initially
the person most directly concerned; this will usually be your instructor.
If that does not work, or your concern is of a more general nature, talk
it over with Dr. P. Whippey, Chairman of Undergraduate Affairs, or with
Prof. M. Cottam, Chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Additional Information
Classes begin:
Thursday 5 September, 2002
Last day to add a full course, a first term half-course or full-year
half-course:
Friday 13 September, 2002
Last day to drop a first-term half course:
Tuesday 15 October, 2002
Last day to drop a full-year course:
Saturday 30 November, 2002
First term classes end:
Thursday 5 December, 2002
Classes Resume:
Monday 6 January, 2003
Conference Week (no classes):
24 February - 28 February, 2003
Fall/Winter Session Classes end:
Wednesday 9 April, 2003
Good Luck!
Professor Wayne Hocking.