Meteorology

Students get familiar with atmospheric properties and basic physical laws that govern weather and climate of the Earth. Special attention is given to energy flows, water cycle and atmospheric dynamics. Students learn about meteorological measurements and observations, as well as typical values of basic meteorological variables. They are able to use meteorological data for describing climate conditions and they learn how this data is used together with numerical models for weather prediction. Through this, students further develop their ability to integrate basic knowledge from mathematics and different natural sciences.

Secondary-school knowledge of mathematics and physics is required.

The course covers an introduction to meteorology including the following topics:
• Atmosphere – composition, structure
• Introduction to physics of atmosphere
o Radiation, conduction, convection
o Water cycle
• clouds, fog, precipitation
• evapotranspiration
• Introduction to atmospheric dynamics
o Balance of forces and winds
o Anticyclone, cyclone, fronts
o General atmospheric circulation
• Climate
o Basic climate drivers
o Classification of climates
o Climate of Slovenia
• Meteorological observations
o Classic and automatic stations
o Radiosondes
o Remote sensing
• Radars, satellites, etc.
• Weather forecasting
o NWP models
• Forecasts for different users

Knowledge and understanding of atmospheric properties, basics of atmospheric physics and dynamics, different measuring techniques in meteorology, use of meteorological data for climate description, climate of Slovenia, and process of weather forecasting.

• J. Rakovec, T. Vrhovec, Osnove meteorologije, DMFA, Ljubljana, 2000 Catalogue
• J. M. Wallace & P. V. Hobbs, Atmospheric Science – An Introductury Survey (Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7), Elsevier / Academic Press, 2nd edition https://doi.org/10.1016/C2009-0-00034-8 E-version
• Skok G. (2021), Uvod v meteorologijo, UL FMF, tudi prosto dostopno na naslovu: E-version
• Ahrens, C.D. (2009) Meteorology Today: An Introduction to Weather, Climate, and the Environment. 9th Edition, Cengage Learning, Boston. Catalogue

Written colloquia for calculation part (33 %). Written exam for theoretical part (77 %).

Dr Klemen Bergant is associate professor for meteorology at University of Nova Gorica, employed part time (20%) at its Centre for Atmospheric Research. His research fields are: regional climate change, agroclimatology, physics of the atmosphere, and development and application of lidars. In these fields he published together with co-authors over 30 scientific papers and several professional and popular papers. He presented his research work at several scientific and professional conferences, as well as in scientific monographs and reports. Otherwise, Dr. Klemen Bergant is director of Meteorological Office at Slovenian Environment Agency, Permanent Representative of Slovenia with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Chairman of European Network of National Meteorological Services (EUMETNET), and is actively involved in the work of Councils and Assemblies of several European meteorological organisations and associations. He is also court expert for meteorology.

Selected bibliography:

GAO, Fei, STANIČ, Samo, BERGANT, Klemen, BOLTE, Tanja, COREN, Franco, HE, Tingyao, HRABAR, Andrej, JERMAN, Jure, MLADENOVIČ, Ana, TURŠIČ, Janja, VEBERIČ, Darko, IRŠIČ ŽIBERT, Mateja. Monitoring presence and streaming patterns of Icelandic volcanic ash during its arrival to Slovenia. Biogeosciences, ISSN 1726-4170, 2011, vol. 8, no. 8, str. 2351-2363, doi: 10.5194/bg-8-2351-2011. [COBISS.SI-ID 1977339]

BERGANT, Klemen, BELDA, Michal, HALENKA, Tomáš. Systematic errors in the simulation of european climate (1961-2000) with RegCM3 driven by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. International journal of climatology, ISSN 0899-8418, 2007, vol. 27, str. 455-472. [COBISS.SI-ID 695547]

BERGANT, Klemen, TRDAN, Stanislav. How reliable are thermal constants for insect development when estimated from laboratory experiments?. Entomologia experimentalis et applicata, ISSN 0013-8703, 2006, vol. 120, str. 251-256. [COBISS.SI-ID 4599417]

BERGANT, Klemen, KAJFEŽ-BOGATAJ, Lučka, TRDAN, Stanislav. Uncertainties in modelling of climate change impact in future : an example of onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman) in Slovenia. V: DEBELJAK, Marko (ur.), DŽEROSKI, Sašo (ur.), ŽENKO, Bernard (ur.). Selected papers from the Fourth European Conference on Ecological Modelling, September 27-October 1, 2004, Bled, Slovenia, (Ecological modelling, ISSN 0304-3800, vol. 194, issues 1-3, 2006). Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006, vol. 194, no. 1-3, str. 244-255. [COBISS.SI-ID 4481913]

BERGANT, Klemen, SUŠNIK, Mojca, STROJAN, Igor, SHAW, Andrew G. P. Sea level variability at Adriatic coast and its relationship to atmospheric forcing. Annales geophysicae, ISSN 0992-7689, 2005, vol. 23, no. 6, str. 1997-2010. [COBISS.SI-ID 417275]