Study @ MWAC

What is the study of weather and climate?

Weather and climate are two commonly used terms that are sometimes not clearly understood. Weather is the state of the atmosphere (or ocean) at a particular point in time over a given region, while climate is a synthesis or generalisation of the weather observed over a longer time period.

Meteorology and climatology represent the study of weather and climate respectively, the difference essentially being the different time scales and approaches used for such study. Meteorologists tend to concern themselves with the analysis of actual weather situations, while climatologists are more concerned with the aggregation of such situations.

For example, a meteorologist is more concerned with the three-dimensional instantaneous structure of the atmosphere, while a climatologist tends to be more concerned with the one- and two-dimensional structure exhibited by long sequences of data. However, in spite of these differences, a basic understanding of atmospheric processes is important to both groups of researchers, as they are each trying to comprehend the same processes and phenomena.

How can you study weather and climate at Monash?

The interdisciplinary program in Atmospheric Science offered through Monash Weather and Climate is available to study at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Full details of the undergraduate program in Atmospheric Science can be found on MWAC's Undergraduate Study page.

Honours can be taken in Atmospheric Science and Climatology through MWAC. Further information can be found on the MWAC Honours page.

Postgraduate degrees offered by MWAC include M.Sc. Meteorology and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science or Climatology. For full details on these degrees and with regards to scholarships, please see MWAC's Postgraduate Study page.

Already a student with MWAC?

A list of useful links for undergraduate and postgraduate students can be found on MWAC's Current Students page.