Book Description

There are two recurring themes in astrophysical and geophysical fluid mechanics: waves and turbulence. This book investigates how turbulence responds to rotation, stratification or magnetic fields, identifying common themes, where they exist, as well as the essential differences which inevitably arise between different classes of flow. The discussion is developed from first principles, making the book suitable for graduate students as well as professional researchers. The author focuses first on the fundamentals and then progresses to such topics as the atmospheric boundary layer, turbulence in the upper atmosphere, turbulence in the core of the earth, zonal winds in the giant planets, turbulence within the interior of the sun, the solar wind, and turbulent flows in accretion discs. The book will appeal to engineers, geophysicists, astrophysicists and applied mathematicians who are interested in naturally occurring turbulent flows.