University of Oklahoma
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences
School of Meteorology

METR 3334
Principles of Research & Communication in Meteorology

Spring 2022
Course Meeting Time and Location: MTWR 3 - 3:50 pm,

Location: NWC 5600

Instructor: Dr. Ming Xue
Office: NWC 2502
Email: mxue@ou.edu
Phone: (405) 826 0279

Teaching Assistant: Rachael Cross (rey@ou.edu)

We will use Canvas for posting assignments, grades and other functions


Ming Xue Office Hours: Wed. 4-5pm, Fri. 1-2pm
(NWC 2502 or via Zoom using the class zoom link)

Rachael Cross Mon. 1-2pm. Meet her in NWC Atrium.

Mode of class
The mode of class is in-classroom lectures. According to the University policy as of January 18, 2022, the class can be in a hybrid mode where students with Covid exposure and infection can join via Zoom. The following is the Zoom information and will be used for both classes and office hour sessions. We will try to record all class sessions.

Zoom Meeting link and ID:
https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/92078376113?pwd=RnRNVUI4RUZMYmd0cW5zc1VvdUJJdz09  
Zoom Meeting ID: 920 7837 6113
Passcode: METR3334

Session 1 ( T Jan 18): Introduction

Session 2 (W Jan 19): Indroduction to Literature Databases and Search (tought by Amanda Schilling, OU Science Librarian)

Session 3 (R Jan 20): Paper Writing Part 1

  • PDF Presentation
  • Reading assignment: Reading Chapters 3 and 4 of Schultz Book.

Session 4 (M Jan 24): Introduction to Reference Management Systems (Zotero and Endnote)

Session 4 (T Jan 25): Advanced Word Skills and Formating of Manuscript/Paper

Session 5 (W Jan 26): Continuation of Jan 25 topics

Session 6 (R Jan 27): Endnote and Literature review and writing review paper - 2

Session 7 (M Jan 31): Using Latex with Overleaf (Tutorial by Dr. Yongjie Huang)

Session 8 (T Feb 1): Paper Reading 1 (Guest lecture by Dr. Elinor Martin)

Session 9 (W Feb 2): Paper Reading 2 (Guest lecture by Dr. Elinor Martin)

Session 10 (R Feb 3): Manuscrupt preparation using Latex - 2 (Tutorial by Dr. Yongjie Huang)

Session 11 (M Feb 7): Literature review and writing review paper - 2

Session 12 (T Feb 8): Reading and Writing Review Papers

Session 13 (W Feb 9): Data formats and NetCDF data

Session 14 (R Feb 10): Python, and reading and writing NetCDF data

Session 15 (M Feb 14): Introduction to Capstone course and project (by Dr. Jens Redemann)

Session 16 (T Feb 15): Python, and reading and writing NetCDF data - continued

Session 17 (W Feb 16): Reading and writing NetCDF data - continued

Session 18 (R Feb 17): Reading, writing and plotting NetCDF data

  • Presentation
  • Unidata simple examples (Assignment: Run all 6 write/read problems and make sure you understand the codes)
  • Read and plotting precipiation data from daymet based on example notebook code (Assignment: Download an annual precipitation data for north America for one year, and read and plot the data based on the example code, and make sure you understanding the code).

Session 19 (M Feb 21): Unidata MetPy Package and Excercises

Session 20 (T Feb 22): Unidata MetPy Four Panel and Unit Tutorials - continued from session 19

Session 21 (W Feb 23): Unidata MetPy Tutorials, Downloading NCEP GFS forecasts, etc.

Instruction for downloading/accessing NCEP model forecasts.

Session 22 (R Feb 24): Access model data directly from NCEP OpenDAP Server.

Instruction for downloading/accessing NCEP model forecasts (updated)

Session 23 (M Feb 28): Calculations and plotting with OpenDAP accessed GFS data, MetPy

Session 24 (T Mar 1): Cartopy and NAM plotting example

Session 24 (W Mar 2): Data Archives, Skew-T and Station Plots, Siphon for Data Downloading

Session 24 (W Mar 3): Teaching Demo

Session 25 (M Mar 7): Station, Sounding plots etc.

Session 26 (T Mar 8): ERA5 download, Skew-T sounding, station plot, objective analysis

Session 27 (W Mar 9): Objective analysis

Session 28 (R Mar 10): Objective analysis, Animation

Session 29 (M Mar 21): Investigating ENSO and Precipitation with Compositing (Gust lecture by Dr. Furtado)

Session 30 (T Mar 22): Objective analysis assignment, Animation

Objective analysis assignment. See Canvas. Download this notebook template. 

Session 31 (W Mar 23): Investigating ENSO and Precipitation with Compositing (Gust lecture by Dr. Furtado) - continued

Session 32 (R Mar 24): In-class Excercise - Produce animation of lastest HRRR composite reflectivity forecasts

Session 33 (M Mar 28): In-class Excercise - Continued from March 24.

Session 34 (T Mar 29): Finite difference scheme and numerical solution of 2D equations

Session 35 (W Mar 30): Continued from Mar 29. 

Computing Assignment No. 3 - Compositing.  Download the Package.

Session 36 (R Mar 31): Advection of thermal bubble

Session 37 (M April 4): Advection of thermal bubble - continued

Session 38 (T April 5): In class excercises with advection and 2D bubbles

Session 39 (W April 6): Teaching Demo by Dr. April Hiscox (via Zoom). "Designing Field Projects"

Session 40 (R April 7): Teaching Demo by Dr. Ot‡vio Acevedo (via Zoom). "Using tower-based turbulence observations to understand basic aspects of the surface-atmosphere interactions"

Session 41 (M April 11): In class excercises with simulation of downdraft/outflow or rising bubble/mushroom cloud -adding advection code to advect bubble with read-in wind

Session 42 (T April 12): In class excercises with simulation of downdraft/outflow or rising bubble/mushroom cloud - adding codes for vorticity generation term and calculation of wind from stream function

Session 43 (W April 13): In class excercises with simulation of dropping or rising bubble with and without shear, solving the stream function equation using iterative method

Session 44 (R April 14): In class excercises with simulation of downdraft/outflow or rising bubble/mushroom cloud - solving the stream function equation using iterative method

Session 45 (M April 18): Programming Assignment 4, Review paper presentation plan, Presentation skills

Session 46 (T April 19): Giving memorable presentations (Guest lecture by Dr. Greg McFarquhar)

Session 47 (W April 20): Presentation skills

Student Presentations

Other materials

  • Unidata Cartopy Introduction
  • Unidata example for plotting 500 hPa absolute vorticity and winds using NAM dataset - involving transforming wind components in projection space to earth-relative lat/lon coordinates.
  • Xarray with MetPy tutorial
  • MetPy Reference Guide
  • SkewT_Hodograph.ipynb 
  • Textbooks:

    Required: "Eloquent Science: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Better Writer, Speaker and Scientist" 2nd Edition (2009) by David Schultz, 448pp. Published by American Meteorological Society. (PDF version available via OU library).

    Optional: "Schimel, J., 2011: Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded Illustrated Edition" by Joshua Schimel. 221pp, Oxford University Press.

    Optional: “Matthes, E., 2019: Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming.” 2nd edition. No Starch Press, 544 pp.

    Web Resources: