Waves in the Ocean and Atmosphere: Introduction to Wave Dynamics

For over twenty years, the Joint Program in Physical Oceanography of MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has based its education program on a series of core courses in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics and Physical Oceanography. One of the central courses in the Core is one on wave theory, tailored to meet the needs of both physical oceanography and meteorology students. I have had the pleasure of teaching of years, and I have particularly enjoyed the response of the the course for a number students to their exposure to the fascination of wave phenomena and theory. This book is a reworking of course notes that I have prepared for the students, and I was encouraged by their enthusiastic response to the notes to reach a larger audience with this material. The emphasis, both in the course and in this text, is twofold: the de­ velopment of the basic ideas of wave theory and the description of specific types of waves of special interest to oceanographers and meteorologists. Throughout the course, each wave type is introduced both for its own intrinsic interest and importance and as a ve­ hicle for illustrating some general concept in the theory of waves. Topics covered range from small-scale surface gravity waves to large-scale planetary vorticity waves.

From the reviews:

Praise for Joseph Pedlosky's Waves in the ocean and atmosphere

American Meteorological Society

"This title presents a study of the fundamental theory of waves appropriate for first year graduate students. After an elementary overview of the basic wave concept, specific phenomena are then examined, including surface and internal gravity waves, lee waves, geostrophic adjustment, wave-mean flow interaction, and unstable waves. Each wave topic is used to introduce either a new technique or concept in general wave theory. