Week 1:
Introduction to geophysical fluid dynamics: motivating questions. Earth's radiation balance.
Week 2:
Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches to fluid dynamics. Mass and momentum balance. Rotating systems. The Colriolis force.
Week 3:
Momentum equations in a rotating system, Rossby number, scaling theory, geostrophic equations, thermal-wind balance.
Week 4:
Shallow water theory: shallow water equations and waves, f-plane, surface gravity waves, Tsunamis, Kelvin waves.
Week 5: Frictional boundary layers: The Ekman layer, Ekman spiral, Ekman pumping, costal upwealing.
Week 6: Vorticity balance equations, Rossby waves: shallow water Rossby waves, beta-plane, energy and energy flux from Rossby waves.
Week 7:
Wind driven ocean circulation: Observed ocean circulation, gyres, Sverdrup balance, western boundary layers / the Gulf Stream.
Week 8:
El Nino dynamics: The equatorial beta plane, equatorial trapped waves, ocean stratification.
Week 9:
Thermohaline circulation, temperature-salinity thermodynamics, multiple equilibria, hysteresis.
Week 10:
Atmospheric thermodynamics: Laws of thermodynamics, energy equations, atmospheric lapse rate, potential temperature, static stability.
Week 11:
Tropical circulation: Observed tropical circulation, angular momentum equation, the Hadley cell, Held-Hou theory.
Week 12:
Extratropical circulation: Observed extratropical circulation, stationary waves, subtropical jet, the eddy driven jet, Ferrel cell dynamics.
Week 13:
Quasi-geostrophy: QG equations, QG Rossby waves, the QG potential vorticity equation, Baroclinic instability: The Eady model
Week 14:
Atmospheric dynamics of other Solar System planets and moons, dynamics on exoplanets.