Jump to Lecture Materials
Instructor:
Prof. Katja Fennel (katja.fennel@dal.ca)
Office: LSC Oceanography #2635
Phone: 902 494 4526
Office hours: Tuesdays 12:30 to 1:30 (e-mail for appointment)
Teaching Assistant:
Chris Gordon (chris.gordon@dal.ca)
Office: LSC Oceanography #2612
Office hours: By appointment
Course Times and Locations:
- Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:35am – 10:25am in LSC Oceanography #3652 (Riley room)
- Labs: Tuesdays 10:35am – 11:25am in McCain computer lab 2104
Course Objectives: This course is designed to introduce a variety of modeling techniques useful in oceanography and the natural sciences in general. The main objective is to provide an overview of a range of techniques, rather than exhaustive and in depth discussion of any particular technique. The approach is to introduce techniques, discuss their assumptions and limitations, and apply them to simple problems in oceanography and earth sciences. This is accomplished by a combination of lectures and labs. At the end of this course, students should have an understanding of various modeling approaches and their applicability; as a result, they will be better placed to both carry out their own research, and to critically evaluate the literature. A series of more or less independent modules will be presented, each of which will include an introduction to a particular technique, some examples, and an assignment in which the student will have the opportunity to apply the techniques to simple problems.
Course Assessment: Grades for the course will be assigned based on performance on 2 assignments (15% each), two quizzes (20%), a term project, which will be presented orally and in written form (40%), and class participation (10%).
Schedule:
| Day | Date | Time | Location | Lecture/Lab | Instructor |
| Tuesday | 09-Jan | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Introduction | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 09-Jan | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 11-Jan | 9:35am – 11:25am (!) | Riley room | Measurement Theory & Errors | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 16-Jan | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Errors continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 16-Jan | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 18-Jan | 9:35am – 11:25am (!) | Riley room | Linear Algebra Refresher, Population Dynamics | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 23-Jan | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Population Dynamics continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 23-Jan | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 25-Jan | no lecture | |||
| Tuesday | 30-Jan | 9:35am – 11:25am (!) | McCain 2104 | Double lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 01-Feb | 9:35am – 11:25am (!) | Riley room | Linear Algebra continued, Population Dynamics continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 06-Feb | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Linear Algebra continued, Population Dynamics continued, recap for Quiz | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 06-Feb | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 08-Feb | 9:35am – 10:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 08-Feb | 10:35am – 11:25am | Riley room | Quiz, Linear Regression | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 13-Feb | no lecture or lab | |||
| Thursday | 15-Feb | no lecture | |||
| Tuesday | 27-Feb | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Error Propagtion | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 27-Feb | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 01-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Linear Regression continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 06-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | General Linear Regression | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 06-Mar | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 08-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | General Linear Regression continued; Non-linear regression | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 13-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Discriminant and Cluster Analysis | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 13-Mar | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 15-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Principal Component/EOF Analysis | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 20-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | EOF Analysis continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 20-Mar | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 22-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Numerical Techniques | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 27-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Numerical Techniques continued | Fennel |
| Tuesday | 27-Mar | 10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 29-Mar | 9:35am – 10:25am | Riley room | Fennel | |
| Tuesday | 03-Apr | lecture moved to Thursday | |||
| Tuesday | 03-Apr |
10:35am – 11:25am | McCain 2104 | Lab | Gordon |
| Thursday | 05-Apr | 9:35am – 11:25am (!) | Riley room | Student Presentations | Fennel, Gordon |
Lecture and Lab Materials (password protected):
Lecture materials are located: here
Lab materials are located: here