Department of Earth Sciences - Meteorology

Degree Requirements

This program conforms to the American Meteorological Society's Guidelines for a B.S. Degree in Meteorology/Atmospheric Science. It satisfies the National Weather Service GS-1340 requirements and can adequately prepare a student for the pursuit of an advanced degree in graduate school. Click here for detailed course descriptions of the classes listed below.

Major Courses: (41 Credits)

  • UNIV 103 - First Year: Exploring Earth Systems (3)
  • ESCI 241 - Meteorology (4)
  • ESCI 281 - GIS Applications for Earth Sciences (3) or ESCI 386 - Scientific Programming, Analysis, and Visualization with [Python or IDL] (3)
  • ESCI 282 - FORTRAN Programming for Earth Sciences Applications (3) 
  • ESCI 340 - Clouds Physics & Precipitation Processes (3)
  • ESCI 341 - Atmospheric Thermodynamics (3)
  • ESCI 342 - Atmospheric Dynamics I (3)
  • ESCI 343 - Atmospheric Dynamics II (3)
  • ESCI 345 - Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (3)
  • ESCI 441 - Synoptic Meteorology I (3)
  • ESCI 443 - Climate Dynamics (Writing Course) (3)
  • ESCI 444 - Mesoscale Meteorology (4)
  • ESCI 446 - Stats & Decision Making in the Earth Sciences (3)

Required Related Courses: (32 Credits)

  • CHEM 111 - Introductory Chemistry (4)
  • MATH 161 - Calculus I (4)
  • MATH 211 - Calculus II (4)
  • MATH 311 - Calculus III (4)
  • MATH 365 - Ordinary Differential Equations (3)
  • MATH 235 - Survey of Statistics (3) or MATH 333 - Intro. to Prob. & Statistics or MATH 335 - Math Statistics
  • PHYS 231 - Physics I (5)
  • PHYS 232 - Physics II (5)

Choose Four Electives: (12-13 Credits)

  • ESCI 261 - Introduction to Oceanography (4)
  • ESCI 322 - Environmental Hydrology (3)
  • ESCI 344 - Tropical Meteorology (3)
  • ESCI 347 - Satellite Meteorology (3)
  • ESCI 349 - Chemistry of the Atmosphere (3)
  • ESCI 369 - Physical Oceanography (3)
  • ESCI 380 - Remote Sensing (3)
  • ESCI 390 - Topics (Meteorology) (3)
  • ESCI 440 - Space Weather & Environment (3)
  • ESCI 445 - Numerical Modeling of the Atmosphere and Oceans (3)
  • ESCI 447 - Met. Instruments, Measurement and Obs. Systems (Writing course) (3)
  • ESCI 448 - Boundary Layer Meteorology (3)
  • ESCI 449 - Radar Meteorology (3)
  • ESCI 485 - Air-Sea Interaction (3)

Available non-requires courses:

  • ESCI 348 - Broadcast Meteorology (1)
  • ESCI 442 - Advanced Weather Analysis and Forecasting Practicum (2)

* View the Undergraduate Course Catalog (pdf)