Joint Major in Physics and Atmospheric Sciences

(69 credits)

This Major provides a solid basis for postgraduate study in meteorology, atmospheric physics, or related fields, and the necessary preparation for embarking on a professional career as a meteorologist directly after the B.Sc.

The program is jointly administered by the Department of Physics and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Students should consult undergraduate advisers in both departments.

Required Courses (57 credits)

ATOC 214 (3) Introduction: Physics of the Atmosphere

ATOC 215 (3) Oceans, Weather and Climate

ATOC 309 (3) Weather Radars and Satellites

ATOC 312 (3) Rotating Fluid Dynamics

ATOC 315 (3) Water in the Atmosphere

MATH 222 (3) Calculus 3

MATH 223 (3) Linear Algebra

MATH 314 (3) Advanced Calculus

MATH 315 (3) Ordinary Differential Equations

PHYS 230 (3) Dynamics of Simple Systems

PHYS 232 (3) Heat and Waves

PHYS 241 (3) Signal Processing

PHYS 257 (3) Experimental Methods 1

PHYS 258 (3) Experimental Methods 2

PHYS 331 (3) Topics in Classical Mechanics

PHYS 333 (3) Thermal and Statistical Physics

PHYS 340 (3) Majors Electricity and Magnetism

PHYS 342 (3) Majors Electromagnetic Waves

PHYS 346 (3) Majors Quantum Physics (formerly PHYS 446)

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

At least 6 of the 12 complementary credits must come from ATOC courses.

ATOC 357 (3) Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Laboratory

ATOC 404 (3) Climate Physics *

ATOC 512 (3) Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics

ATOC 513 (3) Waves and Stability

ATOC 515 (3) Turbulence in Atmosphere and Oceans

ATOC 521 (3) Cloud Physics

ATOC 525 (3) Atmospheric Radiation

ATOC 531 (3) Dynamics of Current Climates

ATOC 540 (3) Synoptic Meteorology 1

ATOC 541 (3) Synoptic Meteorology 2

ATOC 558 (3) Numerical Methods and Laboratory

ATOC 568 (3) Ocean Physics

PHYS 339 (3) Measurements Laboratory in General Physics

PHYS 404 (3) Climate Physicsi *

PHYS 432 (3) Physics of Fluids

PHYS 434 (3) Optics

PHYS 439 (3) Majors Laboratory in Modern Physics

PHYS 449 (3) Majors Research Projec

PHYS 512 (3) Computational Physics with Applications

* Students cannot take both ATOC 404 and PHYS 404i.