Physics of the Atmosphere and Climate

Murry Salby's textbook provides an integrated treatment of processes controlling the Earth-atmosphere system for students and researchers.

Murry L. Salby (Author)

9780521767187, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 January 2012

718 pages, 371 b/w illus. 4 tables 296 exercises
26 x 18.3 x 4 cm, 1.4 kg

'I recommend [this book] as a foundation for anyone who wants to do research on the important open questions about aerosols, radiation, biogeochemistry, and ocean-atmosphere coupling.' Professor Jim McWilliams, University of California, Los Angeles

Murry Salby's new book provides an integrated treatment of the processes controlling the Earth-atmosphere system, developed from first principles through a balance of theory and applications. This book builds on Salby's previous book, Fundamentals of Atmospheric Physics. The scope has been expanded into climate, with the presentation streamlined for undergraduates in science, mathematics and engineering. Advanced material, suitable for graduate students and as a resource for researchers, has been retained but distinguished from the basic development. The book provides a conceptual yet quantitative understanding of the controlling influences, integrated through theory and major applications. It leads readers through a methodical development of the diverse physical processes that shape weather, global energetics and climate. End-of-chapter problems of varying difficulty develop student knowledge and its quantitative application, supported by answers and detailed solutions online for instructors.

1. The Earth-atmosphere system
2. Thermodynamics of gases
3. The second law and its implications
4. Heterogeneous systems
5. Transformations of moist air
6. Hydrostatic equilibrium
7. Static stability
8. Radiative transfer
9. Aerosol and cloud
10. Atmospheric motion
11. Atmospheric equations of motion
12. Large-scale motion
13. The planetary boundary layer
14. Atmospheric waves
15. The general circulation
16. Dynamic stability
17. Influence of the ocean
18. Interaction with the stratosphere.

Subject Areas: The environment [RN], Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning [R]