BSc Meteorology notes | TU 1st year | Meteorology notes bsc - utsabojha

 BSc Meteorology Notes TU 1st year

 Meteorology

Overview of BSc Meteorology 

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Meteorology is a four years course offered by Tribhuvan University. The Bachelor of Science in Meteorology program at Trichandra Campus, under Tribhuvan University, has been started since 1973.

Basically, knowledge of Meteorological and Hydrological processes is of prime importance for agriculture and water resources management and development of Nepal. In the field of agriculture, weather forecasting for immediate future is essential for its successful operation. Similarly, Meteorology and Hydrology is considered as one of the most important and influential factors for the development of water resources projects as well as in the work of flood forecasting. Besides, human health, tourism and aviation etc are also vulnerable to anomalies in weather and climate which has been accelerated in recent period by climate change.

 Introduction of Meteorology

Meteorology is the study of atmosphere, atmospheric phenomena and atmospheric effects on our weather. Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting.The atmosphere is the gaseous layer of physical environment that surrounds the planet. Earth's atmosphere is roughly 100 to 125 kilometers thick. Gravity keeps the atmosphere from expanding much farther. Meteorology focuses on the weather variables related to current or near future conditions. Several weather elements describe the atmosphere such as temperature, humidity, precipitation amount and type, wind direction and strength, atmospheric pressure and cloud cover. Meteorology has evolved into a strong physics based discipline with multiple specialization areas and increasingly professional areas.

Eligibility

The candidate must have completed +2 in science stream or equivalent examinations with minimum 'C' grade in all subjects to be eligible for admission in Bachelor of science (BSC) in Meteorology in Tribhuvan University.

Careers

Meteorologists

Curricular structure

B.Sc. First year Meteorology

Group A : General Meteorology

Important notes (Course of study)

• Atmospheric composition, mass and structure: Total atmosphere, variants with height, Variations with latitude, season and time
• Mass of atmosphere: total pressure, vapor pressure
• The layering of the atmosphere: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere and Magnetosphere
• Solar radiation and the global energy budget: Solar radiation, Solar output, Distance from the sun, Length of the day
• Surface receipt of solar radiation and its effect: Energy transfer within the earth atmosphere system, effect of cloud cover, effect of latitude, effect of land area and sea, effect of elevation and aspect, variation of temperature with height
• Terrestrial infrared radiation and greenhouse effect
• Heat budget of the earth
• Atmospheric energy and horizontal heat transport: The horizontal transport of heat, Spatial pattern of the heat budget components
• Atmospheric moisture budget
• The global hydrological cycle
• Humidity: Moisture content, Moisture transport
• Evaporation and condensation
• Acid precipitation
• Air stability and instability
• Atmospheric instability, cloud formation and precipitation process
• Condensation nuclei, Clouds types Global cloud cover
• Adiabatic temperature changes
• Precipitation types : Convective type, Cyclonic type and Orographic type of precipitation
• Thunderstorm and its types
• Mesoscale convective system
• Atmospheric motion: Principles
• Laws of horizontal motion: The geostrophic wind, the pressure gradient force, the earth's rotational deflective (Coriolis) force, The centripetal acceleration, Frictional force
• The global wind belts: Trade winds 
• The general circulation of the atmosphere
• Divergence, vertical motion and vorticity

Composition of Atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 0.93% argon. The remainder less than 0.1% contains such traces of gases such as carbon dioxide, ozone and water vapor. All of these gases have important effect on Earth's climate.

The most common atmospheric gas, Nitrogen is largely inert which means it doesn't readily other substances to form new chemical compounds. The next common gas Oxygen is extremely reactive. It participates in oxidation examples of which include apples turning from white to brown after being sliced, rusting of iron etc. Just under 1% of the atmosphere is made up of Argon and it is inert which means it does not take part in chemical reaction in normal circumstances. Together these three accounts for 99.96% of the atmosphere. The remaining 0.04% contains wide variety of traces of gases which are crucial to life on earth, Carbon-dioxide accounts only 0.0325% atmosphere and it is very important for the process of photosynthesis. It is also called the green house gas.

Terrestrial radiation and greenhouse effect

The earth's surface receives about 50% of incoming solar radiation and this energy heats the surface. The warned surface radiates back at longer infrared wavelengths. This radiation is known as terrestrial radiation.

When solar radiation reaches the earth's atmosphere some of the energy is absorbed by land and oceans heating the earth and rest is reflected back towards the space. In this process some of the heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping the earth warm enough to sustain life. This extra trapping of heat and causing the earth's temperature to rise is known as green house effect. The common green house gases in the atmosphere are Carbon-dioxide, water vapor etc. Human activities such as burning of fossil fuels, agriculture activities and land clearing are increasing the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere causing the global warming.

Lapse rate

The lapse rate is the rate at which temperature in the earth's atmosphere decreases with increase in altitude. Lapse rate arise from the word lapse in the sense of gradual change. The increase in temperature with height is called negative lapse rate or inversion. It is zero when temperature is constant with elevation. There are three kinds of lapse rate. They are:

• Environmental lapse rate
• Dry adiabatic lapse rate
• Wet adiabatic lapse rate

Acid Precipitation (Acid Rain)

Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average.

Group B : Climatology

Important notes (Course of study)

Introduction to the climate system:

• Atmosphere, ocean and land surface, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric composition, weather and climate
• Definition and scope of climatology, sub-division of climatology, Factors affecting climate
• Precipitation: Precipitation process, Ice-crystal theory, Collision-coalescence theory, forms of precipitation, Types of precipitation, Seasonal variation of precipitation, Diurnal variation of precipitation
• Heat exchange in the atmosphere: Solar radiation, insolation, terrestrial radiation, heat exchange process, the energy budget of the atmosphere, the effect of radiation at earth's atmosphere
• Air masses: Definition and characteristics, source region, air masses modification, Tropical rainforest climate, savanna climate, tropical monsoon climate, Mid latitude desert climate, Mediterranean climate, humid continental mild summer climate, taiga climate, Tundra climate, ice-cap climate
• Climate of Nepal, East West variation, orographic variation, western disturbances, summer monsoon
• Climate change and its impacts: Introduction, Green House Gases, anthropogenic change of climate, impact of climate change in Nepal

Factors affecting weather and climate

There are many factors affecting day to day weather and long term climate. Most important of them are:

1. Latitude: 

Latitude or how far one is from the equator greatly affects the climate and weather of area. If we live close to the equator the climate will be warmer, while moving north or south from the equator brings a cooler climate.

Below, you can find notes which are important for TU BSc Meteorology 1st year students. This note is handwritten with most important contents and topics included for examination.

If you are a student of B.Sc. Meteorology 1st year then below notes are much more helpful for you. This note is prepared by experienced teacher with collaboration with top students.

You can simply click below and download this B.Sc. Meteorology pdf notes and read as you want. 

Also read 

Major Causes of failure in life

B.Sc. Physics Notes

How to control your mind