Requirements for a Degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Total Credits and Their Distribution
A student must complete 120 credits in order to graduate from the University with a B.S. degree. Of these, the University requires students to take 40-46 credits of General Education/CORE courses. The AOSC Department major requires that the students take either 69 or 70 credits. Under special circumstances such as transfer from another program, a waiver may be requested and approved by the director of undergraduate studies. However, AOSC major requirements will satisfy 25 of the General Education/CORE requirements leaving a minimum of 120 – (69+46-25) = 30 credits available for electives.
List of Courses
In order to meet the requirements of the AOSC major, students must achieve a grade of C or higher in all courses applied to the major.
Click the links below to expand the degree requirements
1) Required Courses Provided by AOSC
| AOSC course at the 200 level | 3 credits |
|
| AOSC 201 | Weather and Climate Laboratory | 1 credit |
| AOSC 431 | Atmospheric Thermodynamics | 3 credits |
| AOSC 432 | Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans | 3 credits |
| AOSC 494 | Seminar | 1 credit |
| AOSC 493 | Senior Research Project I | 3 credits |
| AOSC 498 | Senior Research Project II | 3 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 17
2) Required Additional Courses Provided by AOSC
12 credits at the 400 level chosen from among:
| AOSC 400 | Physical Meteorology of the Atmosphere | 3 credits |
| AOSC 401 | Climate Dynamics and Earth System Science | 3 credits |
| AOSC 424 | Remote sensing | 3 credits |
| AOSC 433 or 434 | Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate / Air Pollution | 3 credits |
| AOSC 470 | Synoptic Meteorology | 3 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 29
3) Required Computer/Computational Course
| AOSC 247 | Scientific Programing: Python | 3 credits |
| AOSC 347 | Computing and Data Analysis: Deciphering Climate Change Clues | 3 credits |
| CMSC 106 | Introduction to C Programming | 4 credits |
| CMSC 131 | Object-Oriented Programming I | 4 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 33
4) Required Courses Provided by Mathematics and Chemistry
| CHEM 135 & CHEM 132 or CHEM 136 |
General Chemistry and Laboratory | 4 credits |
| MATH 140 | Calculus I | 4 credits |
| MATH 141 | Calculus II | 4 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 45
5) Additional Required Mathematics Courses
Either Block 1*:
| MATH 241 | Calculus III | 4 credits |
| MATH 246 | Differential Equations | 3 credits |
Or Block 2*:
| MATH 340 | Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra and Differential equations I | 3 credits |
| MATH 341 | Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra and Differential equations II | 3 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 51-52
*Block 1 includes courses frequently taken by nonmajors, while Block 2 includes somewhat more rigorous courses taken by math majors.
6) Required Physics Courses
Either Block 1*:
| PHYS 161 & PHYS 174 |
General Physics: Mechanics and Particle Dynamics & Laboratory | 4 credits |
| PHYS 260 & PHYS 261 | General Physics: Vibration, Waves, Heat Electricity & Laboratory | 4 credits |
| PHYS 270 & PHYS 271 | General Physics: Electrodynamics, Light Relativity & Laboratory | 4 credits |
Or Block 2*:
| PHYS 171 & PHYS 174 |
Introductory Physics: Mechanics & Laboratory | 4 credits |
| PHYS 272 & PHYS 275 | Introductory Physics: Fields & Laboratory | 5 credits |
| PHYS 273 | Introductory Physics: Waves | 3 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 63-64
*Block 1 includes courses frequently taken by nonmajors, while Block 2 includes somewhat more rigorous courses taken by physics majors.
7) Required Elective Courses
(6 credits. Can not be satisfied by the courses used to fulfill the previous requirements.)
| AOSC 346 | Cycles in the Earth System | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 375 | Introduction to the Blue Ocean | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 400 | Physical Meteorology of the Atmosphere | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 401 | Climate Dynamics and Earth System Science | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 424 | Remote Sensing | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 433 | Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 434 | Air Pollution | 3 credits | |
| AOSC 470 | Synoptic Meteorology | 3 credits | |
| CMSC 206 | Introduction to Matlab | 1 credit | |
| either | CMSC/AMSC 460 | Computational Methods | 3 credits |
| or | CMSC 466 | Introduction to Numerical Analysis I | 3 credits |
| BSCI 106 | Principles of Biology II | 4 credits | |
| BSCI 373 | Natural History of the Chesapeake Bay | 3 credits | |
| BSCI 375 | Biological Oceanography (not offered every year) | 3 credits | |
| CHEM 231 | Organic Chemistry I | 3 credits | |
| GEOG 201 | Geography of Environmental Systems | 3 credits | |
| GEOG 472 | Remote Sensing: Digital Processing and Analysis | 3 credits | |
| GEOG 415 | Land Use Climate Change and Sustainability | 3 credits | |
| GEOL 120 | Environmental Geology | 3 credits | |
| GEOL 437 | Global Climate Change: Past and Present | 3 credits | |
| GEOL 451 | Groundwater | 3 credits | |
| GEOL 452 | Watershed and Wetland Hydrology | 3 credits | |
| either | MATH 240 | Linear Algebra | 3 credits |
| or | MATH 461 | Linear Algebra for Scientists and Engineers | 3 credits |
| MATH 416 | Applied Harmonic Analysis: An Introduction to Signal Processing | 3 credits | |
| MATH 452 | Introduction to Dynamics and Chaos | 3 credits | |
| MATH 462 | Partial Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers | 3 credits | |
| STAT 400 | Applied Probability and Statistics I | 3 credits | |
| STAT 401 | Applied Probability and Statistics II | 3 credits |
Accumulated total credits: 69-70