Major: Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences B.S.
The AOS major is exciting, timely, and relevant. Contact an advisor for more information!
Preparation for the Major
- 1 of two Chemistry Sequences:
- Chemistry and Biochemistry sequence for physical scientists: 20A and 20B*
- Chemistry and Biochemistry sequence for life scientists: 14A and 14B
- 1 of two Calculus Sequences:
- Calculus sequence for physical scientists and engineers: Math 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B, 33A, and 33B*
- Calculus sequence for life scientists: Math 3A, 3B, 3C
- 1 of four Physics Sequences:
- Engineering Physics sequence lectures: 1A, 1B, 1C; and labs: 4AL, 4BL*
- Honors Physics sequence lectures: 1AH, 1BH, 1CH; and labs: 4AL, 4BL
- Life Science Physics sequence lectures: 6A, 6B, 6C (phased out in Spring 2018)
- Life Science Physics sequence lectures: 5A, 5B, 5C (effective Fall 2017)
- Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences 71 (preferred) or Civil and Environmental Engineering M20 or Program in Computing 10A
- AOS 51
- AOS 90
* Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in atmospheric and oceanic sciences or obtaining employment with the National Weather Service or other governmental agencies are strongly urged to select the Mathematics 31A through 33B sequence and the Physics 1 sequence.
For petition requests relating to prerequisite and/or major requirements, such as substituting AOS 51 and 90 for similar upper division classes, please consult your departmental advisor
Transfer Students
Transfer applicants to the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences major with 90 or more units must complete as many of the following introductory courses as possible prior to admission to UCLA: one year of calculus, one year of calculus-based physics with laboratory, one general chemistry course with laboratory for majors, and one Matlab, Python, or C++ programming course.
Refer to the UCLA Transfer Admission Guide for up-to-date information regarding transfer selection for admission.
The Major
- Four courses from Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) 101, 112, 103, 104, M105, 107
- Three additional upper division AOS courses selected in consultation with the undergraduate advisers
- Two upper division courses from a list of Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics courses selected in consultation with the undergraduate advisers
Approved non-AOS courses (Click to Expand)
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Examples of upper division Chemistry courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Chemistry courses are eligible by petition.
Chem 103. Environmental Chemistry
Chem 110A. Physical Chemistry: Chemical Thermodynamics
Chem 110B. Physical Chemistry: Introduction to Statistical Mechanics and Kinetics
Chem 114/114H Physical Chemistry Laboratory
Chem 125. Computers in Chemistry
Chem 113A: Intro Quantum Mechanics
Chem C113B: Intro Molecular Spectroscopy
Chem 114: Physical Chemistry Lab
Chem 184. Chemical Instrumentation
Physics
Examples of upper division Physics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Chemistry courses are eligible by petition.
Phys 112. Thermodynamics.
Phys 110A,B. Electricity and Magnetism
Phys 114. Mechanics of Wave Motion and Sound.
Phys 116. Electronics.
Phys 117. Electronics for Physics Measurement
Phys 118. Electronics for Physical Measurements.
Phys 131. Mathematical Methods of Physics
Phys 132. Mathematical Methods of Physics
M155. Energy in Modern Economy.
Phys 160. Numerical Analysis Techniques and Particle Simulations.
Phys 180B. Physical Optics and Spectroscopy Laboratory
Phys 188A. Physics of Energy.
Phys 188B. Computational Physics and Astronomy Laboratory
Mathematics
Examples of upper division Mathematics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Chemistry courses are eligible by petition except Math 105A- 105C.
Math 115A/AH-115B. Linear Algebra
Math 133. Introduction to Fourier Analysis
Math 134. Linear and Nonlinear Systems of Differential Equations
Math 135. Ordinary Differential Equations.
Math 136. Partial Differential Equations
Math 142. Mathematical Modeling
Math 146. Methods of Applied Mathematics.
Math 151A-151B. Applied Numerical Methods
Math 153. Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
Math 156. Machine Learning
Math 157. Software Techniques for Scientific Computation.
Math 170A,B. Probability Theory
Math 171. Stochastic Processes.
Statistics
Examples of upper division Statistics courses that may be particularly useful are listed below; other upper division Chemistry courses are eligible by petition.
Stats 100A. Introduction to Probability
Stats 100B. Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
Stats 100C. Linear Models
Stats 101A. Introduction to Data Analysis and Regression
Stats 101B. Introduction to Design and Analysis of Experiment
Stats 101C. Introduction to Statistical Models and Data Mining
Stats 102A. Introduction to Computational Statistics with R
Stats 102C. Introduction to Monte Carlo Methods
Stats 170. Introduction to Time-Series Analysis.
M171 Introduction to Spatial Statistics
C173. Applied Geostatistics
C180. Introduction to Bayesian Statistics
Other science departments
The courses listed below by department have been approved by the undergraduate advisors for use by petition. This list may be revised.
Computer Science
CS 111. Operating Systems Principles.
CS 112. Modeling Uncertainty in Information Systems.
CS 118. Computer Network Fundamentals
CS 130. Software Engineering
C137A. Prototyping Programming Languages
CS 143. Database Systems
CS 170A. Mathematical Modeling and Methods for Computer Science.
CS 180. Introduction to Algorithms and Complexity.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
C&EE 103 Applied Numerical Computing and Modeling in Civil and Envirnmental Engineering
C&EE 110 Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Engineers
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
E&EB 109 Introduction to Marine Sciences
E&EB 152 World Vegetation Ecology and Ecophysiology
E&EB C173 Earth Process and Evolutionary History
Environmental Health Sciences
EHS C125 Atmospheric Transport and Transformations of Airborne Chemicals
EHS C152D Properties and Measurement of Airborne Particles
Environment
ENV M109 Human Impact on Biophysical Environment: What Science Has Learned
ENV M114 Soild and Water Conservation
ENV 157 Energy, Environment, and Development
Earth & Planetary Space Sciences
ESS/EPSS 150 Remote Sensing for Earth Sciences
ESS/EPSS 152 Physics of Earth
ESS/EPSS 153 Oceans and Atmospheres
Geography
GEOG 102 Tropical Climatology
GEOG 104 Climatology
GEOG M131 Environmental Change
GEOG 168 Intermediate Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 169 Satellite Remote Sensing and Imaging Geographic Information Systems
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
MAE 103 Elementary Fluid Mechanics
*** Courses taken to fulfill requirements must be taken for letter grades.***
For the official requirements, please visit the UCLA Registrar website.