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This book covers a wide area of the atmospheric science, focusing particularly on those physical and dynamical aspects of our environment which tend to create heat sources and sinks in the earth-atmosphere system and which it seeks to balance through circulation at different time and space scales. The processes of heat transfer in the atmosphere and ocean by general circulation and by waves and oscillations are discussed in detail. The heat balance of the atmosphere is considered, after taking into consideration the role of various types of greenhouse gases that may be present. In this context, the publication of the book will be very timely and will be welcomed by all those interested in knowing more about our atmosphere and the way it works, especially with regard to the contentious issue of global warming by greenhouse gases released by human activities on earth.
Starting with the origin, composition and structure of the atmosphere, the physics part deals with the laws of heat and thermodynamics of dry and moist air, water vapor and its transformation into different phases and formation of cloud and rain under different stability conditions, solar and terrestrial radiation and their impact on the gaseous envelope in different layers of the atmosphere which create sources and sinks in different parts of the atmosphere especially in its boundary layers. The dynamics part highlights the various types of motion systems including the general circulation of waves and oscillations which create the heat balance in the earth-atmosphere system.
Part one -- Physics of the earth's atmosphere: 1. The sun and the earth.- 2. The earth's atmosphere.- 3. Heat and thermodynamics of the atmosphere.- 4. Water vapor in the atmosphere.- 5. Physics of cloud and precipitation.- 6. Physics of radiation -- fundamental laws.- 7. The sun and its radiation.- 8. The incoming solar radiation -- interaction with the earth's atmosphere and surface.- 9. Heat balance of the earth's surface -- upward and downward transfer of heat.- 10. Heat balance of the earth-atmosphere system -- heat sources and sinks.- Part two -- Dynamics of the earth's atmosphere -- the general circulation: 11. Winds on a rotating earth -- the dynamical equations and the conservation laws.- 12. Simplified equations of motion -- quasi-balanced winds.- 13. Circulation, vorticity and divergence.- 14. The boundary layers of the atmosphere and the ocean.- 15. Waves and oscillations in the atmosphere and ocean.- 16. Equatorial waves and oscillations.- 17. Dynamical models and numerical weather prediction.- 18. Dynamical instability of atmospheric flows.- 19. The general circulation of the atmosphere.- Appendices.- References.- Indices.
From the reviews: "The objective of this book is to describe the earth's atmosphere and the earth-atmosphere system from a physical point of view. ! the book is intended for undergraduate students pursuing courses in earth and atmospheric sciences. ! The book will also prove to be useful to students and scientists who are working in other fields, because it provides excellent examples of the application of the fundamental laws of physics to an environment with which the reader is already very familiar." (Fernande Grandjean and Gary J. Long, Belgian Physical Society Magazine, Issue (1), March, 2009) "The Earth's Atmosphere is a course resource for atmospheric science ! . With the issue of global warming occupying political and public interest, this volume supplies the necessary foundation for students to understand the controlling factors and physics behind atmospheric processes. ! Saha has done an excellent job developing a resource that will be useful not only to students in meterology, but also in geophysics, planetary science, and environmental science. ! Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students." (S. A. Russell Gonzalez, Choice, Vol. 46 (8), April, 2009) "The author tries to explain in the book some of the fundamental concepts and principles of the physics and dynamics of the atmosphere ! . The book is primarily aimed at meeting the needs of students of undergraduate level pursuing courses in earth and atmospheric sciences, but could also be used as a reference book by graduate students as well as scientists working in other fields of science, desirous of learning more about the earth-atmosphere system." (Claudia-Veronika Meister, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1156, 2009)
