About the Climatology Department
The Department of Natural Geography was established in 2006 in the Faculty of Natural Resources of the University of Kurdistan with two faculty members at the rank of assistant professor and 45 undergraduate students admitted in the field of Natural Geography. Following the approval of the High Planning Council in 2008, the Department of Natural Geography was divided into two independent departments: Geomorphology and Climatology. Since then, the Department of Climatology has independently admitted students in an undergraduate program in the field of Climatology, followed by a development of the available degrees in 2012 through the admission of students in an MSc program in Climatology (the Applied Climatology major). In 2016, the field of Climatology was changed back to Geography at the undergraduate level. The MSc program in Climatology was reviewed by the Geographical Science Committee of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology in 2017, and it was thus divided into three majors: Synoptic Climatology, Climate Change, and Environmental Climatology. Consequently, the Department of Climatology of the University of Kurdistan has been admitting MSc students in Environmental Climatology since 2018. The Department of Climatology is currently active in education and research with 3 full-time faculty members at the academic ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor, 137 undergraduate students of Geography majoring in Climatology, and 41 MSc students of Climatology majoring in Environmental Climatology.
Number of students in the Department of Climatology up to the first semester of 2020-2021:
The Department of Climatology contains a Climatology Laboratory, with an area of 30 square meters, a Climate Modeling Laboratory, with an area of 30 square meters, an Automatic Meteorological Station for instantly harvesting 14 climatic parameters, with an area of 144 square meters, and a fully-equipped Climatology Station, with an area of 324 square meters. The department can also utilize all the equipment and laboratories of the relevant departments, including the laboratory and workshop facilities of the Department of Geomorphology, i.e. a Geomorphology Laboratory, with an approximate area of 80 square meters, a fully-equipped 60-square-meter Map Reading and Remote Sensing Workshop, a GIS Workshop, with an area of 67 square meters, a GIS Workshop for graduate students, with an area of 45 square meters, a Computer Site, with an area of 75 square meters, and the facilities of the Departments of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Forestry, Environmental Science, etc. This includes a total workshop and computer site space of 498 square meters, a total laboratory space of 1041 square meters, and a total classroom space of 203 square meters, which can provide the faculty members and graduate students with the required educational and research facilities. Further needs of the department students can be met by the other facilities available in the university and elsewhere in the city and province, such as the Meteorological Department of Kurdistan Province, Environmental Research Institute of Kurdistan Province Directorate-General for the Environment, Northern Zagros Forestry Research and Development Center, affiliated with the University of Kurdistan, and International Wetland of Zarivar, Marivan.
Based on the prospect of development of the Department of Climatology for 2021, it has been predicted that an MSc program in Climate Change will be established in 2022, along with a PhD program in Climatology to be established in 2021.
Number of students in the Department of Climatology up to the first semester of 2020-2021:
The Department of Climatology contains a Climatology Laboratory, with an area of 30 square meters, a Climate Modeling Laboratory, with an area of 30 square meters, an Automatic Meteorological Station for instantly harvesting 14 climatic parameters, with an area of 144 square meters, and a fully-equipped Climatology Station, with an area of 324 square meters. The department can also utilize all the equipment and laboratories of the relevant departments, including the laboratory and workshop facilities of the Department of Geomorphology, i.e. a Geomorphology Laboratory, with an approximate area of 80 square meters, a fully-equipped 60-square-meter Map Reading and Remote Sensing Workshop, a GIS Workshop, with an area of 67 square meters, a GIS Workshop for graduate students, with an area of 45 square meters, a Computer Site, with an area of 75 square meters, and the facilities of the Departments of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Forestry, Environmental Science, etc. This includes a total workshop and computer site space of 498 square meters, a total laboratory space of 1041 square meters, and a total classroom space of 203 square meters, which can provide the faculty members and graduate students with the required educational and research facilities. Further needs of the department students can be met by the other facilities available in the university and elsewhere in the city and province, such as the Meteorological Department of Kurdistan Province, Environmental Research Institute of Kurdistan Province Directorate-General for the Environment, Northern Zagros Forestry Research and Development Center, affiliated with the University of Kurdistan, and International Wetland of Zarivar, Marivan.
Based on the prospect of development of the Department of Climatology for 2021, it has been predicted that an MSc program in Climate Change will be established in 2022, along with a PhD program in Climatology to be established in 2021.
