Radiation in the Atmosphere
A Course in Theoretical Meteorology

This book presents the theory and applications of radiative transfer for graduate students and researchers in meteorology and related sciences.

Wilford Zdunkowski (Author), Thomas Trautmann (Author), Andreas Bott (Author)

9781108462723, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 March 2018

496 pages
24.3 x 17 x 2.8 cm, 0.89 kg

'… great care is taken in providing a mathematically correct and complete formalism which should also be appreciated by lecturers who use the book as a basis for their radiative transfer lecture. Another strength of this book is that it covers not only basic radiative transfer theory but also the underlying single scattering theory as well as the most important applications. As such, Radiation in the Atmosphere can probably replace three books: One about pure radiative transfer theory (like Chandrasekhar's Radiative Transfer), one about single scattering theory (like Bohren and Huffman's Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles) and one about applications (remote sensing, clouds and climate). In summary, the book gives a precise overview about radiative transfer theory and related subjects.' Meteorologische Zeitschrift

This book presents the theory and applications of radiative transfer in the atmosphere. It is written for graduate students and researchers in the fields of meteorology and related sciences. The book begins with important basic definitions of the radiative transfer theory. It presents the hydrodynamic derivation of the radiative transfer equation and the principles of variance. The authors examine in detail various quasi-exact solutions of the radiative transfer equation and give a thorough treatment of the radiative perturbation theory. A rigorous treatment of Mie scattering is given, including Rayleigh scattering as a special case, and the important efficiency factors for extinction, scattering and absorption are derived. The fundamentals of remote sensing applications of radiative transfer are presented. Problems of varying degrees of difficulty are included at the end of each chapter, allowing readers to further their understanding of the materials covered in the book.

1. Introduction
2. The radiative transfer equation
3. Principles of invariance
4. Quasi-exact solution methods for the radiative transfer equation
5. Radiative perturbation theory
6. Two-stream methods for the solution of the radiative transfer equation
7. Transmission in individual spectral lines and in bands of lines
8. Absorption by gases
9. Light scattering theory for spheres
10. Effects of polarization in radiative transfer
11. Remote sensing applications of radiative transfer
12. Influence of clouds on the climate of the Earth
Answers to problems
List of frequently used symbols
References and bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Atmospheric physics [PHVJ], Physics [PH], Mathematics [PB]