Courses in Meteorology Study Track

Information about meteorology courses.

The preliminary syllabus for the academic year 2024-2025 can be found here. The final syllabus will be published in Sisu by the end of June. Please note, that some courses will not be lectured every academic year.
Meteorology, ad­vanced stud­ies (complete at least 95 cr)

Compulsory courses (45-50 cr)

ATM301 Atmospheric and Earth Sciences Today (5 cr)
ATM345 Atmospheric science seminar for Master’s students (5 cr)
ATM350 Master's thesis (30 cr)
ATM399 Maturity test (0 cr)
Personal study plan (0 cr) (included in ATM301)

Select either ATM302 Climate.now (5 cr) or ATM386 Climate.now (2 cr) or FYS2074 Atmospheric Greenhouse Effect, Climate Changes and Impacts (5 cr).

Select either ATM303 Project course in atmospheric sciences (3 or 5 cr) or ATM384 Integrating art and science (5 cr) or ATM380 Solutions.now (5 cr).


Compulsory course packages (50 cr)

Dynamic meteorology I course package (25 cr)

ATM347 Boundary Layer Physics I (5 cr)
ATM348 Dynamics of Atmospheric Flow Structures I (5 cr)
ATM349 Dynamics of Atmospheric Flow Structures II (5 cr)
ATM351 Mesometeorology (5 cr)
ATM352 Synoptic meteorology I (5 cr)


Dynamic meteorology II course package (25 cr)

ATM357 Atmospheric Radiation (5 cr)
ATM354 Cloud Physics (5 cr)
ATM315 Numerical Meteorology I (5 cr)
ATM322 Meteorological observation systems (5 cr)
ATM355 Atmospheric General Circulation I (5 cr)


Optional course packages (0-25 cr)

You can complete whole course packages or singular courses.

Dynamic meteorology III course package

ATM316 Numerical Meteorology II (5 cr)
ATM317 Laboratory Course in Numerical Meteorology (5 cr)
ATM356 Convective Weather Systems and Climate (5 cr)
ATM353 Synoptic meteorology II (5 cr)
ATM306 Basics of atmospheric chemistry (5 cr)
ATM310 Time Series Analysis in Geosciences (5 cr)
ATM362 Stratospheric Dynamics and Chemistry (5 cr)
FYS2074 Atmospheric Greenhouse Effect, Climate Change and Impacts (5 cr)
ATM364 Laboratory Course in Synoptic Meteorology (5 cr)
ATM395 Numerical Meteorology III (5 cr)


Meteorological remote sensing course package

ATM323 Advanced Course in Radar Meteorology (5 cr)
ATM324 Laboratory Course in Radar Meteorology (5 cr)
PAP314 Introduction to light scattering (5 cr)
PAP303 Statistical Inverse Methods (5 cr)
ATM325 Satellite Remote Sensing Methods in Aerosol Science (5 cr)


Biometeorology course package

ATM331 Theory of micrometeorological flux measurements (5 cr)
ATM321 Field course in micrometeorology and hydrology (5 cr)
ATM328 Global biogeochemical cycles (5 cr)
ATM332 Terrestrial water, carbon and nitrogen cycles (5 cr)
ATM359 Eddy covariance intensive course (5 cr)
ATM333 Turbulence Theory (5 cr)
ATM309 Analysis of atmosphere-surface interactions and feedbacks (5 cr)

 

Optional advanced courses for all study tracks 

ATM373 Leadership for Sustainable Change (5 cr)
ATM377 Introduction to Earth System Modelling (5 cr)
ATM378 Sustainable.now (5 cr)
ATM379 SystemsChange.now (5 cr)
ATM380 Solutions.now (5 cr)
ATM389 Living with changing climate (5 cr)
ATM397 Forests and Climate Change (2 cr)
ATM398 Climate University for Virtual Exchanges (CLUVEX) (1 cr) 
ATM404 Environmental and Climate Regulation in the EU (5 cr)
ATM396 Application of AI/ML techniques in Atmospheric Science (3 cr)


Data Science

ATM308 Statistical Tools for Climate and Atmospheric Science (5 cr)
ATM309 Analysis of atmosphere-surface interactions and feedbacks (5 cr)
ATM310 Time Series Analysis in Geosciences (5 cr)
DATA11001 Introduction to Data Science (5 cr)
DATA12001 Advanced Course in Machine Learning (5 cr)
LSI35002 Bayesian Data Analysis (5 cr)
DATA20046 Neural Networks and Deep Learning (5 cr)

Select at most one of the following courses:

  • DATA11002 Introduction to Machine Learning (5 cr)
  • ATM4171 Introduction to Machine Learning for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (5 cr)

 
Other stud­ies (0-25 cr)

Take the compulsory prerequisite courses FYS2031-FYS2035 if these courses or courses with the same contents are not include to your previous studies.

