Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
30.0 h
Q2
This biannual learning unit is not being organized in 2019-2020 !
Teacher(s)
Fichefet Thierry;
Language
English
Prerequisites
Having followed LPHYS2162 and LPHYS2163 is an asset
Main themes
Advanced teaching unit for students interested in physical climatology, whose aim is to prepare for research in this field. The following topics are addressed : large-scale sea ice thermodynamics and dynamics ; characteristics of the atmosphere in polar regions, sea ice'atmosphere interactions ; oceanography of the Arctic and Southern Oceans, sea ice'ocean interactions ; modelling sea ice for climate studies ; sea ice recent variability and future changes.
Aims
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 |
a. Contribution of the teaching unit to the learning outcomes of the programme (PHYS2M and PHYS2M1) 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 4.2 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.5 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 8.1 b. Specific learning outcomes of the teaching unit At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to : 1. describe the major large-scale thermodynamic and dynamic sea ice processes and the main interactions between sea ice and atmosphere and ocean ; 2. model the large-scale sea ice thermodynamics and dynamics based on observations made in polar regions ; 3. asses the performance of a large-scale sea ice model ; 4. argue about the sea ice recent variability and futures changes. |
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
- General characteristics of sea ice
- Formation, growth and properties of sea ice
- Sea ice thermodynamics
- Sea ice kinematics and dynamics
- Sea ice thickness distribution
- Snow on top of sea ice
- The polar atmosphere and its interactions with sea ice
- The Arctic and Southern Oceans and their interactions with sea ice
- Sea ice in global climate models
- Sea ice recent variability and future changes
Teaching methods
Lectures and/or flipped classroom.
Sea ice modelling project conducted in group.
The slides presented during the theoretical course are available on MoodleUCL.
Sea ice modelling project conducted in group.
The slides presented during the theoretical course are available on MoodleUCL.
Evaluation methods
Oral and written presentation of a modelling project.
Questions during the oral presentation of the project on the topics addressed in the theoretical course that are related to the project.
Questions during the oral presentation of the project on the topics addressed in the theoretical course that are related to the project.
Bibliography
Thomas, D.N. (Ed.), 2017 : Sea Ice. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, U.K., 652 pp.
Untersteiner, N. (Ed.), 1986 : The Geophysics of Sea Ice. NATO ASI Series, Series B : Physics Vol. 146, Plenum Press, New York, 1196 pp.
Untersteiner, N. (Ed.), 1986 : The Geophysics of Sea Ice. NATO ASI Series, Series B : Physics Vol. 146, Plenum Press, New York, 1196 pp.
Faculty or entity
PHYS
