Week 3: Air

Lecture 1: Climate of Antarctica (Dr Kelvin Michael)
Basic properties of the climate of Antarctica (temperature, wind, precipitation). Some discussion of Southern Hemisphere meteorology and atmospheric circulation. Meteorological conditions at some Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations. Some of the extreme properties of the Antarctic climate (low precipitation, high winds, low temperatures).

Lecture 2: Winds of Antarctica (Dr Kelvin Michael)
Inversion winds, leading to coastal katabatic winds. Coriolis effect. The influence of katabatic blizzards (human dimension: accounts by Mawson, Don & Margie Macintyre, .; ice: sastrugi, polynyas, .). Measurement of winds: anemometers, satellites, AWS.

Lecture 3: Ozone and Antarctica (Dr Kelvin Michael)
Vertical zonation of the atmosphere. Basic stratospheric chemical processes. Role of CFCs and other man-made chemicals. Transport and lifetime of CFCs. Controls of CFCs. Implication for surface values of ultraviolet radiation. Other upper atmosphere physics topics: aurorae, lidar, cosmic ray studies.

Tutorial: Reading a weather map, warm signatures of katabatic winds, comparison of climatic regimes (Antarctic vs Arctic vs mountains).