Instructor Information: Name: Dr. Jason Cordeira Contact: Boyd 315 Phone: (603) 535 2410 Email: j_cordeira@plymouth.edu Office Hours: Mon: 2:00-3:00 pm; Wed: 11:05-12:05 pm; Thu: 9:30-10:30 am Course Catalog Description: Focuses on the detailed descriptive aspects of mesoscale phenomena and processes with an emphasis on the structure. Defines what is meant by the term 'mesoscale' and to what kinds of systems it applies. Deals with internally generated mesoscale circulations. Examines various mesoscale convective systems. Discusses externally forced mesoscale systems. Using observational cases, covers terminology, characteristics, and behavior of mesoscale events. Prerequisites: MT4320, MT5320, or equivalent. Course Objective: The basic outcomes expected of students taking this course are as follows: Identify many types of mesoscale phenomena Understand the difference between mesoscale and other meteorological scales Know the language and terms used to describe mesoscale phenomena Be able to qualitatively and quantitatively explain the structure and development of: (i) fronts and jets; (ii) instability; (iii) gravity waves; (iv) mesoscale convective systems; (v) mountain waves; (vi) differential heating circulations; and (vii) drylines, among other processes. Reference Materials Required Markowski, P., and Y. Richardson, 2010: Mesoscale Meteorology in Midlatitudes. Wiley-Blackwell, 407 pp. Required UCAR: MetEd online modules: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/, please sign up for an account if you have not done so already for a previous course Recommended Ray, P. S., Ed., 1986: Mesoscale Meteorology and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society, 793 pp. Select journal publications and other reference material provided as necessary Online Course Access Plymouth State uses Moodle as our course management system. To access your courses online, log into the My Plymouth portal (http://my.plymouth.edu) and click on the mycourses tab. You should have a link for every course that you are taking this semester that is using Moodle. Class materials such as this syllabus, lecture notes, grades and any other relevant documents can be found in there. I encourage you to access this site regularly to stay up to date with the course. 1/6
Grading Rubric: 15% Three (3) quizzes (5% each) 15% Homework assignments and/or labs 10% Class participation (Based on Severe Wx/QPF forecasting in April) 20% Exam #1 20% Term Paper (15%) and Presentation (5%) 20% Exam #2 Grading Curve: A Range: 89.5 (A ) <92.5 92.5 (A) <100+ B Range: 79.5 (B ) <82.5 82.5 (B) <87.5 87.5 (B+) <89.5 C Range: 69.5 (C ) <72.5 72.5 (C) <77.5 77.5 (C+) <79.5 D Range: 59.5 (D ) <62.5 62.5 (D) <67.5 67.5 (D+) <69.5 F Range: 0 (F) <59.5 Grading Details: The first exam will be on 13 March 2014. The second exam will be on 8 May 2014. Homework assignments will be given approximately every other week More information on the Severe Weather and QPF forecast exercises will be provided All exams and quizzes are closed notebook, no cell phones, no computers, no ipads, etc. Late assignments will be accepted with a penalty of 10% of the total assignment s value per day beginning at 12:00a on the day after the assignment was due. Assignments found under my door in the morning will be considered delivered the previous day. Discrimination between graduate and undergraduate course will be considered on examinations (for example, graduate students may have to answer 6 questions on an exam, whereas undergraduate students may only have to choose 4 of 6 questions) and during some homework assignments Attendance: Students are expected to come to class. Good attendance and note taking are extremely important. You are responsible for the material covered in any class that you miss. Unexcused absences that result in missed homework/quiz/tests will automatically result in a zero grade for that measure. For more information on excused versus unexcused absences, please refer to the University s attendance policy: https://www.plymouth.edu/undergraduate/files/2010/11/class-attendance-policy.pdf. I am not obligated to post lectures notes online. There will be no class on 4 and 6 February 2014 due to professor s attendance at AMS Annual Meeting; however, required classwork will be assigned. 2/6
Academic Integrity: It is every student s responsibility to become familiar with the standards of academic integrity at the University. Claims of ignorance, of unintentional error, or of academic or personal pressures are not sufficient reasons for violations of academic integrity. I am obligated to report any offenses to the Academic Integrity Committee, with the possibility of strict disciplinary action, including loss of all credit for the work in question, a grade of F in the course, or expulsion from the University. The following link provides additional information on the university academic integrity policy: https://www.plymouth.edu/undergraduate/ files/2010/11/academic-integrity-policy.pdf Direct quotations, paraphrases, or other knowledge from books, journal articles and web pages must be properly referenced. Employ the EMS referencing format using parenthetical indication of the author last name and year of publication [e.g., Cordeira et al. (2013)]. This format is similar in style to APA formatted references. These must be found in the body of the text to indicate the source of the material. Failure to acknowledge outside references will be considered a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy. Please see me ahead of time if you do not understand. Email: Make sure to monitor your Plymouth email regularly, since this is where I will send messages that I want you to get right away instead of waiting for the next class. If you send me a message, make sure to put MT4480/5480 or Mesoscale Meteorology or Meso in the subject to make