The general circulation of the atmosphere : 2000 program in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

In its millenial session, the GFD program focused on "The General Circulation of the Atmosphere." Isaac Held led the charge with an inspiring two-week introductory course, strongly supported by the lectures of Alan Plumb, Wayne Schubert, Michael Cullen, and Oliver Buhler. As the dust settled, the important concept of pseudomomentum shone brightly in the sky above Walsh Cottage. This is a concept which has virtually transformed meteorology within the past 20 years, yet it remains mostly unfamiliar to oceanographers and others. Thus our "pseudomomentum summer" perfectly fit the GFD mission of diffusing ideas across disciplinary boundaries. As the summer wore on, the range of topics broadened in its customary way to include: the general circulation of Jupiter and Mars; lattice-Boltzmann and gas-kinetic methods for solving the equations of fluid mechanics; the scattering of sound waves; the heating of the universe; and many more topics too numerous to list.