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Program Details

Graduate Program: Atmospheric Sciences (MS) - Accelerated Master's Program

General Information

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Program/Degree
Atmospheric Sciences (MS) - Accelerated Master's Program  
Program Description

The Atmospheric Sciences Accelerated Masters Program (AMP) is designed for advanced current UA undergraduate students to complete both the Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Master of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences in a total of five years. The AMP is well suited for students who aim to gain research experience at the graduate level, and are interested in pursuing a career in atmospheric sciences. This program is currently open only to students doing a Bachelor of Science in Physics. This program is not open to students who have completed a Bachelor degree or an advanced degree from another institution.
 

Overview

AMP students focus on completing undergraduate-level courses during their first three years. By December of the junior year students must submit an online application to the AMP program. Upon acceptance to the Accelerated Masters Program, students continue to fulfill undergraduate requirements during the Spring of the junior year including the required AMP course "PHYS436a". Students then take a combination of undergraduate and graduate courses in the fourth year to complete their Bachelor of Science degree. During this time, the students also begin to develop their research ideas in preparation for graduate-level research. In the fifth and final year, students focus on graduate course work and their research-based thesis/manuscript in order to complete the requirements for the Master of Science degree.

The program is highly quantitative, it is required for applicants to have a strong background in physics and calculus.

Active research in the following areas:

  • Atmospheric Chemistry & Aerosols
  • Changes in Hydrologic Extremes Under a Warmer Climate
  • Climate & Global Change
  • COSMOS Soil Moisture Measurement
  • Improving Monsoon Predictability
  • Integrated Evaluations and Applications of the NASA MERRA Reanalysis Data
  • Land Processes in the NCAR CCSM
  • Land Processes in the NCEP Weather Forecasting Model
  • Lightning & Atmospheric Electricity
  • Radiation & Remote Sensing
  • Tropical Meteorology and Tropical Cyclones
  • Weather Analysis & Predictability
 
Department/Academic Unit(s)

Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences

The Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences offers graduate-level Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree programs in three Majors: Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrology, and Hydrometeorology. You can read about the differences and similarities for these majors here.

To understand the depth and breadth of our teaching and research and learn how these complementary areas guide our efforts, read about our Research Focus Areas here.

Graduate Certificate: Available for Hydrology

Master of Science Non-Thesis Option: Available for Hydrology

Accelerated Master of Science: Combined Bachelor of Science and Master of Science programs are available for the following combinations:

  • UA BS Physics and MS  Atmospheric Sciences degrees
  • UA BS HAS-Atmo Emphasis and MS Atmospheric Sciences degrees
  • UA BS HAS-Environmental Hydrology Emphasis and MS Hydrology degrees

Doctoral Minors: Doctoral Minors are available for Atmospheric Sciences and Hydrology

You can find more information about these programs and review Program Guides and Summary Pages for all degree programs here.

 
College

College of Science

 
Campus where offered

University of Arizona - Main - Tucson

 
Contacts
Admissions Contact
Lupe Romero
520-621-6831
Graduate Program Coordinator
Lupe Romero
520-621-6831
Director of Graduate Studies
Xiquan Dong
520-621-4652
Graduate College Degree Counselor
Kristi Davenport
520-626-1930
 
Tuition and Fees
Please refer to the UA Bursar's Office Tuition and Fees Calculator for up-to-date information about tuition and fees. 
Please refer to the UA Registrar's's Office Special Course Fees for up-to-date information about special course fees. 

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

Please upload the following required documents to the Department of Atmospheric Sciences online application system:

  • Scanned copies of original transcripts; There is no need to send original transcripts with official seal and signature unless you are accepted into our program.
  • Three (3) letters of recommendation (submitted online)
  • Resume/CV
  • A statement of interest indicating your research preferences
 
Standardized Tests

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GRE Exam will be waived for Fall 2021.

Required for International Applicant:

GRE Exam Minimum GRE Quantitative: 159 Minimum GRE Written: 4.5

English Proficiency Exam: Minimum TOEFL: 550 or 95 OR Minimum IELTS: 8

 

As of August 2020, GRE Exam are no longer required for domestic applicants.

 
Funding Opportunities

Our department attempts to support all students as Graduate Research or Teaching Assistants.

Other available funding by the university can be found at https://financialaid.arizona.edu/scholarshipuniverse  and https://grad.arizona.edu/funding/opportunities.

 
Admissions Deadlines

Fall: January 15th

Spring: October 1st
 

 
International Conditional Admission

International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.

