Department of Geography and the Human Environment, School of Geoscience -  2019/20

Regional Climatology (0349-2544-01)

Prof. Hadas Saaroni

Syllabi

The course is designed to provide the students with a solid understanding of the processes that determine regional climate, its spatio-temporal variability and the methodologies for analyzing the weather and climate on a 'regional scale'. The course will focus on the tropic, subtropic and polar regions.

Specifically, the course objectives are designed to reinforce and develop students’ understanding in the following topics: 

'Regional scale' and a 'climate region' definitions: difficulties and approaches

• Global circulation patterns and regional geographic controls on climate
• Climate classification schemes (e.g., Köppen and Thornthwaite)
• Analysis of regional climate patterns using global atmospheric reanalysis datasets
• Unique characteristics of the tropical, subtropical and polar regions in comparison with the mid-latitudes, including the role of extreme events
• Detailed case studies of the climates of specific regions (e.g., the Asian Monsoon, desert regions, the Atlantic Hurricanes, etc.)

 Bibliography:

1)      Bonan, G. (2015) Ecological Climatology Concepts and Applications. Cambridge University Press, 3rd Ed. ISBN: 9781107339200

2)      Bridgman, H. (2006) The Global Climate System: Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnection.  Cambridge University Press.

3)      de Carvalho, L.M.V. and Jones, C. (Eds.) (2016) The Monsoons and Climate Change: Observations and Modeling. Springer International Publishing Switzerland.

4)      Elsner, J.B. and Jagger, T.H. (2013) Hurricane Climatology: a Modern Statistical Guide using R. Oxford University Press.

5)      EU (2019) The World Atlas of Desertification. EU project: https://wad.jrc.ec.europa.eu/atlas

6)      Geeson, N.A., Brandt, C.J. and Thorens, J.B. (Eds.) (2002) Mediterranean Desertification. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.

7)      Goosse H., P.Y. Barriat, W. Lefebvre, M.F. Loutre and V. Zunz, (2008-2010). Introduction to climate dynamics and climate modeling. Online textbook available at http://www.climate.be/textbook. Chapter 1

8)       Hartmann, D. (2016) Global Physical Climatology. Elseviere Science (2^nd ed.).

9)       IPCC (2013) Climate Change 2013 - The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. https://wg1.ipcc.ch/

10)  King, J. C. and Turner, J. (1997) Antarctic Meteorology and Climatology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 409 p.

11)  Landsberg, H.E. World Survey of Climatology. 15 Vol.

12)   Larsen J.N. and Anisimov (eds) (2013). Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic), Chapter 28 in:  IPCC 2013. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-Chap28_FINAL.pdf

13)  Maraun, D. and Widmann, M. (2018) Statistical Downscaling and Bias Correction for Climate Research. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781107588783, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107588783

14)  McGregor, G.R. and Nieuwolt, S. (1998) Tropical Climatology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2^nd edition, 339 p.

15)  Oliver, J.E. (Ed.) (2005) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Springer

16)  Pielke, R.A. (1998) Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impact on Society. Wiley, 298 p.

17)  Turner, J. and Marshall, G.J. (2011) Climate Change in the Polar Regions. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press

18)  Wang, B. (2016) The Asian Monsoon. Springer. ISBN: 3-540-40610-7

19)  Wang, S.Y. and Gillies, R.R. (2013) Modern Climatology. Utah State University, Online book to download: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/modern_climatology/15/

20)  Yarnal, B. (1994) Synoptic Climatology in Environmental Analysis, John Wiley & Son Ltd  

 Prerequisite:

Introduction to climate and environmental aspects

Tasks:

Exercises (10%), Final exam (90%)