The Earth's Atmosphere: Its Physics and DynamicsThe author has sought to incorporate in the book some of the fundamental concepts and principles of the physics and dynamics of the atmosphere, a knowledge and understanding of which should help an average student of science to comprehend some of the great complexities of the earth-atmosphere system, in which a thr- way interaction between the atmosphere, the land and the ocean tends to maintain an overall mass and energy balance in the system through physical and dynamical processes. The book, divided into two parts and consisting of 19 chapters, introduces only those aspects of the subject that, according to the author, are deemed essential to meet the objective in view. The emphasis is more on clarity and understanding of physical and dynamical principles than on details of complex theories and ma- ematics. Attempt is made to treat each subject from ?rst principles and trace its development to present state, as far as possible. However, a knowledge of basic c- culus and differential equations is sine qua non especially for some of the chapters which appear later in the book. |
Contents
| 10 | |
4 | 43 |
9 | 53 |
5 | 59 |
Physics of Radiation Fundamental Laws | 79 |
5 | 86 |
6 | 97 |
Heat Balance of the Earths Surface Upward and Downward | 115 |
Circulation Vorticity and Divergence | 187 |
The Boundary Layers of the Atmosphere and the Ocean | 207 |
Waves and Oscillations in the Atmosphere and the Ocean | 227 |
Equatorial Waves and Oscillations | 253 |
Dynamical Models and Numerical Weather Prediction N W P | 275 |
Dynamical Instability of Atmospheric Flows Energetics | 293 |
The General Circulation of the Atmosphere | 311 |
Appendices | 333 |
Heat Balance of the EarthAtmosphere System Heat Sources | 137 |
Winds on a Rotating Earth The Dynamical Equations and | 155 |
Simplified Equations of Motion QuasiBalanced Winds | 173 |
References | 353 |
Author Index | 359 |
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Common terms and phrases
absorption adiabatic adiabatic lapse rate amplitude angular momentum atmo atmosphere balance baroclinic barotropic boundary layer circulation clouds co-efficient co-ordinate system components computed condensation constant continuity equation convection Coriolis Coriolis force Coriolis parameter curve cyclonic denotes density divergence droplets earth's surface eddy Ekman equatorial evaporation flow fluid follows friction gases geostrophic wind given gravity waves heat source height horizontal integral isobaric Kelvin wave kinetic energy lapse rate latent heat latitude longwave radiation mass maximum mean meridional meteorological midlatitudes molecules momentum equations observed obtain ocean oscillation ozone parcel particles perturbation phase potential energy potential temperature pressure gradient force primitive equation propagation radius Rossby Rossby waves rotation saturation vapour pressure shear shown in Fig sink solar radiation stratosphere term thermal wind tropical turbulence unstable variables variation vector velocity vertical motion volume warm water vapour wavelength westerly zonal wind
Popular passages
Page 43 - I am the daughter of earth and water, And the nursling of the sky ; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores ; I change, but I cannot die. For after the rain when with never a stain The pavilion of heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams, Build up the blue dome of air, I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tombi I arise and unbuild it again.
Page 26 - Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures states that the total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the component gases of the mixture.
Page 4 - every body in the universe attracts every other body with a force which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
Page 60 - One aspect of this movement was a growing dissatisfaction with the empty formalism of much educational content in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century; with stultifying drill and catechism-like methods of teaching; with the curriculum's lack of relatedness to the everyday experience of the child, his physical world, and social environment; and with pupils' rote verbalization and memorization of ideas for which they had no adequate referents in experience.
Page 86 - Stefan-Boltzmann law states that the total energy of a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
Page 3 - The line joining the planet and the sun sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of time. 3. The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the sun. All three of these laws can be derived, using the calculus as the main mathematical tool, from the "inverse-square" law of gravitational attraction and Newton's laws of motion.
Page 72 - Form b— Sheet clouds which are divided into filaments, or rounded masses, and which are often stable or in process of disintegration. Form c — More or less continuous cloud sheets, often in process of formation or growth.
Page 107 - Rayleigh's law the amount of light scattered by such particles is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wave-length of the light.