- All courses have limited enrolment
- Registration for courses is done online via Minerva
- If building your schedule, you may want to use McGill's Visual Schedule Builder
ATOC 181. Introduction to Atmospheric Science.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
A survey of the Earth's atmosphere, weather and climate system. Topics include the fundamental processes that determine interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere; anthropogenic effects such as global warming, the ozone hole and acid rain; a perspective on future climate change.
- Fall and Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 210, ATOC 214, ENVB 301 or NRSC 201.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 182. Introduction to Oceanic Sciences.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
An introduction to ocean sciences with particular emphasis on physical oceanography. Topics typically include seawater properties, sea ice, air-sea interaction, seafloor topography, large-scale ocean circulation, waves, tides, physical control of biological processes, the role of oceans in climate, and impact of human activities.
- Fall and/or Winter
- 3 hours lecture
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 183. Climate and Climate Change.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
The atmosphere, ocean and sea-ice distribution characteristic of the current climate, as seen through observational data and computer model results. Physics of naturally occurring variability on time scales of months to years, such as El Niño. Global circulation models of the atmosphere, ocean and coupled atmosphere-ocean system, and global warming simulations.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 230.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 183 Syllabus
ATOC 184. Science of Storms.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Physical processes associated with severe and hazardous weather affecting the Earth. Topics are taught at a fundamental level, without equations, to provide a complete and up-to-date understanding of such extreme events as blizzards, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and droughts.
- Winter
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 240, or the combination of ATOC 214 and ATOC 215.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 184 Syllabus
ATOC 185. Natural Disasters.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
This course examines the science behind different types of disasters and our ability or inability to control and predict such events. From this course the student will gain an appreciation of natural disasters beyond the newspaper headlines and will better understand how the effects of disasters can be reduced.
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- This is a double-prefix course and is identical in content with EPSC 185.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking EPSC 185.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 185 Syllabus
ATOC 214. Introduction: Physics of the Atmosphere.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
An introduction to key physical processes operating in the atmosphere, designed for students in science and engineering. Topics typically include: composition of the
atmosphere; vertical structure; heat transfer; solar and terrestrial radiation and Earth's energy balance; seasonal and daily temperature changes; humidity and the formation of clouds and precipitation; stability of tropospheric air layers; applications of adiabatic charts.
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: CEGEP Physics, or the combination of PHYS 131 and PHYS 142, or permission of instructor.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 214 Syllabus
ATOC 215. Oceans, Weather and Climate.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
An introduction to key physical and dynamical processes in the oceans and atmosphere. Topics typically include air-sea-ice interactions, laws of motion, the geostrophic and thermal wind relations, general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, weather, radiative balance, climate sensitivity and variability, role of the atmosphere and oceans in climate.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: MATH 141
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 219. Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
An introduction to the basic topics in atmospheric chemistry. The fundamentals of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and its chemical reactions. Selected topics such as smog chamber, acid rain, and ozone hole will be examined.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisites: CHEM 110 and CHEM 120, and one of MATH 139 or MATH 140 or MATH 150, or a CEGEP DEC in Science, or permission of instructor.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken CHEM 219, CHEM 419 or ATOC 419
- Offered in odd years. Students should register in CHEM 219 in even years
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 219 Syllabus
ATOC 309. Weather Radars and Satellites.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Basic notions of radiative transfer and applications of satellite and radar data to mesoscale and synoptic-scale systems are discussed. Emphasis will be put on the contribution of remote sensing to atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: ATOC 215
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 312. Rotating Fluid Dynamics.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Fundamentals of fluid motion on a rotating sphere: Rotating coordinate systems, the Lagrangian time derivative, and equations of motion. The geostrophic approximation and thermal wind balance; departures from geostrophy, such as frictional Ekman layers, inertial oscillations, and the gradient wind balance. The shallow water equations, including potential vorticity conservation, quasigeostrophy, and simple wave solutions.
