GEO4901 – Dynamical Meteorology
Course description
Course content
This course covers the fundamentals of atmospheric dynamics, providing the necessary background to understand meteorological processes that influence weather and climate.
Topics include balanced flows, atmospheric instability, synoptic-scale dynamics, cyclone structure, cloud and precipitation processes, quasi-geostrophic theory, cyclogenesis, frontogenesis, and the three-dimensional structure of weather systems, with a focus on Norwegian weather.
Learning outcome
By the end of the course, students will be able to
- explain basic concepts in dynamic meteorology
- analyze weather systems on the mesoscale, synoptic scale, and?planetary scale
- apply dynamical principles to weather analysis
- perform synoptic analysis using standard methods
- use operational techniques for mapping and analyzing synoptic scale?systems
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Recommended previous knowledge
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with GEO9901 – Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics.
- 10 credits overlap with GEO3900 – Atmosphere Ocean Dynamics (discontinued).
- 10 credits overlap with GEO4900 – Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with GEF3450 – Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with GEF4450 – Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (continued).
Teaching
Teaching consists of 4 hours of lectures per week. You are expected to participate actively in discussions, hold a weather discussion presentation, and 5 written exercises must be handed in and approved before you can sit the final exam.
Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the course responsible.
We reserve the right to change the teaching form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.
Examination
- 5 written exercises must be approved before you can sit the final exam.
- A weather discussion presentation counts 20% towards the final grade.
- A written midterm exam counts 30% towards the final grade.
- A written final exam counts 50% towards the final grade.
- Both the oral presentation, the midterm and the final exams must be passed separately in order to pass the course
Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
It will also be counted as 1 of the 3 attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses:
- GEO3900 – Atmosphere Ocean Dynamics (discontinued)
- GEO4900 – Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics (continued)
- GEO9901 – Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics
- GEF3450 – Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (continued)
- GEF4450 – Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (continued)
Examination support material
- Approved calculator and Rottmann's mathematical formula collection
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.
Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.