YSB 607E - Land Atmosphere Interactions

Course Objectives

1. To gain a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the role of land in weather and climate systems
2. To gain a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the exchanges of mass and energy between land surface and atmosphere
3. To gain a qualitative and quantitative understanding of how the changes at the land surface could affect the local and regional climate and hydrology
4. To gain a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the land surface modeling

Course Description

This course examines the interactions between the land surface and atmosphere. It considers the flows of mass and energy in soil-vegetation-atmosphere continuum, and their linkage to local and regional climates. It teaches the feedback mechanisms between land surface and atmosphere within the context of land cover land use change. The course also provides basic information about the land surface modeling and the coupling of land surface models with regional and global atmospheric models.