Atmospheric and oceanic sciences

1. Sources for background information

If you are not sure what your topic is all about, look it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia. Start with:

Dictionaries and encyclopedias

• A Dictionary of weather
• Encyclopedia of atmospheric sciences
• Encyclopedia of coastal science
• Encyclopedia of earth
• Encyclopedia of hydrological sciences
• Encyclopedia of ocean sciences
• Encyclopedia of physical science and technology
• Encyclopedia of world climatology
• Handbook of weather, climate, and water : atmospheric chemistry, hydrology, and societal impacts
• Handbook of weather, climate, and water : dynamics, climate, physical meteorology, weather systems, and measurements
• Water encyclopedia

Explore other reference sources from Oxford Reference Online →

Explore other reference sources from Wiley InterScience →

2. Searching the library catalogue

Use the basic word(s) anywhere or advanced keyword search in the library catalogue. You can search using words like - weather, meteorolog?, hurricanes, etc.

Search tips for the library catalogue

You can also browse the catalogue, or the shelves at the following call numbers

• GC1-1581

  Oceanography

  • GC109-149

    Chemical oceanography

  • GC150-182

    Physical oceanography

  • GC190-190.5

    Ocean-atmosphere interaction

  • GC200-376

    Dynamics of the ocean

  • GC377-399

    Marine sediments

  • GC401-881

    Oceanography. By region

  • GC1000-1023

    Marine resources. Applied oceanography

  • GC1080-1581

    Marine pollution. Sea water pollution

• QC851-999

  Meteorological climatology. Including the earth's atmosphere

  • QC974.5-976

    Meteorological optics

  • QC980-999

    Climatology and weather

    • QC994.95-999

      Weather forecasting

3.1 Core databases for Atmospheric and oceanic sciences

• Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts
  Produced by the American Meteorological Society, this database provides current citations published in over 600 sources worldwide.
• Oceanic Abstracts
• Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management

3.2 Additional databases for Atmospheric and oceanic sciences

Databases for related subjects

• INSPEC
  Primarily for citations with abstracts to physics, among other disciplines.
• Scopus
  Multidisciplinary. Allows citation searching.
• Web of Science
  Access to Science Citation Index. Offers searching for articles, including cited author and cited work.
• MathSciNet
• General Science Full Text
  Intended for undergraduates.
• SciFinder Scholar
  Provides access to more than 8000 journals and patent references. Intended for graduate students, faculty and researchers.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
  A database of doctoral dissertations and master's theses from the United States, Canada and selected international institutions.

Colombo

• COLOMBO (interlibrary loan)
  All McGill students and staff may order materials not available at McGill using COLOMBO.

You can also search the full text of core journals

• ScienceDirect
  Full text database of the journals published by Elsevier, also allows citation searching.
• American Meteorological Society: AMS Journals Online

4. Selected Internet sites for Atmospheric and oceanic sciences

• Canadian Climate Summaries (Environment Canada)
• Climate Data Online (Environment Canada)
• Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (McGill University)
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Live Weather Images
• Marineclimatology.net
• Weather and Meteorology (Environment Canada)
• NASA Global Change Master Directory
• National Climatic Data Center
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (University of Colorado)
• Oceanographic Databases (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• RealClimate: Climate Science from Climate Scientists
• U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

5. Other resources

• ATOC/EPSC 185 Natural disasters course guide
• Climatology Maps and Data
• Hydrology, Oceanography, and Water Resources