Atmospheric Science Major (B.Sc.)

60–63 credits · Faculty of Science · 2026-2027 catalogue

Atmospheric Science Major (B.Sc.) as a checklist, with when each course runs in 2026–27. On a computer, check off the courses you have taken or plan to take to add up your credits.

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Required Courses (24 credits)

  • ATOC 214 Introduction: Physics of the Atmosphere (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 312 Rotating Fluid Dynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 315 Thermodynamics and Convection (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • COMP 208 Computer Programming for Physical Sciences and Engineering (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 222 Calculus 3 (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • MATH 223 Linear Algebra (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 314 Advanced Calculus (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 315 Ordinary Differential Equations (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter

Complementary Courses (36-39 credits)

Note: Students are required to fulfill the core complementary requirements along with one of the four streams listed below. In cases of overlap, each course can only be used once toward the satisfaction of the core complementary courses or the chosen stream.

Core (21-22 credits)

Streams (15–17 credits)

15-17 credits from one of the following streams:

Weather Analysis and Forecasting Stream (16-17 credits)

Climate Science Stream (15 credits)

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Stream (15 credits)

  • ATOC 309 Weather Radars and Satellites (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 517 Boundary Layer Meteorology (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 213 Introductory Physical Chemistry 1: Thermodynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 273 Introductory Physical Chemistry 2: Kinetics and Methods (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 512 Computational Physics with Applications (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

General Stream (15-17 credits)

15-17 credits (at least 12 credits must be ATOC courses) selected from:

  • ATOC 309 Weather Radars and Satellites (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 512 Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 513 Waves and Stability (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 517 Boundary Layer Meteorology (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 525 Atmospheric Radiation (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 531 Dynamics of Current Climates (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 540 Synoptic Meteorology 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 541 Synoptic Meteorology 2 (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 546 Current Weather Discussion (1 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 548 Mesoscale Meteorology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 558 Numerical Methods and Laboratory (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 568 Ocean Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 367 Instrumental Analysis 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 575 Chemical Kinetics (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ESYS 300 Earth Data Analysis (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ESYS 301 Earth System Modelling (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • GEOG 322 Environmental Hydrology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • GEOG 372 Running Water Environments (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • MATH 555 Fluid Dynamics (4 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • PHYS 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 432 Physics of Fluids (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 512 Computational Physics with Applications (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

3-6 credits selected from: (3–6 credits)

3-6 credits selected from:

  • ATOC 215 Oceans, Weather and Climate (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 219 Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • CHEM 219 Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry (3 credits) · Offered: Winter

3 credits selected from: (3 credits)

3 credits selected from:

  • ATOC 357 Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Laboratory (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 257 Experimental Methods 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

3 credits selected from: (3 credits)

3 credits selected from:

  • PHYS 230 Dynamics of Simple Systems (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 251 Honours Classical Mechanics 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

3 credits selected from: (3 credits)

3 credits selected from:

  • PHYS 232 Heat and Waves (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 253 Thermal Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

6-10 credits selected from: (6–10 credits)

6-10 credits selected from:

  • CHEM 213 Introductory Physical Chemistry 1: Thermodynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 273 Introductory Physical Chemistry 2: Kinetics and Methods (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • CHEM 367 Instrumental Analysis 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 575 Chemical Kinetics (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • COMP 551 Applied Machine Learning (4 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 203 Principles of Statistics 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • MATH 317 Numerical Analysis (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 319 Partial Differential Equations (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 323 Probability (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • MATH 324 Statistics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • PHYS 333 Thermal and Statistical Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 340 Majors Electricity and Magnetism (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 342 Majors Electromagnetic Waves (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 350 Honours Electricity and Magnetism (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 352 Honours Electromagnetic Waves (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

13 credits from: (13 credits)

13 credits from:

  • ATOC 309 Weather Radars and Satellites (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 540 Synoptic Meteorology 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 541 Synoptic Meteorology 2 (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 546 Current Weather Discussion (1 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027

3-4 credits selected from: (3–4 credits)

3-4 credits selected from:

  • ATOC 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 512 Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 517 Boundary Layer Meteorology (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 525 Atmospheric Radiation (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 531 Dynamics of Current Climates (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 548 Mesoscale Meteorology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 558 Numerical Methods and Laboratory (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 568 Ocean Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ESYS 300 Earth Data Analysis (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ESYS 301 Earth System Modelling (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • GEOG 322 Environmental Hydrology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • GEOG 372 Running Water Environments (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • MATH 555 Fluid Dynamics (4 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • PHYS 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHYS 432 Physics of Fluids (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 512 Computational Physics with Applications (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

6 credits from: (6 credits)

6 credits from:

  • ATOC 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 531 Dynamics of Current Climates (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • PHYS 404 Climate Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

9 credits (at least 6 credits must be ATOC courses) selected from: (9 credits)

9 credits (at least 6 credits must be ATOC courses) selected from:

  • ATOC 512 Atmospheric and Oceanic Dynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 513 Waves and Stability (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 519 Advances in Chemistry of Atmosphere (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • ATOC 521 Cloud Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 525 Atmospheric Radiation (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 540 Synoptic Meteorology 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ATOC 558 Numerical Methods and Laboratory (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • ATOC 568 Ocean Physics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ESYS 300 Earth Data Analysis (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • ESYS 301 Earth System Modelling (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • GEOG 322 Environmental Hydrology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • GEOG 372 Running Water Environments (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • MATH 323 Probability (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • PHYS 512 Computational Physics with Applications (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

Related programs

Source: McGill Course Catalogue. myDegree is an independent student project, not affiliated with McGill University.