MTO 461E - Introduction to planetary Atmospheres

Course Objectives

To study the atmospheres and climates of the planets comparatively.

Course Description

Origin of Solar System: The Sun as our star. Formation of Planets. Inner and Outer Planets. Origin and Evolution of Planetary Atmospheres. Primitive Atmospheres. Secondary Atmospheres. Gravitational Effects. Escapes of the Planetary Atmospheres. Structure and Composition of Planetary Atmospheres: Atmospheric composition. Atmospheric structure. Planetary Temperature and greenhouse effect on planets. Radiative transfer of heat on planets. Energy. Clouds on planets. Dynamics of Planetary atmospheres: Winds on rotating planets. Special topics in Mars and Venus’s atmospheres. Planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres. Climate evolution: Factors influencing climate on planets. Ice Ages. Long term climatic changes. Nuclear winter. Evolution of live and its effects on atmospheric formation.