Introduction to Circulating Atmospheres [Paperback]

An advanced undergraduate text on the large scale circulation of the atmosphere.Early chapters concentrate on the classical view of the global circulation, the processes that generate atmosphere motions, and the dynamical constraints that modify them. Later chapters develop more recent themes including low frequency variability and the circulation of other planetary atmospheres.Early chapters concentrate on the classical view of the global circulation, the processes that generate atmosphere motions, and the dynamical constraints that modify them. Later chapters develop more recent themes including low frequency variability and the circulation of other planetary atmospheres.This book gives an account of the modern view of the global circulation of the atmosphere. It accounts for the observed nature of the circulation and theories and simple models of the mechanisms that drive it. Early chapters concentrate on the classical view of the global circulation, on the processes that generate atmospheric motions, and on the dynamical constraints that modify them. Later chapters develop more recent themes including low frequency variability and the circulation of other planetary atmospheres. Each chapter includes a set of problems.1. The governing physical laws; 2. Observing and modelling the global circulation; 3. The atmospheric heat engine; 4. The zonal mean meridional circulation; 5. Transient disturbances in the mid-latitudes; 6. Wave propagation and the steady eddies; 7. Three dimensional aspects of the global circulation; 8. Low frequency variability of the circulation; 9. The stratosphere; 10. Planetary atmospheres and other fluid systems. ...a well composed text book on the general circulation of the atmosphere, most suitable for advanced undergraduate and introductory graduate levels...brings many interesting and modern aspects of general circulation theory and observations together in a concise and manageable format. Elmar Reiter, Meteorology & Atmospherlƒp