Recommended Courses

Fundamentals

• Hydrology Series Physical Hydrology (CEE 476), Advanced Hydrology (CEE 574) – Key concepts and skills.
• CEE 573: Snow Hydrology (Lundquist) - This course is essential for studying mountain hydrology, as it explores how snow accumulates and melts, how we measure it, and how we model it. The class project is one of the most valuable aspects, as it enables students to conduct a data analysis and/or modeling study to address a student's research or personal interest in snow hydrology.
• ASTM 501: Introduction to Atmospheric Sciences - This course is absolutely necessary for anyone studying mountain hydrology and is a launching point for any other courses in the Atmospheric Sciences. It covers the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, introduces you to common terminology and fundamental concepts.

Data Analysis

• AMATH 582: Scientific Computing (Kutz) - This course is a booster shot for Matlab and technical computing, and is probably geared more towards students with intermediate skills in Matlab. It was one of my favorite classes at UW and I appreciate that it showed me how to implement different data analysis methods, including fast Fourier transforms and wavelets, and that it showed me how to do cool analysis of audio datasets and images.
• AMATH 483/583: High-Performance Scientific Comupting (5) (LeVeque) - Introduction to hardware, software, and programming for large-scale scientific computing. Overview of multicore, cluster, and supercomputer architectures; procedure and object oriented languages; parallel computing paradigms and languages; graphics and visualization of large data sets; validation and verification; and scientific software development. Prerequisite: either CSE 142 or AMATH 301. Offered: Sp.
  
  A brief syllabus is also here: http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/classes/am583s2014/notes/outline.html
  
  The course did a very good job of introducing students to tools (github, openmp, MPI, etc.), and really improved my productivity and the reproducibility of my research. It was taught by Randy LeVeque (http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/), and I think any of his courses could be good. One of his former students is a professor out here and I took his numerical methods class, which also ended up teaching me a lot about computer productivity tools. It seems computer science best practices are really important to that group.
• ATMS 552: Objective Analysis (Hartmann) - The class provides an opportunity to gain experience in various techniques for data analysis through class exercises/homework and critique of published work.
• CEE 599 and CEE 491: Data Analysis in Water Sciences – This class is mis-named – it actually covers a wide range of practical tools for understanding and analyzing data and implementing stochastic models.
• ATMS 581 / AMATH 586: Numerical Analysis of Time-Dependent Problems (Bretherton). Learn how to implement numerical modeling schemes for geophysical problems. Lots of work.

