Geog M118/AOS M106 Applied Climatology:

Principles of Climate Impact on Natural

Environment

Instructor: Yongkang Xue (Shue)

Zoom: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/890874951
email: yxue@geog.ucla.edu
Office Hours: Wed and Fri: 10:15-10:45am
TA: Zhijiong Cao czj9763@g.ucla.edu
Office Hours (3221C Bunche Hall, 3rd floor):
Monday 2pm-3pm. October 21 (Thursday) &
November 18 (Thursday): 3:00-4:00pm
Reader: Course Reader Material (Part 1 and 2)
1080 Broxton, Tel: 310-443-3300
In addition to come into store to purchase, students can email
the Course Reader (crm2020@aol.com) to order online and
have it shipped! They are open Monday thru Friday 9am-2pm

Class Materials

Prerequisite: Geography 1 or A&O SCI 1or 3 or other physical

geography and A&O SCI classes.
 References Books:
Houghton J.T., et al., 2001: Climate Change 2001: The
Science Basis. Cambridge
IPCC, 2007: the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S. et
al. (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press.
IPPC, 2014: the Fifith Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, et al.
P
(eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom
and New York, NY, USA.
Peixoto J. P. and A. H. Oort, 1992: Physics of Climate. AIP.
Russell D. Thompson and Allen Perry, 1997, Applied
Climatology: Principle and practice. Routledge, New York.
Robinson P.J. and A. Henderson-Sellers, 1999:
Contemporary Climatology. Longman.
I. Introduction
(1). Background
(2). Components of the Climate System
Reader Part 1: 3-5, 9-13 (2.2.1 and Fig. 2.4 are not
required); Reader Part 2: Chapters 1 and 25
The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
Physical Climatology includes a wide range of studies
including radiation and energy exchange as well as the
application of law of physics to atmospheric processes.
Dynamic Climatology concerns the application of
hydrodynamic theory to air movement.
Climatography describes the distributions of
precipitation, temperature, and other parameters after
using statistic analysis.
Applied Climatology
According to American Meteorological society (AMS)
definition (early 1970s), AC is concerned with
application of the atmospheric sciences to operational
and practical goals and to human activities. AC covers a
broader field where analysis of (observed and
simulated) climate data is used to solve practical
problems.
According to Smith (1987), the Applied Climatology
deals with four groups of problem:
1)design and specification of equipment;
2) use of equipment;
3) planning operation;
4)climate influences of biological activities.
He saw AC as the use of climatic information to solve a
variety of social, economic and environmental problems.
 Changnon’s definition:
1). Inner core is focused on data (instruments,
modeling, collection, transmission, quality
assessment, spatial and temporal
representativeness, archival and accessing);

2). Inner ring relates to interpretation and generation of

climate information from the data core. (Statistical and
physical analyses, generation of publications and
computer-based outputs);

3). Outer circle: use climate data and information for

various purposes (scientists, engineers, politicians,
business people, including hydrology, agriculture, ecology,
geography, in particular policy making)
 Tree Ring Record
The earliest records of weather lore can be found
at least 6000 years ago
Chinese

Little Ice Age: AD 1550 and

AD 1850 with 3 particularly
cold intervals: one beginning
about 1650, another about
1770, and the last in 1850,
AC developed greatly at World War II; operational
requirements of the military; more extensive data
networks, archive, improved methods for data
analysis (statistic methods).
Applied Climate has ‘coming of age' in the last several
decades. Its development has been promoted by the
following factors:
(1) The potential vulnerability of the modern world to
climatic variability;
(2) An awareness of environmental consequences of the
consumption of fossil fuels and land cover change;
(3) The need to apply climatic knowledge to societal
planning;
(4) New development in science and technology:
observed network (e.g., satellites);
coupled climate models;
computational technology;
(5) conferences and organizations (such as IPCC).
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Date of Document: 7 August 2021 17:00 CEST
AC bridges the gap between the physical
science required to understand the earth
system on the one hand and the socio-
economic methods needed to understand
human interactions with the environment
on the other hand. A number of topics, to
which applied climatologists have
contributed and are contributing, is
exemplified by this class.
Three areas will be presented in the course,
with the second area being the primary focus:
(1). The tools used for research in applied
climatology;
(2). Climate and the physical/biological
environments;
(3). Climate change and the application of applied
climatology.
Climate
Two main themes in the course:

1) How does climate control the development

and functioning of Planet Earth’s natural and
human-made environments?

2) How will the natural environments and

human activities/behavior be modified by
proposed climate change in the next century
or so?
Human
•Provisional Schedule:
•Week 0. Introduction
•Week 1. Ground and remotely sensed
measurement, international field projects
• Friday: Homework (I) Assigned
•Week 2. Statistical Consideration
•Week 3. Climate and hydrological processes and
assessment of climate change (I)
•Week 4. (1) Climate and hydrological processes and
assessment of climate change (II)
Friday (October 22): Homework (I) Due
•Week 5. (1) Climate and Cryosphere (I)
• (2) Midterm Exam (1.5 hours) (Friday, Oct. 29)
• The test will be online and open book.
You must turn on your camera on Zoom.
• Homework (II) Assigned
• Week 6. (1) Climate and Cryosphere (II)
• (2) Climate and vegetation (I)
• Week 7. (1) Climate and vegetation (II)
• (2) Climate and biogeochemical processes
• Week 8. Climate and Soil
• Friday (November 19) Homework (II) Due
•
•Week 9. (1) Climate system and feedback
• Friday: Thanksgiving Holiday

•Week 10. (1) Climate modeling, and climate

management
• (2) Final Examination (2.5 hrs) (Fri., Dec. 3)
• The test will be online and open book.
• You must turn on your camera on Zoom.
•
Grading: 15% for each Homework, 30% Midterm
Exam, and 40% Final Exam
(II). Climate system

CO2
(II). Climate system
(1) Atmosphere
Atmosphere is a comparatively thin film of a gaseous
mixture, distributed almost uniformly over the
surface of the earth.
(II). Climate system
(1) Atmosphere
Atmosphere is a comparatively thin film of a gaseous
mixture, distributed almost uniformly over the
surface of the earth.
Atmospheric composition:
(a) Inert gases: oxygen, nitrogen etc., are uniform.
(b) Variable components: H2O concentrates in low
troposphere, O3 is mainly in middle stratosphere, CO2
is well mixed below mesosphere.
(c) Various substances in suspension: clouds, dust
particles, sulfate aerosols, volcanic ash.
Role of Atmosphere:
(1).Provides oxygen;
(2). Controls the energy;
(3). Distributes heat and moisture, other materials,
such as pollutants.

1 µm = 10-6m
Role of Atmosphere:
(1).Provides oxygen;
(2). Controls the energy;
(3). Distributes heat and moisture, other materials,
such as pollutants.
General external factors:
solar radiation, solar-earth relationship;
Regional factors:
topography, distance to sea, underlying surface,
such as vegetation.
Internal factors:
atmospheric composition, instabilities, general
circulation.
Response time (relax time): it takes for a system to
re-equilibrate to a new state after a small
perturbation has been applied to its boundary
conditions or forcing.
For atmosphere: Days or weeks.
(2) Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere includes all water in liquid phase
distributed on the earth. (Oceans, interior seas, lakes,
rivers, and subterranean waters)

The response time of ocean varies with a wide range:

Upper mixed layer (100m): weeks to months;
Thermocline (several hundred meters depth): seasons;
Deep ocean: centuries or millennia.
 Heat capacity or thermal capacity is a
measurable physical quantity equal to the
ratio of the heat added to an object to the
resulting temperature change.
Or
the number of heat units needed to raise the
temperature of a body by one degree.

∆T ~ G ∆t / (ρ C), ∆T: temp. change

ρ: density; C: specific heat;
ρC: heat capacity.
G: input energy; Δ t: time
Ocean and atmosphere are strongly coupled. The
interactions occur on many scales in space and time
through the exchange of energy, matter, and
momentum at the interface.
(3). Cryosphere
The cryosphere comprises the large masses of snow
and ice of the earth’s surface. It represents the
largest reservoir of fresh water on the earth.
Ice sheets do not vary rapidly. It plays a major role
in climate changes on much longer time scales up
to tens of thousands of years, such as glacial
periods.
It has high albedo and low thermal conductivity.
Snow varies seasonally. It leads to large seasonal
and interannual variations.
Snow varies seasonally. It leads to large
seasonal and interannual variations.
(4) Lithosphere

The lithosphere includes the continents whose

topography affects air motions, and the ocean floor.
Excluding the upper active layer, the lithosphere has
the longest response time of all components of the
climate system.
(5). Biosphere

The biosphere comprises the terrestrial vegetation,

the continental fauna, and the flora and fauna of the
oceans. The vegetation alters the surface roughness,
albedo, evaporation, runoff, and soil property. It also
influences the CO2 balance in the atmosphere and
oceans through photosynthesis and respiration.
Through the signature of
climate changes in fossil,
tree rings, pollen, etc.,
during past ages, we obtain
information on paleo-
climate of earth
Response time (relax time): it takes for a system to re-
equilibrate to a new state after a small perturbation has been
applied to its boundary conditions or forcing.

Atmosphere: Days or weeks.

Upper ocean mixed layer: weeks to months.
Thermocline (several hundred meters depth): seasons.
Deep ocean: centuries or millennia.
Snow: days to Seasons.
Sea ice: Seasons.
Glaciers: tens of thousands of years.
Permafrost: seasons to ten of thousand years
Lithosphere: Million years.
Biosphere: Seconds to thousands of years.