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| MECA0053-3 | Geophysical fluid dynamics
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| Duration : | 30h Th, 30h Pr |
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| Credits/ECTS : |
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| Holder(s) : | Jean‑Marie Beckers |
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| Language : | French language |
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| Course contents : | Summary of classical fluid mechanics, Newton law, mass conservation, constitutive equations, state equation, non-homogeneous fluids, Boussinesq approximation, potentiel vorticity conservation, hydrostatic equilibrium, internal waves, geostrophic currents, boundary layers and Ekman spirals, upwellings, spectral windows, instabilities, turbulence, geophysical turbulence.
Summary of part I, shallow water theory, waves in shallow waters, tides, two layer models, baroclinic modes, quasi-geostrophic approximation, baroclinic instability, reduced gravity model, uwpellings, equatorial waves and El Nino, internal wave guide, Sverdrup theory of the general circulation, salt fingering |
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| Course objective : | The aim of the lecture is to adapt classic fluid mechanics concepts to geophysical flows. The particularities of geophysical flows (non-homogenous composition, wide range of scales, rotation, stratification, small aspect ratios...) ask for specific adaptations of the governing equations. Those adapted equations then lead to the explanation of geophysical processes as specific wave propagation processes. |
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| Prerequisites : | Fluid mechanics lecture (typically MECA025) and/or a course in continous mechanics (MECA0022 or MECA0203). |
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| Workshops : | An home work is proposed after each lecture. One student is supposed to prepare the solution and send a copy of it before the next lecture to JM.Beckers@ulg.ac.be
in .pdf or .ps format and present it to his costudents for discussion. |
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| Organization : | 4 hours per week, 2 hours of theory and 2 hours of exercises.
If schedule allows it, wednesdays from 10:30-12:30
and thursdays 14:00-16:00 first quadrimester |
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| Written notes : | Lecture notes are available via WWW in .pdf format. Electronic copies of the slides are also available in .pdf format.
http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/cours/MECA053/accueil.html
http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/cours/MECA053b/accueil.html
A CD-ROM including animations and illustrations is available on demand. |
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| Assessment : | Written exam on exercises (40%). Exercise of the type treated in
homeworks. This exam allows to use the lecture notes.
Oral exam (60%). One question drawn from a list. |
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| Contacts : | Jean-Marie Beckers (JM.Beckers@ulg.ac.be) |
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| Remarks : | This course is a combination of partim I and partim II (MECA0053-1 and MECA0053-2). Since partim II is based partly on partim I, the student will have to be specially hard working if partim II is scheduled the same quadrimester as partim I |
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