��«����Ƶ

This course investigates the main processes that control weather and climate in the western United States and other mountain ranges around the world. You are provided with an advanced survey of synoptic, mesoscale, and microscale meteorology in complex terrain including orographically modified cyclone evolution, front-mountain interactions, terrain and thermally driven flows, mountain waves, downslope winds, and orographic precipitation.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize and define the major terms that apply to meteorology, and in particular, mountain meteorology; 
• Acquire a scientific understanding of atmospheric processes related to mountain meteorology and identify the processes by observing the atmosphere or analyzing observational and numerical modeling data;
• Explain the characteristics in temperature of a stable and unstable atmosphere and how these characteristics affect cloud and precipitation formation; use operational profiles and cloud/smoke observations to determine the stability of the atmosphere; and synthesize the knowledge of atmospheric stability to make a prediction of cloud and precipitation development and smoke dispersion;
• Describe major wind systems in mountains and how they evolve; differentiate wind systems depending on topography and larger-scale weather; and create a conceptual model of wind systems for a given location; 
• Explain the physical processes that form rain, snow, hail, and freezing rain; identify precipitation types on weather radar data; and link dynamical and thermodynamic processes to construct cloud and precipitation patterns;
• Formulate a conceptual model of how atmospheric processes in mountains might change with a changing climate and compare your own conceptual models with climate predictions;
• Acquire knowledge of state-of-the-art research questions, observational techniques, and challenges related to multi-scale numerical modeling.

In this course, you will

   Be given a broad overview of mountain weather and climate;

   Investigate how mountains help to control the weather and climate throughout the western United States and other places around the world; 

   Answer the following questions:

• What causes the snow in the Rocky Mountains to be "the greatest snow on earth"?
• How can the best places for paragliding and windsurfing be determined?
• Can clouds be used to estimate winds and stability over nearby mountain peaks?
• How do the Great Salt Lake and the Great Lakes interact with the local terrain to develop lake-effect snowstorms? 

Meet Your Instructor

Katja Friedrich

  katja.friedrich@colorado.edu

I joined the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado at ��«����Ƶ in January of 2008. Investigating cloud formation processes and enhancement of precipitation with special focus on improving quantitative precipitation estimation and forecast during heavy precipitation has been my passion since I studied Atmospheric Sciences and Physics at the University of Munich in Germany. I am specifically interested in studying hail in thunderstorms and snow in wind storms in mountainous regions with special focus on cloud seeding. Following my research passion, I have been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ATOC such as “ATOC 1050 Weather and the Atmosphere”, “ATOC 3050 Principles of Weather”, “ATOC 4700 Weather Analysis and Forecasting”, “ATOC 4710 Intro to Atmospheric Physics”, and “ATOC 5600 Clouds and Aerosols”. In my free time, I like to hike, go camping, mountain bike, and ski.