McGill Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Type | Public department |
---|---|
Established | 1959 |
Academic staff | 11 faculty and 6 associate faculty |
Affiliations | McGill |
The Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences of
History
Since 1840, Charles Smallwood, a medical doctor and avid amateur meteorologist, was taking daily weather reports at his house in the village of Saint-Martin on Île Jésus (now Laval a suburb of Montreal). He was named "honorary professor" in Meteorology at McGill University in 1856, and at his suggestion, the first McGill Weather Observatory was established in 1862.[1] The first instruments were donated by Smallwood et he was the first director of the Observatory. Since then, there is regular measurement of meteorological variables taken on University grounds, one of the longest record in Canada.
After the death of Smallwood in 1873, the position of professor in Meteorology was not filled for 88 years. However, the director of the Observatory was, and the second to occupy this post was the engineer C. H. McLeod, an assistant to Smallwood since his university days.[1] McLeod began his term while Canada was setting up a Meteorological Service. He was instrumental to its development and to research on the subject by McGill. Professors of the McGill's Physics department began to work on meteorological projects and later, professors from Geography did too.
Following the
Since 1850, McGill has been involved in oceanography but the main development in this field came when the Centre for Marine Studies was created in 1963, later renamed Oceanographical Institute. Under the leadership of Dr Max J. Dunbar, the Institute was managing Master and Doctorate programs in physical oceanography, and marine biology. In 1987, the Institute because the McGill department of Oceanography. In January 1992, the Meteorology department became the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences when the Oceanography department merged with it.[3]
Since its creation, the department has been a Canadian leader in the training of many distinguished atmospheric scientists.
Programs
The department offers a BSc degree, with courses in
In M.Sc. and Ph.D., the speciality are:[4]
- Atmospheric chemistry
- Dynamics of climates and paleoclimates
- Physical meteorology physique and cloud physics
- Atmospheric dynamics and synoptic scalemeteorology
- Data analysis and numerical weather predictions
- Convection and other severe weather
- Fluid dynamics and turbulence
- Physical oceanography
- Weather radar and remote sensing of precipitation
See also
- Burnside Hall
- J.S. Marshall Radar Observatory
- Weather radar
External links
References
- ^ a b J. Stewart Marshall (1968). "Three McGill Weather Observatories" (PDF). McGill University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ J. S. Marshall Radar Observatory (2000). "Stormy Weather Group". McGill University. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ a b c d McGill Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. "About our department". McGill University. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ McGill Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. "Graduate Studies". McGill University. Retrieved 2011-06-12.