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This book introduces students to the behaviour of the lower atmosphere and outlines the mechanisms involved in the changes which occur. It fills a large gap between those texts describing meteorological behaviour with no account of the mechanisms, and others which tackle the theoretical framework but assume the reader is already familiar with atmospheric behaviour. The book first appeared in 1986 ... More

This book introduces students to the behaviour of the lower atmosphere and outlines the mechanisms involved in the changes which occur. It fills a large gap between those texts describing meteorological behaviour with no account of the mechanisms, and others which tackle the theoretical framework but assume the reader is already familiar with atmospheric behaviour. The book first appeared in 1986 under the title "Basic Meteorology: A Physical Outline", but in revising the work for the new edition, the author felt that the traditional perception of the scope of meteorology reflected in the original title became increasingly at odds with the actual content, and out of tune with the rapid pace of new work on climate, climate change and human interactions with the atmosphere. The author has revised his work from beginning to end, eliminating minor errors and clarifying sections of the text which feedback from students and lecturers had suggested were difficult. The numerous additions and alterations include separate sections on the concept of chaos, stratospheric ozone, the long-term evolution of the atmosphere, human society and climatic change, diurnal variations of radiative heat fluxes and summaries of mid-latitude and low-latitude climates. The particular problem of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and its effects on the atmospheric greenhouse is treated in several sections in the new edition, as befits its profound significance for the future of our planet. Previous separate chapters on radiation and global climate are amalgamated and the large scale weather systems in low and middle latitudes are now given separate chapters. Smaller changes include a simplified derivation of the Coriolis acceleration, and a new appendix in geopotential height. The new edition also benefits from 40 fresh photographs and newly drawn illustrations which bring a more international flavour to the examples cited. This book should be of interest to first and second year undergraduates in meteorology, geography, environmental science, atmospheric physics and geophysics.

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