Radiation and Cloud Processes in the Atmosphere: Theory, Observation and Modeling (Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics)

The field of atmospheric radiation and remote sensing has seen significant advances in recent years. This monograph addresses those advances and fills the need for an up-to-date, cohesive integration of radiative transfer and cloud physics, allowing for the better forcast of weather on medium and long-range levels. The author here offers a systematic discussion of the transfer of solar and thermal infrared radiation in the atmosphere, and of aspects of cloud processes pertinent to radiative transfer. The book focuses largely on the physical principles and approximations that are required to develop important topics in atmospheric radiation, cloud physics, and thermal equilibrium. Aspects of the interactions and feedbacks of radiation-cloud and dynamic and climate processes are discussed using a hierarchy of atmospheric models. Radiometric data obtained from the ground, the air, and space are frequently employed to illustrate physical processes in the atmosphere as well as to cross check theoretical results. The author also cogently discusses the application of the radiative transfer principle to remote sensing of atmospheric and cloud parameters. This book for the first time bridges the gap between cloud-radiation and dynamic processes in the atmosphere. It will be welcomed by meteorologists, earth scientists, and researchers interested in atmospheric modelling and radiation.

Kuo-Nan Liou is at University of Utah.