A&O SCI 101Fundamentals of Atmospheric Dynamics and Thermodynamics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences · 5 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Introduction to thermodynamics (flows of heat, energy, and work) and dynamics (winds) of atmosphere. Topics covered include hydrostatic balance, first law of thermodynamics, dry and moist adiabatic processes, atmospheric stability, and fundamental equations of motion of atmosphere, with applications to geostrophic, gradient, and thermal winds.
Letter grading.
When it runs
- Fall 2025
- Fall 2026
Scheduled, not typical — from UCLA’s Schedule of Classes, which publishes Fall 2025 through Spring 2027 and nothing before it.
Requisites
Official UCLA wording
Requisites: Mathematics 3B or 31B or Life Sciences 30B, Physics 1B or 5B or 5C or 6B.
BruinTree reads · Prerequisite
needs reviewconfidence 0.90 · from text- · "PHYSICS 6B" is not in this catalog version
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
A&O SCI 101
- LIFESCI 30BMathematics for Life Scientists
- LIFESCI 30AMathematics for Life Scientists
- MATH 3BCalculus for Life Sciences Students
- PHYSICS 1BPhysics for Scientists and Engineers: Oscillations, Waves, Electric and Magnetic Fields
- PHYSICS 1APhysics for Scientists and Engineers: Mechanics
- MATH 32ACalculus of Several Variables
- MATH 32BCalculus of Several Variables
- MATH 31BIntegration and Infinite Series
- MATH 31ADifferential and Integral Calculus
- PHYSICS 5BPhysics for Life Sciences Majors: Thermodynamics, Fluids, Waves, Light, and Optics
- PHYSICS 5APhysics for Life Sciences Majors: Mechanics and Energy
- MATH 3COrdinary Differential Equations with Linear Algebra for Life Sciences Students
- PHYSICS 5CPhysics for Life Sciences Majors: Electricity, Magnetism, and Modern Physics
6 direct requisites. The whole upstream is here — 27 courses over 3 levels. Every course here opens its own tree.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
A&O SCI 101
- A&O SCI C110Advanced Dynamic and Synoptic Meteorology
- A&O SCI 181Analysis and Prediction of Weather Systems
- A&O SCI 186Operational Meteorology
- A&O SCI 112Climate Change Assessment
- A&O SCI 121Climate Mitigation Solutions
- A&O SCI 113Introduction to Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
- A&O SCI C115Mesometeorology
- A&O SCI C144Atmospheric Boundary Layer
- A&O SCI C228Mesometeorology
- A&O SCI 229Mesoscale Modeling
6 courses list this as a requisite. The whole downstream is here — 10 courses over 2 levels. Every course here opens its own tree.