Homepage of

Daan Crommelin

at CWI Amsterdam


Mathematics of the atmosphere-ocean-climate system



This course will be given at Leiden University during the winter/spring semester of 2013. It is an introduction to several important mathematical topics that arise in atmosphere-ocean-climate science.

A tentative list of topics to be covered in this course:

  • The fundamental nonlinear partial differential equations for geophysical fluid dynamics (GFD) that underlie almost all climate models and models for atmospheric/oceanic flow.
  • Numerical methods for spatial discretization and time integration of GFD models.
  • Parameterizations and multiscale methods for the treatment of subgrid-scale processes.
  • Chaos, predictability, ensemble methods, stochastic models.
  • Data assimilation.


    • Course lectures will be on Mondays 11:15-13:00, starting 4 February 2013. Students are expected to make multiple assignments, to be handed in during the semester. Course grades will be based on these assignments.


    There will not be a standard textbook for this course, as course material will come from various sources. Besides taking notes during lectures, students can make use of handouts and literature references to be given during the course.


    Update: the first homework assignment is due on 18 March 2013.