Meteorology and Climate Science

The course is designed to teach students the concepts and basic principles of remote sensing. It is a compulsory course for students in Applied Geology, but it also meets the needs of students in the earth sciences and other location-based disciplines. It is also expected to expose to hands-on training in the use of basic locational equipment like compass-clinometer and hand-held GPS.

Atmopheric thermodynamics is one of the outcomes of classical physics. It has applications not only in physics, chemistry, and the Earth sciences, but in subjects as diverse as biology and economics. Applied to the atmosphere, Thermodynamics plays an important role in our quantitative understanding of atmospheric phenomena involving phase changes that lead to latent heat releases and cloud formation. The purpose of this course is to introduce some fundamental ideas and relationships which, together with other physical conservation principles, form the basis for daily weather and climate prediction. Topics to be covered include the applications of the ideal gas equation, the first and second laws of thermodynamics to the atmosphere as well as the concept of entropy used to obtain crucial conditions for cloud formation. Finally, thermodynamic diagrams are introduced together with their uses. Practical exercises are given at each stage of the course.

Fluid dynamics introduces a student to the fundamental equations governing the motion of global circulations. Physical and numerical descriptions of fluid flows are discussed. Applications of fluid dynamic theories in geophysical fluids will be discussed with specific examples. Fluid dynamics starts with the descriptions of properties fluids, continuum theory, viscosity and thermal conductivity. Equations of motion and concept of flow in the boundary layer will be explored.

 This course is an introductory and practical course to the study of engineering surveying. It is designed primarily for mining engineering students to replicate what is happening in the mining industry in classroom so as to be able to apply the knowledge and skills gained during and after course of study to surveying operations. It involves demonstration of principles and techniques of engineering surveying using real life projects. Topics to be covered include principles of surveying, coordinates, GIS, Areas and Volumes, Levelling, Photogrammetry, applications of theodolites and total station etc.

This course is designed primarily for those students taking courses in mathematics, physics, mechanics, electromagnetic theory, aerodynamics, geophysics, metrology or any of the numerous other fields in which vector methods are applicable. Vector and tensor algebra have in recent years become basic part of fundamental mathematical background required of those in engineering, sciences and allied disciplines. It is said that vector and tensor analysis is a natural aid in forming mental pictures of physical and geometrical ideas. A most rewarding language and mode of thought for the physical sciences. The focus therefore, is to impart useful skills on the students in order to enhance their Mathematical ability in applying vector technique to solve problems in applied sciences and to equip them with necessary skill required to cope with higher levels courses in related subjects. Topics to be covered in this course include, basic vector algebra, coordinate bases, gradient, divergence, and curl, Green’s, Gauss’ and Stokes’ theorems. The metric tensor, Christoffel symbols and Riemann curvature tensor. Applications will be drawn from differential geometry, continuum mechanics, electromagnetism, general relativity theory.

This course is a follow-up to MTS 209 – Elementary Differential Equations I. It is designed for students in Mathematics to equip them with methods of solving differential equations and other special functions. The topics to be covered in this course include series solutions to second order linear equations – Bessel, Legendre equations; hypergeometric functions/equations; Gamma and Beta functions; Sturm-Liouville problems; orthogonal polynomials and functions; Fourier series and transform; solution of Laplace, wave and heat equations by Fourier method.

This course is one of the preparatory courses on basic manufacturing processes, an important aspect of Mechanical Engineering. It is a compulsory course taken by all 100 level students in the university. The course is practically oriented and designed to introduce students to Mechanical Engineering workshop practices, manufacturing processes and properties of engineering materials which will help them as they progress in their courses. The course will help the students to be conversant with the workshop hazard and to observe all safety practices and codes. It cuts across all sections and departments of Mechanical Engineering workshop. Topics to be covered include introduction to basic manufacturing processes, organisation of workshop, workshop hazard and safety practices and codes, properties of engineering materials, bench-work and fitting, introduction to turning exercises (straight and step turning chamfering, screw cutting), milling and milling exercise, drilling techniques and exercise, sheet metal work, welding and soldering technique with exercises. Others are properties of wood, wood work and joinery exercises, workshop measurements, refrigeration and airconditioning: principles of operation, refrigerants and trouble shooting, Methods of leak detection, charging and discharging, safety precautions.

This course is designed primarily for students of meteorology and related disciplines. It gives the students insight into the physical and mathematical equations governing the motions of the atmosphere and its time evolution associated with weather and climate. Physical quantities like pressure, density, temperature and velocity which characterise the state of the atmosphere are studied to understand how their changes lead to motions in the atmosphere that result to weather and climate. Assignments given to students during the course will enable them acquire this understanding.

MET 304 is an introductory course in pictorial synthesis of meteorological observations plotted in charts to illustrate features usually associated with weather patterns- the low and high pressures in particular. Students are first exposed to rules, procedure and limitations of meteorological analysis. As a tropical country, Nigeria belongs to a region where pressure changes are low and slow and can therefore not be used for forecasting-the main purpose of synoptic analysis. We thus introduce students to streamline analysis of wind-vector quantity. Simple applications of these analysis are touched upon while practicals concentrate on typical chart analysis for the dry and rainy seasons with the transition period between these two seasons used to launch students into significant weather events in West Africa.

This course is designed to expose students to the key issues in climatology including the physical basis of climatology and those aspects of climatology which are environmentally important, usually called the climatic elements, namely: temperature, wind, pressure, precipitation, etc. The decomposition of these climatic elements into zonal, meridional, standing and transient circulations will be discussed. Detailed treatment of the mean global atmospheric circulations as represented by the wind, temperature, pressure, humidity will be done to give the students the basic understanding required for modelling the atmosphere using the now popular global circulation models (GCMs). Jet stream climatology, including the synoptic and dynamic considerations for their formation and maintenance and the major jet streams of the world (poles, midlatitudes and tropics) will be treated. Global energy budget and heat transfer and angular momentum considerations and implications for energy and Jet stream maintenance. Mechanisms of achieving global balance in the various climatic elements; the roles of eddies in the general circulation. Climatic trends and climatological forecasting techniques: Frequency of occurrence will be studied in various ways, such as the frequency of both mean and extreme values within stated ranges, or the frequency of particular weather types etc.