An Introduction to the Global Circulation of the Atmosphere

by David Randall

Overview

The most comprehensive advanced graduate-level textbook on the subject

This is a graduate-level textbook on the global circulation of the Earth's atmosphere—the large-scale system of winds by which energy is transported around the planet, from the tropical latitudes to the poles. Written by David Randall, one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, it is the most comprehensive textbook on the topic. Intended for Earth science students who have completed some graduate-level coursework in atmospheric dynamics, the book will help students build on that foundation, preparing them for research in the field.

The book describes the many phenomena of the circulation and explains them in terms of current ideas from fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, with frequent use of isentropic coordinates and using the methods of vector calculus. It emphasizes the key roles of water vapor and clouds, includes detailed coverage of energy flows and transformations, and pays close attention to scale interactions. The book also describes the major historical contributions of key scientists, giving a human dimension to the narrative, and it closes with a discussion of how the global circulation is evolving as the Earth’s climate changes.

• The most comprehensive graduate-level textbook on the subject
• Written by one of the world’s leading experts
• Connects global circulation and climate phenomena
• Addresses energy, moisture, and angular-momentum balance; the hydrologic cycle; and atmospheric turbulence and convection
• Emphasizes the energy cycle of the atmosphere; the role of moist processes; and circulation as an unpredictable, chaotic process
• Helps prepare students for research
• An online illustration package is available to professors

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691148960
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

David A. Randall is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, and the author of Atmosphere, Clouds, and Climate (Princeton). He is the chief editor of the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, and the former chief editor of the Journal of Climate. He has twice served as a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Handy Numbers ix

Chapter 1 Perpetual Motion 1

Chapter 2 What Makes It Go? 12

Chapter 3 First Impressions 33

Chapter 4 The Rules of the Game 67

Chapter 5 Go with the Flow 106

Chapter 6 Up Moist, Down Dry 145

Chapter 7 Heat Where It’s Hot, and Cool Where It’s Cold 182

Chapter 8 A Taxonomy of Eddies 211

Chapter 9 What the Eddies Do 280

Chapter 10 A Fluid Dynamical Commotion 310

Chapter 11 The Future of the Circulation 352

Appendix A Vectors, Vector Calculus, and Coordinate Systems 357

Appendix B Dimensional Analysis, Scale Analysis, and Similarity Theories 365

Appendix C Why Is the Dissipation Rate Positive? 375

Appendix D Vertical Coordinate Transformations 378

Appendix E The Moist Adiabatic Lapse Rate 380

Appendix F Eddy Kinetic Energy and Zonal Kinetic Energy 383

Appendix G Spherical Harmonics 389

Appendix H Hermite Polynomials 396

Bibliography 399

Index 437

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"David Randall's book tells it like it is. He provides a compelling account of the large-scale circulation—what makes the air go around the planet, what makes it go up and down, and why it rains in some places and is dry in others. He tells us about both the observations and mechanisms in a concrete and straightforward way and in so doing he provides a valuable resource for theorists and practitioners alike."—Geoffrey K. Vallis, University of Exeter

"Randall has provided a tremendous guidebook and resource for the advanced student of the structure and variability of the atmospheric circulation and its relation to the energy and water cycles. The foundational concepts, mathematical framework, and key discoveries up to the present time are presented in an organized and rigorous fashion. This book is a tour de force from a master scholar and teacher."—Dennis L. Hartmann, University of Washington

"No other textbook on the global circulation of the atmosphere covers the breadth of the subject as well as this one does. And no other book makes the essential connection between atmospheric circulation dynamics and climate phenomena. There is no question to me that students will be very grateful to have it—there is nothing else like it, and we need it. David Randall is one of the most respected leaders in the field, and he is one of the few people capable of writing a book with a reach as broad as this."—Tapio Schneider, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and California Institute of Technology

Editorial Reviews

"The book is well organized, progresses logically, and includes a basic analytical analysis for observed conditions whenever possible. Particularly valuable are the lucid physical explanations of the implications of the mathematical relations."

Choice

"David Randall's book tells it like it is. He provides a compelling account of the large-scale circulation—what makes the air go around the planet, what makes it go up and down, and why it rains in some places and is dry in others. He tells us about both the observations and mechanisms in a concrete and straightforward way and in so doing he provides a valuable resource for theorists and practitioners alike."—Geoffrey K. Vallis, University of Exeter


"Randall has provided a tremendous guidebook and resource for the advanced student of the structure and variability of the atmospheric circulation and its relation to the energy and water cycles. The foundational concepts, mathematical framework, and key discoveries up to the present time are presented in an organized and rigorous fashion. This book is a tour de force from a master scholar and teacher."—Dennis L. Hartmann, University of Washington


"No other textbook on the global circulation of the atmosphere covers the breadth of the subject as well as this one does. And no other book makes the essential connection between atmospheric circulation dynamics and climate phenomena. There is no question to me that students will be very grateful to have it—there is nothing else like it, and we need it. David Randall is one of the most respected leaders in the field, and he is one of the few people capable of writing a book with a reach as broad as this."—Tapio Schneider, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and California Institute of Technology

From the Publisher