Recent Progress in Atmospheric Sciences


Book Description

This book contains 22 peer-reviewed articles that cover a spectrum of contemporary subjects relevant to atmospheric sciences, with specific applications to the Asia-Pacific region. The majority of these papers consist of a review of a scientific sub-field in atmospheric sciences, while some contain original contributions. All of the accepted papers were subject to scientific reviews and revisions.




Mountain Weather Research and Forecasting


Book Description

This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the fundamental principles driving atmospheric flow over complex terrain and provides historical context for recent developments and future direction for researchers and forecasters. The topics in this book are expanded from those presented at the Mountain Weather Workshop, which took place in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, August 5-8, 2008. The inspiration for the workshop came from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Mountain Meteorology Committee and was designed to bridge the gap between the research and forecasting communities by providing a forum for extended discussion and joint education. For academic researchers, this book provides some insight into issues important to the forecasting community. For the forecasting community, this book provides training on fundamentals of atmospheric processes over mountainous regions, which are notoriously difficult to predict. The book also helps to provide a better understanding of current research and forecast challenges, including the latest contributions and advancements to the field. The book begins with an overview of mountain weather and forecasting chal- lenges specific to complex terrain, followed by chapters that focus on diurnal mountain/valley flows that develop under calm conditions and dynamically-driven winds under strong forcing. The focus then shifts to other phenomena specific to mountain regions: Alpine foehn, boundary layer and air quality issues, orographic precipitation processes, and microphysics parameterizations. Having covered the major physical processes, the book shifts to observation and modelling techniques used in mountain regions, including model configuration and parameterizations such as turbulence, and model applications in operational forecasting. The book concludes with a discussion of the current state of research and forecasting in complex terrain, including a vision of how to bridge the gap in the future.




The Atmospheric Sciences


Book Description

Technology has propelled the atmospheric sciences from a fledgling discipline to a global enterprise. Findings in this field shape a broad spectrum of decisions--what to wear outdoors, whether aircraft should fly, how to deal with the issue of climate change, and more. This book presents a comprehensive assessment of the atmospheric sciences and offers a vision for the future and a range of recommendations for federal authorities, the scientific community, and education administrators. How does atmospheric science contribute to national well-being? In the context of this question, the panel identifies imperatives in scientific observation, recommends directions for modeling and forecasting research, and examines management issues, including the growing problem of weather data availability. Five subdisciplines--physics, chemistry, dynamics and weather forecasting, upper atmosphere and near-earth space physics, climate and climate change--and their status as the science enters the twenty-first century are examined in detail, including recommendations for research. This readable book will be of interest to public-sector policy framers and private-sector decisionmakers as well as researchers, educators, and students in the atmospheric sciences.




The Future of Atmospheric Chemistry Research


Book Description

Our world is changing at an accelerating rate. The global human population has grown from 6.1 billion to 7.1 billion in the last 15 years and is projected to reach 11.2 billion by the end of the century. The distribution of humans across the globe has also shifted, with more than 50 percent of the global population now living in urban areas, compared to 29 percent in 1950. Along with these trends, increasing energy demands, expanding industrial activities, and intensification of agricultural activities worldwide have in turn led to changes in emissions that have altered the composition of the atmosphere. These changes have led to major challenges for society, including deleterious impacts on climate, human and ecosystem health. Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing society today. Air pollution is a major threat to human health, as one out of eight deaths globally is caused by air pollution. And, future food production and global food security are vulnerable to both global change and air pollution. Atmospheric chemistry research is a key part of understanding and responding to these challenges. The Future of Atmospheric Chemistry Research: Remembering Yesterday, Understanding Today, Anticipating Tomorrow summarizes the rationale and need for supporting a comprehensive U.S. research program in atmospheric chemistry; comments on the broad trends in laboratory, field, satellite, and modeling studies of atmospheric chemistry; determines the priority areas of research for advancing the basic science of atmospheric chemistry; and identifies the highest priority needs for improvements in the research infrastructure to address those priority research topics. This report describes the scientific advances over the past decade in six core areas of atmospheric chemistry: emissions, chemical transformation, oxidants, atmospheric dynamics and circulation, aerosol particles and clouds, and biogeochemical cycles and deposition. This material was developed for the NSF's Atmospheric Chemistry Program; however, the findings will be of interest to other agencies and programs that support atmospheric chemistry research.




