Academic studies

  • General information

    The Laboratory of Atmsopheric Physics offers undergraduate courses in the Departmens of Physics (specialization Energy and Environment), Mathematics and Geology, in the fields of environmental and atmosperic physics, meteorology and air pollution. Some of these courses have also a laboratory module.

    The following links provide detailed information regarding each course.

  • M.Sc. Applied Meteorology & Environmental Physics

    Since 2018-2019, the new graduate program of the Department of Physics of the University of Patras entitled "Applications of Physics in the Atmosphere and in Electronics", offers an M.Sc. degree on Applied Meteorology and Environmental Physics.

    This M.Sc. program was proposed by the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics and approved by the Department. The courses are offered by the faculty members of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physis, in collaboration with the Laboratory for Atmospheric Pollution Studies of the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Patras.

     

     Essential Information: 

    Applications for enrollement: are submitted annualy, every summer. The exact dates are announced by the Department of Physics. (further info: secrphysics@upatras.gr, +302610996077, +302610996098).

    Who can apply: Candidates holding a) a diploma in Physics, Mathematics, Geology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Materials Science, delivered by a Hellenic University or School of Engineering, or from abroad, provided that it has been recognized by the Hellenic N.A.R.I.C. (http://www.doatap.gr/en/index.php), b) any other degree provided that they evince their need to follow the program and accept to follow any additional course necessary for their background.

    Selection criteria: The selection is based on a ranking algorithm that takes into account the grade of the degree, any eventual additional duration of the undergraduate studies, the existence of a diploma degree on a subject related to the topic of the M.Sc. program, publications in international peer reviewed scientific journals and peer reviewed conference proceedings, the very good knowledge of English as a foreign language and the grade of an interview.

    Start date: begining of October.

    Duration: three semesters (two semesters of courses plus one semester for the degree thesis).

    Maximum duration (for part time students): 36 months.

    Language: English (if students whose Greek is not their mother tongue are accepted).

    Tuition fees: free of charge.

    For further queries please contact:

    Professor Athanassios Argiriou athanarg@upatras.gr, +30 2610 996078

    Professor Andreas Kazantzidis, akaza@upatras.gr, +30 2610 997549

    Assistant Professor Ioannis Kioutsioukis, kioutio@upatras.gr, 2610 997426

     

    Aim:

    The program aims to provide professional skills on the understanding, modeling and forecasting of the atmospheric processes. In every course weekly assignments are requested on the collection, management, processing and production of atmospheric data covering several application needs. The target of the program is to provide to the students applied knowledge (e.g. weather forecast models, models of propagation of electromagnetic radiation in the atmospherd, processing and analysis of ground and satellite measurements) for them to familiarise with the essential modern tools and have an advantage when applying for a post in Meteorology, Climatology and Environmental Physics.

    Emphasis is given on the understanding of the physical and mathematical description of important atmospheric phenomena, using simultaneously models and measurements. Therefore the program provides a solid theoretical background together with that of the use of numerical models for the weather, the climate, the energy balance of Earth and the reneuable energy sources.

     

    Infrastructure:

    Complete research oriented weather and radiometric statiosn, used extensively also for the M.Sc. program. The students have at their disposal a wide range of meteorological instruments (for meteorological, solar radiation and air pollution measurements, a real-time receiver of meteorological satellite images and data logging systems). There are also several Windows / Linux computers and workstations available for the research activities of the students.

     

    Courses:

    The students must attend and pass the coursed described in the following. Each course consists of a three hours lecture per week plus weekly assignments. The course attendance and the timely submission of the assignments is mandatory. Also, in order to further deepen their knowledge on meteorological measurments and modelng, it is mandatory for the students to participate as teaching assistants at the laboratory exersices of the undergraduate courses Atmospheric Physics I - Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics II.

    Also they are requested to participate to all webcasts and lectures defined by the LAPUP.

    Note: Students without any curricula of on undergraduate level Atmospheric Physics courses are requested to attend the undergraduate courses of the Department of Physics, Atmospheric Physics I - Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics II  and take successfuly the corresponding exam. The grades of these two courses are not accounted for their final grade at the M.Sc. degree.

     

    1st Semester:

    ΑΜΕ11, Dynamic and Synoptic Meteorology: provides the basic knowledge on atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics from the synoptic to the platenary scale and also on atmospheric turbulence. The assingments cover theoretical topics and also practical applications using Matlab.

    Instructor: Ioannis Kioutsioukis

    ΑΜΕ12, Measurements and Data Handling in Atmospheric Sciences: the students become familiar with the notions of instrument calibration, acquisition and quality control of atmospheric data, atmospheric data series analysis and the basic atmospheric data bases (e.g. BADC, Copernicus Climate Data Store). Practical applications are based on R and Python programming.

    Instructor: Athanassios Argiriou

    ΑΜΕ13, Radiation - Atmosphere Interactions: The topics include the basic principles of solar and terrestrial radiation, the processes of their absorption and scattering from the atmospheric components and the radiative balance. The course includes hands-on training on atmospheric radiation propagation models, including measurements and satellite data.

    Instructor: Andreas Kazantzidis

     

    2nd Semester: 

    ΑΜΕ21, Atmospheric Simulations: Introduction to the arithmetic weather and climate modeling. The basic atmospheric equations and methods for their solution are presented, toghether with the parametrizations of the atmospheric boundary layer, of the clouds and of the atmospheric chemistry processes. Finally the course examins the forecasting capability and the evaluation methods of the models. Applications include the use of atmospheric boundary layer and weather forecasting models.

    Instructor: Ioannis Kioutsioukis

    ΑΜΕ22, Statistical Methods in Atmospheric Sciences: The course includes an introduction to probabilities and descriptive statistics, statistical distributions and statistical forecast applications in meteorology and climatology.

    Instructor: Athanassios Argiriou - (2018-2019: Vasileios Salamalikis)

    ΑΜΕ23, Energy Meteorology: The course deals with the use of meteorology on the evalueation and forecast of solar and wind potential for renewable energy applications. The basic solar potential evaluation models in various spatio-temporal scales are presented, using digital imaging of the sky dome, satellite images and weather forecast models. The students become familiar with the vertical wind speed distributions over a complex terain, the off-shore wind and the application of wind potential evaluation methods.

    Instructor: Andreas Kazantzidis

    ΑΜΕ24, Atmospheric Pollution Management: The course presents the principles of tropospheric chemisry, the role of water in the atmosphere and the processes related to particulate matter.

    Instructor: Spyros Pandis

     

    3rd Semester:

    Master's thesis: assigned to and submitted by each student individually. It aims to help the students deepen their knowledge on cutting edge issues of applied meteorology and environmental physis. The students, together with their corresponding supervisor, participates activelly to the current research of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, with the final aim to present their results to a conference or a peer reviewed scientific journal.

     

     

    Perspectives after graduation:

    The offered graduate curricula together with their participation of the research activities of the LAPUP, the students gain knowlege and become specialized in a series of topics, including:

    Weather forecasts: extreme weather events, specialized forecasts, near real time forecasts.

    Air pollution: air auality, gaseous emissions, measurements, forecasts, environmental impact studies, impact on health.

    Atmospheric remote sensing: analysis and information processing from satellites / radars / ground instruments.

    Synergistic use of weather data: data assimilation in models, computing/intercomparison/visualization.

    Energy Meteorology: available wind and solar potential, variability and trends, forecasting in spatial scales between 10 m to 100 km, and temporal scales from 1 minute to 3 days.

    Climatology: Analysis of climatic data, homogenization of climatic time series.

    Climate change: processes impacting the climate, models, climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

Ph.D. Alumni

  • Ph.D. List