About the Book:
This book is a
result of lectures to students at the M.sc level and would, be useful to
beginners and students to understand the fundamentals of Atmospheric Dynamics.
The emphasis is on basic physical concepts and the interpretation of equations and
the different terms therein.
The book begins with
a discussion of the basic governing equations, their significance as also
different coordinate systems and some approximations like geostrophy.
The next chapter
deals with a discussion of atmospheric energetics-different forms of energy,
zonal and eddy forms, their inter-conversions and their physical explanation.
The important topic is atmospheric general circulation-as a heat engine, role
of eddies in the middle latitudes and of Hadley and monsoon meridional
circulations in the tropics. The three dimensional structure is also discussed
with the help of recent data. The diabatic heating gradients drive divergent
wind circulations which result in the observed wind fields under the influence
of earth’s rotation. The next chapter deals with atmospheric waves-Rossby waves
and equatorial waves. These are illustrated with wind flow maps.
The next topic of
discussion is- large scale atmospheric modelling-vorticity and divergence
equations, hierarchy of models, numerical methods and simulation.
Finally the book
deals with hydrodynamic instability-barotropic, baroclinic, CISK and sources of
energy for tropical and midlatitude disturbances.
Besides theoretical
discussions and derivations, an adequate number of illustrative maps and
satellite pictures are included with a view to connect to observed features
like waves, disturbances and jet streams.
About the lndian Meteorological Society
The lndian Meteorological
society (lMS), established in 1957, is a non-profit organization whose
objectives are the advancement of meteorological and allied sciences,
dissemination of the knowledge of such sciences both among the scientific
workers and among the public, and their application to various constructive
human activities. lMS has its headquarters in New Delhi, and it organizes
National and lnternational conferences, lectures and other events through its
30 local chapters. lt awards prizes, fellowships, and honorary fellowships. IMS
has recently embarked on a programme to publish a series of popular books that
would demystify meteorology and its various components for common readers. This
is the second book in this series. |
Contents:
1.
Basic Governing Equations 2.
Energetics of the Atmosphere 3.
Atmospheric General Circulation 4.
Waves in the Atmosphere 5.
Large Scale Atmospheric Modeling 6. Hydrodynamic
Instability |
About the Author:
Prof. R. N. Keshavamurty was formerly
director of Indian lnstitute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and earlier
professor at physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad. Earlier he worked as a
scientist at llTM and IMD and also at GFDL,Princeton university (as a visitor).
Earlier he got his M.Sc degree in physics and ph.D degree in physics
(meteorology). He has done extensive and pioneering work (observational,
theoretical and modeling) on various aspects of monsoon-monsoon variability,
instability of monsoon flows, relation between ENSO and monsoon and a new kind
of monsoon disturbance (MTC). He has a large number of publications in National
and lnternational journals and a couple of books.
He was awarded the Dr. B.
N. Desai medal, Hari Om Ashram prerit Vikram Sarabhai award and Ministry of
Earth sciences National award for life time contribution. He has been on
various National and lnternational committees including the WMO/lCSU Joint
scientific Committee on World Climate Research program and the Governing
Council of llTM. |