Other Information
The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

ETS Major Field Code(s) for this program: 0501, 0507

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

33 

Core Coursework Requirements

Minimum credits: 33

  • ATMO 541A Dynamic Meteorology I* (3 credits)
  • ATMO 541B Dynamic Meteorology II* (3 credits)
  • ATMO 551A Physical Meteorology I* (3 credits)
  • ATMO 551B Physical Meteorology II* (3 credits)
  • HWRS 595A Current Topics in Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences (2 credits)

*A 3.0 GPA in core courses is required to continue in the program

 
Elective Coursework
  • 15 additional credits in coursework related to major field. Below are the approved elective courses:
    • ATMO 521 Physical Climatology (3 units)

      ATMO 524 Hydroclimatology (3 units)

      ATMO 529 Objective Analysis in the Atmospheric and Related Sciences (3 units)

      ATMO 536A Fundamental in Atmospheric Sciences (3 units)

      ATMO 545 Intro Data Assimilation (3 units)

      ATMO 555 Introduction to Data Assimilation (3 units)

      ATMO 558 Mesoscale Meteorological Modeling (3 units)

      ATMO 569A Air Pollution I: Gases (3 units)

      ATMO 569B Air Pollution II: Aerosols (3 units)

      ATMO 574A Weather Analysis and Forecasting I (3 units)

      ATMO 574B Weather Analysis and Forecasting II (3 units)

      ATMO 579 Boundary Layer Meteorology and Surface Processes (3 units)

      ATMO 580 Tropical Meteorology (3 units)

      ATMO 595B Global Climate Change (3 units)

      ATMO 595C General Circulation Observations and Modelling (3 units)

      ATMO 641 Advanced Atmospheric & Oceanic Fluid Dynamics (3 units)

      HWRS 519 Fundamentals of Surface Water (3 units)

      HWRS 543A Risk Assessment for Environmental Systems (3 units)

      CE 523 Hydrology (3 units)

      GC 572 Global Biogeochemical Cycles (3 units)

      GEOG 530 The Climate System (3 units)

      GEOG 539A Introduction to Dendrochronology (4 units)

      GEOS 567 Inverse Problems in Geophysics (3 units)

      GEOS 578 Global Change (3 units)

      GEOS 579 Introduction to Climate Dynamics (3 units)

      GEOS 582 Paleoclimatology (3 units)

      PTYS 537 Physics of the Sun (3 units)

      PTYS 544 Physics of High Atmospheres (3 units)

      PTYS 517 Atmospheres & Remote Sensing (3 units)

      REM 590 Remote Sensing or the Study of Planet Earth (3 units)

      WSM 560A Watershed Hydrology (4 units)

      BE 585 Remote Sensing Data & Methods (3 units)

  • 3 units minimum of research: ATMO 900 Reserach (Scholarly Maniscript) OR  ATMO 910 Thesis (Thesis Maniscript) 3 credits minimum of research
 
Additional Requirements

All students must demonstrate competence in statistics and computer programming (e.g. FORTRAN, MatLab, GrADS, NCL), numerical atmospheric models and specialized instrumentation. Participation in laboratory or field work may be a component. Competence may be demonstrated by successful completion of approved courses in these subjects (undergraduate or graduate level). 

All students must present the results of their research in a formal seminar or presentation at a scientific meeting in the form of an oral or poster presentation. Typically, students present at the HAS annual student research conference, El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera (Spring Semester) or at AGU (December) or AMS (January) meetings.

 
Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.

 

Additional Information

This is an Accelerated Master's Program (AMP).

The Graduate College offers exceptional undergraduate students in selected majors the opportunity to earn both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in as few as 5 years. The Accelerated Master's Program is for the top undergraduates in participating majors who plan to continue in a graduate program in the same, or closely related, UA discipline.

Programs will select from among a qualified pool, based on the following criteria. Individual programs may have more stringent or additional requirements:

  • Completion of a minimum of 75 undergraduate credit hours will be required at the time of application; a minimum of 90 undergraduate credit hours will be required at the time of entry into the AMP. If the student's GPA falls below 3.30 at the time s/he has completed 90 units, the student will not be admitted into the program. Courses taken for audit may not be included in the total number of units counted for eligibility or admission.
  • Completion of at least 12 earned units of undergraduate course work in the major at the UA.
  • Units still graded Incomplete, units graded Pass/Fail or units taken as audit will not count toward the requirement of the 12 undergraduate units in the major.
  • Completion or near completion of general education requirements.
  • Submission of a graduate application and payment of a graduate application fee.
  • Demonstration of the maturity necessary for success in an accelerated, highly competitive program.
  • Expectation to complete the undergraduate degree within four years. The undergraduate degree requirements must be completed before the student is eligible to have the Master's degree awarded.
  • Interested students should verify departmental requirements as they may have additional or more stringent requirements than the Graduate College minimum requirements.

Persistent link: https://grad.arizona.edu/catalog/programinfo/ATMOMSATMOMSAMP
Last revised 17 Mar 2021
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