Program Overview

Geosciences Program

The Geosciences program offers various options for students to pursue their interests in the field. The program is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the principles and applications of geosciences.

Meteorology Option

The Meteorology option requires 12 or 15 hours of coursework and includes the following courses:

• GR 4443 Weather Prediction I: Examination of the complexity of weather forecasting, with emphasis on numerical weather prediction, computer models, and mesoscale analysis.
• GR 4453 Weather Prediction II: Continuation of GR 4443, with case studies of weather forecasts and emphasis on special weather events and places.
• GR 4603 Climatology: Study of the elements and controls of weather and climate, distribution and characteristics of climatic regions.
• GR 4713 Synoptic Meteorology I: Fundamental principles behind weather forecasting, including physical processes in the atmosphere, atmospheric circulation systems, air mass analysis, frontogenesis, and frontolysis.
• GR 4753 Satellite and Radar Meteorology: Study of the history, operations, and applications of satellites and radar in weather analysis, including theory of meteorological measurements in determinations of atmospheric structure.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Option

The GIS option requires 12 hours of coursework and includes the following courses:

• GR 4303 Principles of GIS: Spatial analysis and topological relationships of geographic data using Geographic Information Systems, with emphasis on GIS theory.
• GR 4313 Advanced GIS: Vector-based file structure and GIS queries using spatial and geodatabases attributes, including descriptive and prescriptive modeling in the raster domain.
• GR 4333 Remote Sensing: Examines remote sensing methods applicable to large-area analyses of watershed-level drainage systems, urban landscape, landscape vegetation metrics, physical landscape structural components, and atmospheric features.
• GR 4353 Geodatabase Design: Examination of Geodatabase structures, integration of relational databases with Geographic Information Systems, management of spatial data using geodatabases, and implementation of Geodatabase processes through spatial programming.

General Geosciences Option

The General Geosciences option requires 12 or 15 hours of coursework and includes the following courses:

• GG 3603 Intro to Oceanography: Survey of the basic principles and applications of science to the study of the marine environment.
• GG 3613 Water Resources: Introduction to the location, use, recovery, and environmental problems of surface and subsurface waters.
• GR 4603 Climatology: Study of the elements and controls of weather and climate, distribution and characteristics of climatic regions.
• GR 4613 Applied Climatology: Problem-solving in topics such as bioclimatology, agricultural climatology, and land use climatology.
• GR 4813 Natural Hazards: Survey of natural phenomena in geology, oceanography, and astronomy as applied to meteorology, including detailed study of earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean movements, and solar activity.
• GR 4303 Principles of GIS: Spatial analysis and topological relationships of geographic data using Geographic Information Systems, with emphasis on GIS theory.
• GR 4333 Remote Sensing: Examines remote sensing methods applicable to large-area analyses of watershed-level drainage systems, urban landscape, landscape vegetation metrics, physical landscape structural components, and atmospheric features.

Course Availability

The semesters in which these courses are offered are subject to change, and the departments control when the courses will be available.