sure that your emails do not get accidentally buried under the piles of ancillary mail that make it my way. Email should not be used in place of meeting me during office hours. I will not answer lengthy questions via email; but feel free to send me a quick note anytime. General Courtesy and Other Course Information: Please silence your cell phones before coming to class. Electronic devices such as laptops or tablets are to be used for note-taking purposes only; students who violate this courtesy will not be allowed to bring laptops to class. Cell phones and ipads are not to be used as calculators during exams. No exceptions. Please arrive to class on time and do not leave early. If you must arrive late or early, please contact the instructor beforehand. Instructor availability and course news/announcements will be communicated via email, on Moodle/course website, or in class ADA Statement: Plymouth State University is committed to providing students with documented disabilities equal access to all university programs and facilities. If you think you have a disability requiring accommodations, you should immediately contact the PASS Office in Lamson Library (535-2270) to determine whether you are eligible for such accommodations. Academic accommodations will only be considered for students who have registered with the PASS Office. If you have a Letter of Accommodation for this course from the PASS Office, please provide the instructor with that information privately so that you and the instructor can review those accommodations. 3/6
Term Project Guidelines: Deliverables: o 2000 word maximum research paper worth 15% of your total class grade. o 6 8-minute class presentation worth 5% of your total class grade Information: o You may research any event in meteorological history from a mesoscale meteorology perspective that interests you. Remember this is a class project and you need to keep the project reasonable. You need to finish this project on or before 24 April, so choose a topic that you can discuss in 2000 words and two months! Schedule of core component due dates: o Topic due: 13 Feb o Proposal due: 27 February o Outline due: 25 March o Paper due: 24 April o Presentations: 13 May Topic 0% of project grade, but required o The topic of your case study needs to be discussed and verified with me before you progress into the proposal stage. Proposal 10% of project grade (10% of the paper grade) o Your proposal should consist of a one-page summary of your case study. Proposals that are turned in late are subject to a 10-point/day deduction. The proposal will be graded based on whether or not you answered the following questions. Social motivation: Who was impacted by this event? Scientific motivation: What makes this event worth studying? Geography: When/where did this event occur? Methodology: How will you analyze this event? Which data sources will you use? Outline 15% of project grade (15% of the paper grade) o Your outline is a skeleton of what your paper will likely look like. The goal of the outline is to get you thinking about how you want to organize your paper. The components of your outline should include an Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion, and References. Within each category, expand on the ideas presented in your proposal. The outline will be subject to a 10-point/day deduction if turned in late. 4/6
Paper 75% of project grade (75% of paper grade) o The paper should be a scientific document that adheres to the American Meteorological Society s standard for journal articles entering the peer-review process. Therefore, your paper should include: Abstract ~150 200 words in length that summarizes your main findings Introduction Methodology / Data sources Results Discussion and Conclusions References o The body of the paper (Introduction through Conclusions) should be 5 7 pages single spaced. You should include a title page with your title, name, and abstract. It is also important that you use figures to demonstrate your motivation, results, and conclusions. o Figures: You should include a minimum of five figures in your paper and no more than eight NO MORE THAN EIGHT. Everyone is required to create one figure that graphically summarizes his or her case study, whether hand drawn or computer assisted. Presentation 5% of total class grade o The oral presentation should be a 6 8 minute PowerPoint overview of your main findings: (1) what was the event, (2) why did you study this event (motivation), (3) what did you do to study the event, (4) what were your primary results. 5/6
Tentative Course Outline: Week Day Notes Topics 1 28-Jan Introduction, theory, and observations 30-Jan Introduction, theory, and observations 2 4-Feb No Lecture Class work will be assigned 6-Feb No Lecture Class work will be assigned 3 11-Feb Instability (theory) 13-Feb Term Paper Topic Due Instability (obs. and application) 4 18-Feb Boundary Layer (theory) 20-Feb Boundary Layer (obs. and application) 5 25-Feb Fronts and jets (theory) 27-Feb Term Paper Proposal Due Fronts and jets (theory) 6 4-Mar Fronts and jets (obs. and application) 6-Mar Fronts and jets (obs. and application) 7 11-Mar Introduction to Gravity Waves 13-Mar Exam #1 Exam #1 8 18-Mar Spring Break No Class 20-Mar Spring Break No Class 9 25-Mar Term Paper Outline Due Convection convective initiation 27-Mar Convection convective organization 10 1-Apr Convection mesoscale convective systems 3-Apr Convection thunderstorm hazards 11 8-Apr Convection upscale growth and diabatic heating 10-Apr Severe Wx/QPF Exercise #1 12 15-Apr Orographic Phenomena 1 17-Apr Severe Wx/QPF Exercise #2 13 22-Apr Orographic Phenomena 2 24-Apr Term Paper Due Severe Wx/QPF Exercise #3 14 29-Apr Orographic Phenomena 3 1-May Severe Wx/QPF Exercise #4 15 6-May Hold for spill over 8-May Exam #2 Exam #2 X 13-May Final Exam Slot Term Paper Presentations 6/6