- Fall
- Prerequisites: MATH 314
- Not open to students who have taken ATOC 512.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 315. Thermodynamics and Convection.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Buoyancy, stability, and vertical oscillations. Dry and moist adiabatic processes. Resulting dry and precipitating convective circulations from the small scale to the global scale. Mesoscale precipitation systems from the cell to convective complexes. Severe convection, downbursts, mesocyclones.
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisites: ATOC 214 and MATH 222
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 357. Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Laboratory.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Students will gain hands-on experience in several fundamental atmospheric and oceanic science topics through practical experimentation. A diverse set of experiments will be conducted, ranging from in situ observations in Montreal, to remote sensing of clouds and radiation, to laboratory chemistry and water-tank experiments. As a background for these experiments, students will receive training on sensor principles and measurement error analysis, as well as the fundamental physical processes of interest in each experiment. They will learn to operate, and physically interpret data from, various sensors for in situ and remote observation of meteorological variables. Their training will also extend to operational weather observations, analysis, and forecasting.
- Prerequisite(s): ATOC 214 or permission of instructor.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 357 Syllabus
ATOC 404. Climate Physics.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
This course covers the essentials of climate physics through the lens of one-dimensional, vertical atmospheric models. This includes shortwave and longwave radiative transfer, convection, phase changes, clouds, greenhouse gases, and atmospheric escape. This is an adequate level of detail for understanding Earth's climate, paleoclimate, anthropogenic climate change, or pursuing studies of Solar System planets and extrasolar planets.
- Prerequisite(s): PHYS 230 or PHYS 251, PHYS 232 or PHYS 253, MATH 315 or MATH 325, and MATH 222
- Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken PHYS 404.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 404 Syllabus
Course information not available.
ATOC 412 Syllabus
ATOC 480. Honours Research Project.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026
Description
The student will carry out a research project under the supervision of a member of the staff. The student will be expected to write a report and present a seminar on the work.
- Restriction: Open to U3 Honours and Major students
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 480 Syllabus
ATOC 512. Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Equations of motion used to study waves, turbulence, and the general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans. Standard approximations to these equations, including the Boussinesq, primitive, quasigeostrohic, and rotating shallow water equations. Emphasis is on effects for which rotation and/or buoyancy play
essential roles. Simple classes of flow, e.g., geostrophic, thermal wind, Ekman, and inertial oscillations.
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 513. Waves and Stability.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Description of the principal wave types and instability mechanisms of geophysical fluid dynamics. Geostrophic adjustment, wave dispersion, the WKBJ approximation. Wave types considered include (internal) inertia-gravity waves, planetary Rossby waves, and the equatorial and coastal wave guides. Instabilities
considered include inertial, symmetric, barotropic, baroclinic, and Kelvin-Helmholtz
instability.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 515. Turbulence in Atmosphere and Oceans.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
This course is not offered this catalogue year.
Description
Application of statistical and semi-empirical methods to the study of geophysical turbulence. Reynolds' equations, dimensional analysis, and similarity. The surface and planetary boundary layers. Oceanic mixed layer. Theories of isotropic two- and three- dimensional turbulence: energy and enstrophy inertial ranges. Beta turbulence.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, a previous course in fluid dynamics (such as ATOC 512), or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 519. Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026
View offerings for Fall 2025 or Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Exploration of the field of atmospheric chemistry that is identified as the significant
driver of climate change and the cause of millions of premature death every year. Discussion of cutting-edge novel technologies for observing and quantifying
pollutants (from ground to satellite) using artificial intelligence, the fate of emerging
contaminants (e.g., nano/microplastics, trace metals, persistent organic), and modelling of atmospheric and interfacial processes. Examination of topics like
atmospheric gaseous and multiphase components like bioaerosols. Study of
photochemical, photophysical, and aerosol nucleation processes that affect air quality, climate change, and ecosystem health.
- Prerequisites: CHEM 213, CHEM 273, MATH 222, MATH 315 or equivalents, or permission of the instructor.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking CHEM 519.