  • FYS2031 Introduction to Meteorology and Weather Observations (5 cr)
  • FYS2032 Atmospheric Thermodynamics (5 cr)
  • FYS2033 Introduction to Atmospheric Flow Dynamics (10 cr)
  • FYS2034 Introduction to Climatology (2 cr)
  • FYS2035 Physical Climatology (3 cr)

In addition to the compulsory prerequisite courses other studies can include study modules or courses from other programmes or courses from other study tracks. Also practical training and language studies can be included in other studies.
Recommended previous knowledge and skills

Generally, good knowledge of bachelor's degree level physics and mathematical methods are needed as well as practical skills in scientific computing (e.g., Python). In order to successfully pursue Master's studies in the meteorology study track it is recommended that you have the following knowledge and skills before entering to the programme: 

  • Physics: At least basic studies of physics (25 cr) is needed. You should be familiar with at least the following:
    • Newton’s 2nd law (conservation of momentum)
    • Kinemtics of circular motion. Centrifugal and tangential acceleration. 
    • Newton’s law of gravitation
    • Harmonic oscillator
    • Concept of work. Kinetic energy and potential energy. 
    • Concept and conservation law of angular momentum
    • Basics of statistical gas theory. Temperature, pressure and entropy as thermodynamical concepts. 
    • Basics of electrodynamics and electromagnetism. Electric field, Coulombs law, Maxwell equations
    • Basics of electromagnetic radiation. Black body radiation laws, Electromagnetic wave and its mathematical representation. Refractive index
    • First and second laws of thermodynamics
    • Basic concepts of quantum physics: particle and wave duality, energy of a photon, discrete energy levels and transitions
    • Ideal gas equation of state
  • Mathematics
    • Basics of vector algebra, e.g. dot and cross products of vectors, summation of vectors, calculation of the magnitude (modulus) of vectors
    • Complex number arithmetics, including Euler’s formula 
    • Differentiation and integration of functions
    • Solving of first- and second-order differential equations
    • Nabla operations
    • Solving sets of linear equations using matrix algebra
    • Stokes’s theorem and Gauss’s divergence theorem
    • Basics of Fourier analysisBasics of vector algebra, e.g. dot and cross products of vectors, summation of vectors, calculation of the magnitude (modulus) of vectors
    • Examples of tasks you should be able to solve (link to be added here)
  • Programming and statistics
    • some prior experience of programming and the Unix / Linux environment is desirable. However, be aware that Fortran is widely used in numerical weather prediction and climate models.
    • basic statistical concepts 

In case you have not completed University of Helsinki's courses FYS2031 Introduction to Meteorology and Weather Observations, FYS2032 Atmospheric Thermodynamics, FYS2033 Introduction to Atmospheric Flow Dynamics, FYS2034 Introduction to Climatology and FYS2035 Physical Climatology or equivalent courses during your bachelor's degree, you need to complete them in the beginning of your Master's studies. 

Contents of these five meteorology courses:

FYS2031 Introduction to Meteorology and Weather Observations (5 cr)
• Meteorology as a field of science: basic concepts, research questions and approaches to solving them
• Structure and composition of the atmosphere
• Basics of atmospheric radiation transfer and the global energy budget
• Overview of global climate and atmospheric general circulation
• Application of basic physical principles to atmosphere: the primitive equations
• Geostrophic balance
• Hydrostatic stability
• Water in the atmosphere and precipitation processes
• Principles of weather predictions
• Climate changes and climate variability
• Classification of clouds
 

FYS2032 Atmospheric thermodynamics (5 cr)
• Thermodynamics of dry air: Ideal gas equation of state, first law of thermodynamics, adiabatic processes, potential energy, entropy, thermodynamic diagrams
• Thermodynamics of moist air: Different ways of expressing the water vapour content of air; virtual temperature; specific heats for moist air, adiabatic processes in undersaturated air.
• Thermodynamics of saturated air: Clausius-Clapeyron equation, pseudo-adiabatic and moist-adiabatic processes
• Hydrostatic balance
• Geopotential
• Hydrostatic stability, air parcel method for studying convection, Brunt-Väisälä frequency, conditional instability, levels of free convection and neutral buoyancy, CAPE
 

FYS2033 Introduction to atmospheric flow dynamics (10 cr)
• Real and apparent forced affecting the motion of an air parcel on a rotating planet
• Vertical distribution of pressure in the atmosphere, as derived from the requirement of hydrostatic balance. The use of pressure as a vertical coordinate. Geopotential.
• Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks in meteorology.
• Advection.
• Equation of motion in complete vector and component form in spherical coordinates
• Scale analysis of the equation of motion
• Rossby number.
• Continuity equation
• Primitive equations in pressure coordinates
• Baroclinic vs. barotropic atmosphere
• Thermal wind
• Trajectories and streamlines
• Kinematic and adiabatic methods for estimating vertical motion
• Components of the ageostrophic wind: isallobaric, advective, convective, frictional
• Circulation, absolute vorticity and relative vorticity
• Potential vorticity, and consequences of its quasi-conservation
• Vorticity equation
• Stream function and velocity potential
• Secondary circulation in the atmospheric boundary layer.
• Ekman pumping

FYS2034 Introduction to climatology (2 cr)
• The main physical and geographical factors affecting climate
• Global geographical distributions
• Climate classification systems (particularly Köppen’s climate classification)
• Climate in Finland
 

FYS2035 Physical climatology (3 cr)
• Transfer of solar and terrestrial radiation in the atmosphere
• Radiative balance: surface, atmosphere, surface and atmosphere together
• Variation of temperature in soil
• Sensible and latent heat fluxes
• Cycle of water in the surface-atmosphere system
• Energy budgets of surface and atmosphere
• Formation of the vertical temperature distribution in the atmosphere
• The climatic history of Earth
• Energy budget view on climate variability
• Effects of deforestation and desertification on climate