Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 32 hours |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 2 x 3-hour seminars |
| Other | Guided Reading |
| Workload Breakdown | Every 10 credits carries a notional student workload of 100 hours: including 32 hours Lectures, 6 hours Seminars, and independent study |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours | 70% |
| Semester Assessment | 2 x Assignment Sheets | 30% |
| Supplementary Exam | 3 Hours | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Describe the regions of the atmospheres of different solar system planets; explain how climate is influenced by orbital motion; show understanding offactors determining the evolution of terrestrial and planetary atmospheres; explain the balance of energy in an atmospheric system. Solve simple problems in radiative transfer; explain the vertical structure of the neutral atmosphere in terms of the underlying physics;
2. Discuss the factors controlling fluid flow above a planetary surface; use a computational modelling suite to derive flow patterns above a planetary surface, display the results using a visualisation system and interpret them in terms of the underlying physics; use the model results to plan the best path for an airborne planetary robot to follow above the terrain for specific experiment targets;
3. Discuss the physical processes governing the production and loss of ionisation including reference to the role of ionospheric and thermospheric chemistry; explain the characteristics of the different ionospheric layers in terms of the variation with height of the production, loss and transport mechanisms;
4. Outline the principles of propagation of radio waves in an ionised medium and from them derive the principles of radio sounding;
5. Discuss the differences in structure between the ionospheres of different planets in the solar system; discuss the different methods of investigating ionospheric structure and critically compare how they might be useful in investigating planetary ionospheres;
6. Discuss the motion of particles in a magnetosphere.and solar-planet coupling processes and their effects on the ionospheres and magnetospheres of different solar system objects; show how different regimes lead to very different planetary magnetospheres
Brief description
This module examines the physics of atmospheres, both neutral and ionised, and the interaction of their upper regions with both the planet's own magnetic field and the interplanetary magnetic field.
Content
- Introduction to atmospheres. Structure of the Earth's atmosphere. Heating and layer formation.
- Atmospheric energy balance. "Greenhouse effect". Convection and atmospheric dynamics.
- Vertical structure. Hydrostatic equilibrium and scale heights. Atmospheric layers.
- Planetary atmospheres - differences from Earth
- Atmospheric flow - fluid mechanics as applied to atmospheres
- Modelling planetary atmospheres - approaches and constraints
- Interpreting model results for flow over a planetary surface.
- Regions of ionospheres.
- Ionisation production and loss mechanisms, Chapman layers. Transport of ionisation and its effects on vertical density structure.
- Ionospheric chemistry and the physical basis of anticorrelations between electron temperature and density.
- Ionospheric dynamics and the servo-theory of the F-region.
- Experimental techniques: Radio wave propagation: plasma frequency, gyrofrequency, phase velocity, group velocity, refractive index. The Appleton-Hartree equation and radio sounding. Scatter radars and trans-ionospheric propagation methods.
- High-Latitude Ionospheres and Magnetospheres
- Magnetospheric regions.
- Magnetic field; dipolar and distorted.
- Motion of charged particles; gyro, bounce and drift motion.
- Solar wind-magnetosphere coupling; magnetic reconnection. Plasma convection.
- Electric currents; Pedersen, Hall, field-aligned. High-latitude ionosphere coupling to Magnetosphere, auroral electrojets, substorms, aurora.
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6