Atmosphere Ocean and Ice Interactions

Louis-Alexandre Couston, Assistant Professor, louis.couston@ens-lyon.fr, https://louiscouston.github.io/

The course is best suited to students with some background in fluid dynamics (required), partial differential equations (required), climate thermodynamics (optional), complex analysis (optional), dynamical system theory (optional), and numerical solutions of equations (required).

This course aims to introduce fundamental and outstanding issues in climate sciences linked to interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, and ice. We will alternate between lectures on basic principles of atmospheric, ocean and ice dynamics, which will rely on mathematical analysis of reduced physical equations, with in-class practical problems involving analytical and numerical work. We will discuss observations highlighting energy imbalances within the Earth system and the role played by the atmosphere, ocean, and ice interactions.

Highlights: sea-surface temperature changes; wind-driven ocean gyres; planetary waves; Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation; El Niño; ocean-driven melting of Earth’s cryosphere; ice sheet hysteresis; ocean circulation in ice-shelf cavities; sea-level rise.

Some are available at the Bibliothèque Universitaire (BU).

• The planetary ocean, Fieux & Webster, 2017
• Physical Oceanography and Climate, Karnauskas, 2020
• Atmospheric and Ocean Fluid Dynamics, 2nd ed., Vallis, 2017
• Special Report on The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, IPCC, 2019
• Glaciers and Ice Sheets in the Climate System, 1st ed., Fowler & Ng, 2020

Final exam on 28/03 (50%), course project (50%); also possibly one graded homework (TBD).