- 3 hours lecture
- Cross linked course: CHEM 519
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 521. Cloud Physics.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
A detailed overview of the environmental factors and microphysical processes involved in the formation of clouds and precipitation. Topics typically include: cloud observations, atmospheric thermodynamics, environmental stability regimes, convection, the microphysics of the formation of cloud droplets and ice crystals, initiation of precipitation, aerosol–cloud interactions.
- 3 hours
- Prerequisites (Undergraduates): ATOC 315, MATH 314, and MATH 315, or permission of instructor.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 525. Atmospheric Radiation.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Solar and terrestrial radiation. Interactions of molecules, aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with radiation of various wavelengths. Radiative transfer through the clear and cloudy atmosphere. Radiation budgets. Satellite and ground-based measurements. Climate implications.
- Prerequisites (Undergraduates): ATOC 315, MATH 314, and MATH 315, or permission of instructor.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 620.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderCourse information not available.
ATOC 530 Syllabus
ATOC 531. Dynamics of Current Climates.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
A detailed overview of the climate and the global energy balance. Topics typically include: energy balance at top of the atmosphere and at the surface, poleward energy flux, the role of clouds, climate and atmospheric/oceanic general circulations, natural variability of the climate system, evolution of climate and climate change.
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 315 or permission of instructor
- Corequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 312 or ATOC 512 or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 540. Synoptic Meteorology 1.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Analysis of current meteorological data. Description of a geostrophic, hydrostatic atmosphere. Ageostrophic circulations and hydrostatic instabilities. Kinematic and thermodynamic methods of computing vertical motions. Tropical and extratropical condensation rates. Barotropic and equivalent barotropic atmospheres.
- Fall
- 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 541. Synoptic Meteorology 2.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Analysis of current meteorological data. Quasi-geostrophic theory, including the omega equation, as it relates to extratropical cyclone and anticyclone development. Frontogenesis and frontal circulations in the lower and upper troposphere. Cumulus convection and its relationship to tropical and extratropical circulations. Diagnostic case study work.
- Winter
- 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 312 and ATOC 540 or permission of instructor.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 546. Current Weather Discussion.
Credits: 1
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
This course is not offered this catalogue year.
Description
Half-hour briefing on atmospheric general circulation and current weather around the world using satellite data, radar observations, conventional weather maps, and analyses and forecasts produced by computer techniques.
- Winter
- 2 hours
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 540 or permission of instructor
- Restriction: Graduate students and final-year Honours Atmospheric Science students. Others by special permission.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 546 Syllabus
ATOC 557. Research Methods: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
This course is not offered this catalogue year.
Description
The analysis of observational and modeling data, and the advantages and limitations of different data. Different analysis methods including regression, linear stochastic processes autocovariance and spectral analysis, principle component analysis, inverse problems and data assimilation, commonly used in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
- Prerequisite(s): COMP 208, MATH 315, MATH 323, and MATH 324 or equivalents.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 558. Numerical Methods and Laboratory.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Winter 2026
View offerings for Winter 2026 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Numerical simulation of atmospheric and oceanic processes. Finite difference, finite element, and spectral modelling techniques. Term project including computer modelling of convection or large-scale flows in the atmosphere or ocean.
- Winter
- 1 hour lecture; 4 hours laboratory
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 312 or ATOC 512, or permission of instructor
- Restriction: Graduate students and final-year Honours Atmospheric Science students. Others by special permission.
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule BuilderATOC 568. Ocean Physics.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Terms offered: Fall 2025
View offerings for Fall 2025 in Visual Schedule Builder.
Description
Major topics in physics and dynamics of the ocean including seawater properties, density and equation of state, sea ice, air-sea-ice exchanges, mixing and stability in the ocean, wind-driven and thermohaline circulations. Observational techniques and numerical models of the ocean, which include some data analysis and literature
review.
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 512 or permission of instructor
Most students use Visual Schedule Builder (VSB) to organize their schedules. VSB helps you plan class schedules, travel time, and more.
Launch Visual Schedule Builder