Cloud Dynamics

Clouds play a critical role in the earth's climate, the general atmospheric circulation, and the global water balance. An understanding of clouds is essential to understanding weather forecasting, atmospheric chemistry, air pollution, atmospheric radiation balance, remote environmental sensing, and potential weather modification. Cloud Dynamics provides a comprehensive explanation of the nature of clouds - what they look like and why, how scientists observe them, the basic physics that underlies them - and a comprehensive discussion of the mechanisms governing each type that occurs in the earth's atmosphere. Although some prior knowledge of atmospheric dynamics and physics is helpful to the reader's understanding, the book includes an overview of the necessary prerequisites.