Content: Topics would include:

Vertical motion and the role of moisture:

• Atmospheric stability: Dry and saturated adiabatic lapse rates
• Water vapour: Relative humidity, evaporation and condensation

Mechanics in a rotating frame (linear theory):

• Pressure gradients and their origins.
• Coriolis force, geostrophic wind.
• Stability and waves in a rotating frame.
• Stability and waves due to stratification.

Circulation on a global scale (nonlinear theory):

• Prevailing winds, jet streams, synoptic scale motion.
• Air masses, fronts, cyclones and accompanying weather patterns

Mesoscale and microscale motion:

• The planetary boundary layer.
• Ekman layers.
• Thunderstorm initiation.

Books:

J.C. McWilliams, Fundamentals of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, CUP (2006).

B. Cushman-Roisoin, Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Prentice-Hall (1994).

Additional resources:

John M. Wallace and Peter V. Hobbs, Atmospheric science: an introductory survey (2nd ed), Academic Press, 2006.

Roland Stull, Meteorology For Scientists And Engineers: A Technical Companion Book To C. Donald Ahrens' Meteorology Today.