Syllabus: (PDF)
Email Dr. Larsen
Dr. Larsen's Main Page
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- WELCOME! -
This is the web-page for Cloud and Precipitation Physics. If you're on this webpage, it is probably reasonable to figure that you are likely enrolled in the class -- so thanks for signing up. Materials on this webpage are meant to supplement information given to you in class itself. I'm not a big fan of OAKS, therefore any on-line supplementary material for the course you need can be found here. To the left, you'll find important links/syllabi/etc.If you'd like to find out more about me or the research we do in my lab, check out my main webpage.
- Scheduling Announcements! -
Given our lost time due to Hurricane Dorian, we will be modifying our class schedule somewhat. The goal is still to get through the same amount of content, but exam dates and homework due dates will change. Please see list below for more details. IF THE UNIVERSITY INTRODUCES AN UNEXPECTED CLASS MAKE-UP SCHEDULE, THESE PROJECTED DATES MAY STILL CHANGE.- In case you missed my emails, I prepared a lectures for the time we missed class, and assigned an additional two videos to supplement the main course content. My expectation is that you will complete those lectures (mine is here and the other two are here and here) prior to classes reconvening. I will give you a little time to ask questions about that material at the beginning of our first class back.
- I did not receive many of your HW3 submissions electronically like I hoped we would. Instead, I will extend the due date for HW03 to September 10th and the due date for HW04 to September 17th. I have also pushed your first midterm test back and made some other changes to the schedule for graded materials.
- For those of you who are taking another upper-level Physics class with me, I have continued to ensure that you do not have two tests with me in the same week. There is one day (9/17) when you have homework due in both E&M and Cloud and Precipitation Physics, and one date (11/14) when there is homework due in Cloud and Precipitation Physics and you are taking an E&M Exam. I did the best that I could to minimize this.
- The revised homework and midterm schedule has been implemented in the bottom portion of this webpage. We plan to have the same number of midterms (2), but I have cut 2 homework assignments from the schedule to accomodate the extra time. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
UPDATE: 09/20/19
As implied above, our schedule for due dates and tests needs to change again. Check this webpage in the sections below to note updated due dates / schedules.
- About This Course -
This course studies (no surprise here) the Physics of Clouds and Precipitation. In particular, the focus of this class is in atmospheric MICROPHYSICS -- studying the properties and processes involving atmospheric on a particle-by-particle scale. The content in this class comes from a wide variety of sub-disciplines within Physics and Mathematics including (but not limited to) Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Atmospheric Chemistry, Photonics/Optics, and Classical Mechanics. If you have already taken these courses, you may be particularly well positioned to succeed in this class. If you still plan on taking some of these courses in the future, then hopefully your experience here will give you an advantage in those classes later on. It is probably important to note that this class is NOT a meteorology course; although the topic of interest is the atmosphere, there will be no forecasting, large-scale atmospheric dynamics, climatology, or other traditional elements of a meteorology course in this class. Any upper-level Physics or Astrophysics student with sufficient Physics and Mathematics prerequisites will be well prepared for this course. Any specialized information related to the application of meteorological ideas to the Earth's atmosphere will be given as needed, but will not be onerous. Depending on student interest and available time, we may have a bit of flexibility in regards to the topics we will discuss. If there is something you want to make sure we cover in class, please stop by my office. If it works in the general theme, we can probably work something out to make sure we cover what you are interested in -- at least briefly.- Course Announcements -
Expected exam dates:Thursday, October 3rd
Thursday, November 14th
Final Exam (CUMULATIVE!): Saturday, December 7th from 12-3 PM.
- Homework Assignments -
Assignment 1(PDF) (Due date: 8/22/19)Assignment 2(PDF) (Due date: 8/29/19)
Assignment 3(PDF) (Due date: 9/10/19)
Assignment 4(PDF) (Due date: 9/17/19)
Assignment 5(PDF) (Due date: 9/26/19)
Assignment 6(PDF) (Due date: 10/10/19)
Assignment 7(PDF) (Due date: 10/24/19)
Assignment 8(PDF) (Due date: 10/31/19)
Assignment 9 & 10(PDF) (Due date: Different for Each Student)
Assignment 11(PDF) (Due date: TBA)
- Links/Resources -
Texts worth consultation (PDF)Saturation Vapor Pressure as a Function of Temperature:
(Common Temperatures)
(On a semilog plot)
(Approaching/near boiling point)
Other Links:
(Ratio between Gibbs Free Energy on an inhomogeneous flat surface and the Homogeneous Nucleation Gibbs Free Energy as a function of contact angle)
(Scattering Efficiency as a function of Size Parameter)
(Mie Scattering Calculator Online!)
(Lewin Movie Part 1; start at 1:45)
(Lewin Movie Part 2)
(Fluids Movies)
(Drag Coefficient as Defined in Class)
(Comparison between terminal velocity of a solid sphere of density 1 g/cc and experimental results from the 1940s for liquid raindrops). (Ice Crystal Habits)
(Formation Conditions for Ice Crystals)