Other Useful Courses

• CEE 599: The Art and Science of Hydrologic Modeling (Nijssen) - The course deals with the development, implementation, and evaluation of numerical models that simulate the flow of water and energy at and near the land surface. The course involves a group modeling project, as well as a class period where you teach the class on various topics that include, model evaluation, model forcing data, parameterization, spatial heterogeneity, and uncertainty. The group modeling project involves using different modeling decisions/parameterization with SUMMA - the Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives. The class closely aligned with my own research interests and was taught very well. For more information see: http://summa-modeling-course.readthedocs.io/en/develop/
• CEE 599/SEFS 521: Advanced Remote Sensing and Earth Observation (Butman) - This course covers the fundamentals of electromagnetic radiation, reflection and absorption, black body radiation, use of the Plank Function, satellite and sensor technology, map projections, integration of GIS data, and digital image analysis. It also has a lab where you work with the remote sensing data using ENVI software. While it was titled “Advanced Remote Sensing” I found it would a good course for those with no prior remote sensing experience. The course was taught well and included a class project. Of three remote sensing classes I’ve taken this was my favorite and I think I got the most out of it.
• ATMS 511: Formation of Snow and Ice Masses (Warren) - Steve Warren is an international expert in cryosphere science, and in this class he covers the fundamental physics involved in the mass and energy budget of seasonal snowpacks, glaciers, and sea ice. I learned about how snow forms and snow crystals grow, how snowpack goes through metamorphosis, optical physics, and learned about a time in earth's history when it looked like a snowball from outer space.
• ATMS/ESS/ENVIR/SMA 585: Climate Impacts on the Pacific Northwest - This course explores the science and policy issues related to climate change in the Pacific Northwest, with attention to the impact of climate change on snowpack and seasonal streamflow.
• CEE 578: Water Systems Management and Operations – This course provides a wide overview of current research in water systems, from flood inundation mapping, to municipal watershed management, to reservoir operation. Lots of excellent guest speakers, and interesting class discussions related to reading and writing assignments.
• ESS 426: Fluvial Geomorphology – This course covers river forms and processes in the classroom and in the field.
• Atmospheric Dynamics Series (including ATMS 505, 509, and 551 plus 502, in which all of the math of the 3 part sequence is applied to understand observed phenomena like cyclones) - For those interested in any sort of weather related problems the dynamics sequence is a must for a much deeper knowledge of atmospheric processes. ATMS 505 - Fluid Dynamics with Bretherton is also a great stand-alone fundamentals course if you are planning to pursue research involving storm/wind dynamics.
• ATMS 532: Intro to Radiation - Useful course for energy balance modeling of snow.
• ATMS 534: Remote Sensing (Ackerman) - Covers the physics of various remote sensing instruments (e.g., optical/visible sensors, microwave sensors, lidar, radar), describes methods for retrieving variables of interest from raw data, and provides practical experience through a class project. While the focus is on atmospheric remote sensing, it is still useful for anyone interested in remote sensing of the land surface, including snow. Requires Intro to Radiation (ATMS 532).
• HCDE 509: Scientific Article Writing - I took this course over the summer and it forces you to start drafting a paper. I was able to complete most of my introduction, and methods in this course. You are active in peer review and learn about submission and how to cater to your target journal. It is required for pharmaceutics students, but there were several folks in physical sciences as well.
• SEFS 520: GIS - This was a great course to get some GIS experience and create some figures for my future posters, and papers. It is very introductory (it is split with a 200 level forestry class), but for me it was a great way to get GIS experience and it was applicable to my research.

Fundamentals

Hydrology Series Physical Hydrology (CEE 476), Advanced Hydrology (CEE 574) – Key concepts and skills.

CEE 573: Snow Hydrology (Lundquist) - This course is essential for studying mountain hydrology, as it explores how snow accumulates and melts, how we measure it, and how we model it. The class project is one of the most valuable aspects, as it enables students to conduct a data analysis and/or modeling study to address a student's research or personal interest in snow hydrology.

ASTM 501: Introduction to Atmospheric Sciences - This course is absolutely necessary for anyone studying mountain hydrology and is a launching point for any other courses in the Atmospheric Sciences. It covers the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, introduces you to common terminology and fundamental concepts.

Data Analysis

AMATH 582: Scientific Computing (Kutz) - This course is a booster shot for Matlab and technical computing, and is probably geared more towards students with intermediate skills in Matlab. It was one of my favorite classes at UW and I appreciate that it showed me how to implement different data analysis methods, including fast Fourier transforms and wavelets, and that it showed me how to do cool analysis of audio datasets and images.

AMATH 483/583: High-Performance Scientific Comupting (5) (LeVeque) - Introduction to hardware, software, and programming for large-scale scientific computing. Overview of multicore, cluster, and supercomputer architectures; procedure and object oriented languages; parallel computing paradigms and languages; graphics and visualization of large data sets; validation and verification; and scientific software development. Prerequisite: either CSE 142 or AMATH 301. Offered: Sp.

A brief syllabus is also here: http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/classes/am583s2014/notes/outline.html

The course did a very good job of introducing students to tools (github, openmp, MPI, etc.), and really improved my productivity and the reproducibility of my research. It was taught by Randy LeVeque (http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/), and I think any of his courses could be good. One of his former students is a professor out here and I took his numerical methods class, which also ended up teaching me a lot about computer productivity tools. It seems computer science best practices are really important to that group.