Atmospheric and Space Sciences: Neutral Atmospheres


Book Description

The SpringerBriefs on Atmospheric and Space Sciences in two volumes presents a concise and interdisciplinary introduction to the basic theory, observation & modeling of atmospheric and ionospheric coupling processes on Earth. The goal is to contribute toward bridging the gap between meteorology, aeronomy, and planetary science. In addition recent progress in several related research topics, such atmospheric wave coupling and variability, is discussed. Volume 1 will focus on the atmosphere, while Volume 2 will present the ionosphere— the plasma environment. Volume 1 is aimed primarily at (research) students and researchers that would like to gain quick insight in atmospheric sciences and current research. It also is a useful tool for professors who would like to develop a course in atmospheric physics.




Progress and Problems in Atmospheric Chemistry


Book Description

Atmospheric chemistry is central to understanding global changes ? ozone depletion, appearance of the polar ozone holes, and compositional changes which worsen the greenhouse effect. Because of its importance, work is progressing on many fronts.This volume emphasizes the troposhere and stratosphere and has chapters on gas phase, condensed phase, and heterogeneous chemistry. Present progress is emphasized, and important future directions are also described.This book fills a need not satisfied by any others and will be popular for some years to come. It informs students and newcomers to the field of the many facets of atmospheric chemistry and can be used as a text for advanced students. It is also a valuable desk reference summarizing activities by quite a number of the most active research groups.Chapter 18 by Kolb et al. on heterogeneous chemistry is especially noteworthy because it represents a unique joint effort by several groups working on a very timely subject; they describe a conceptual framework and establish conventions which will be standard in future papers on this subject.




Data Assimilation for Atmospheric, Oceanic and Hydrologic Applications (Vol. II)


Book Description

This book contains the most recent progress in data assimilation in meteorology, oceanography and hydrology including land surface. It spans both theoretical and applicative aspects with various methodologies such as variational, Kalman filter, ensemble, Monte Carlo and artificial intelligence methods. Besides data assimilation, other important topics are also covered including targeting observation, sensitivity analysis, and parameter estimation. The book will be useful to individual researchers as well as graduate students for a reference in the field of data assimilation.




Atmospheric Rivers


Book Description

This book is the standard reference based on roughly 20 years of research on atmospheric rivers, emphasizing progress made on key research and applications questions and remaining knowledge gaps. The book presents the history of atmospheric-rivers research, the current state of scientific knowledge, tools, and policy-relevant (science-informed) problems that lend themselves to real-world application of the research—and how the topic fits into larger national and global contexts. This book is written by a global team of authors who have conducted and published the majority of critical research on atmospheric rivers over the past years. The book is intended to benefit practitioners in the fields of meteorology, hydrology and related disciplines, including students as well as senior researchers.




Cloud Computing in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences


Book Description

Cloud Computing in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences provides the latest information on this relatively new platform for scientific computing, which has great possibilities and challenges, including pricing and deployments costs and applications that are often presented as primarily business oriented. In addition, scientific users may be very familiar with these types of models and applications, but relatively unfamiliar with the intricacies of the hardware platforms they use. The book provides a range of practical examples of cloud applications that are written to be accessible to practitioners, researchers, and students in affiliated fields. By providing general information on the use of the cloud for oceanographic and atmospheric computing, as well as examples of specific applications, this book encourages and educates potential users of the cloud. The chapters provide an introduction to the practical aspects of deploying in the cloud, also providing examples of workflows and techniques that can be reused in new projects. - Provides real examples that help new users quickly understand the cloud and provide guidance for new projects - Presents proof of the usability of the techniques and a clear path to adoption of the techniques by other researchers - Includes real research and development examples - that are ideal for cloud computing adopters in ocean and atmospheric domains




Atmospheric Dynamics


Book Description

Mankin Mak's textbook provides a self-contained course on atmospheric dynamics. The first half is suitable for senior undergraduates, and develops the physical, dynamical and mathematical concepts at the fundamental level. The second half of the book is aimed at more advanced students who are already familiar with the basics. The contents have been developed from many years of the author's teaching at the University of Illinois. Discussions are supplemented with schematics, weather maps and statistical plots of the atmospheric general circulation. Students often find the connection between theoretical dynamics and atmospheric observation somewhat tenuous, and this book demonstrates a strong connection between the key dynamics and real observations. This textbook is an invaluable asset for courses in atmospheric dynamics for advanced students and researchers in atmospheric science, ocean science, weather forecasting, environmental science, and applied mathematics. Some background in mathematics, physics and basic atmospheric science is assumed.