ATMS 552: Objective Analysis (Hartmann) - The class provides an opportunity to gain experience in various techniques for data analysis through class exercises/homework and critique of published work.

CEE 599 and CEE 491: Data Analysis in Water Sciences – This class is mis-named – it actually covers a wide range of practical tools for understanding and analyzing data and implementing stochastic models.

ATMS 581 / AMATH 586: Numerical Analysis of Time-Dependent Problems (Bretherton). Learn how to implement numerical modeling schemes for geophysical problems. Lots of work.

Other Useful Courses

CEE 599: The Art and Science of Hydrologic Modeling (Nijssen) - The course deals with the development, implementation, and evaluation of numerical models that simulate the flow of water and energy at and near the land surface. The course involves a group modeling project, as well as a class period where you teach the class on various topics that include, model evaluation, model forcing data, parameterization, spatial heterogeneity, and uncertainty. The group modeling project involves using different modeling decisions/parameterization with SUMMA - the Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives. The class closely aligned with my own research interests and was taught very well. For more information see: http://summa-modeling-course.readthedocs.io/en/develop/

CEE 599/SEFS 521: Advanced Remote Sensing and Earth Observation (Butman) - This course covers the fundamentals of electromagnetic radiation, reflection and absorption, black body radiation, use of the Plank Function, satellite and sensor technology, map projections, integration of GIS data, and digital image analysis. It also has a lab where you work with the remote sensing data using ENVI software. While it was titled “Advanced Remote Sensing” I found it would a good course for those with no prior remote sensing experience. The course was taught well and included a class project. Of three remote sensing classes I’ve taken this was my favorite and I think I got the most out of it.

ATMS 511: Formation of Snow and Ice Masses (Warren) - Steve Warren is an international expert in cryosphere science, and in this class he covers the fundamental physics involved in the mass and energy budget of seasonal snowpacks, glaciers, and sea ice. I learned about how snow forms and snow crystals grow, how snowpack goes through metamorphosis, optical physics, and learned about a time in earth's history when it looked like a snowball from outer space.

ATMS/ESS/ENVIR/SMA 585: Climate Impacts on the Pacific Northwest - This course explores the science and policy issues related to climate change in the Pacific Northwest, with attention to the impact of climate change on snowpack and seasonal streamflow.

CEE 578: Water Systems Management and Operations – This course provides a wide overview of current research in water systems, from flood inundation mapping, to municipal watershed management, to reservoir operation. Lots of excellent guest speakers, and interesting class discussions related to reading and writing assignments.

ESS 426: Fluvial Geomorphology – This course covers river forms and processes in the classroom and in the field.

Atmospheric Dynamics Series (including ATMS 505, 509, and 551 plus 502, in which all of the math of the 3 part sequence is applied to understand observed phenomena like cyclones) - For those interested in any sort of weather related problems the dynamics sequence is a must for a much deeper knowledge of atmospheric processes. ATMS 505 - Fluid Dynamics with Bretherton is also a great stand-alone fundamentals course if you are planning to pursue research involving storm/wind dynamics.

ATMS 532: Intro to Radiation - Useful course for energy balance modeling of snow.

ATMS 534: Remote Sensing (Ackerman) - Covers the physics of various remote sensing instruments (e.g., optical/visible sensors, microwave sensors, lidar, radar), describes methods for retrieving variables of interest from raw data, and provides practical experience through a class project. While the focus is on atmospheric remote sensing, it is still useful for anyone interested in remote sensing of the land surface, including snow. Requires Intro to Radiation (ATMS 532).

HCDE 509: Scientific Article Writing - I took this course over the summer and it forces you to start drafting a paper. I was able to complete most of my introduction, and methods in this course. You are active in peer review and learn about submission and how to cater to your target journal. It is required for pharmaceutics students, but there were several folks in physical sciences as well.

SEFS 520: GIS - This was a great course to get some GIS experience and create some figures for my future posters, and papers. It is very introductory (it is split with a 200 level forestry class), but for me it was a great way to get GIS experience and it was applicable to my research.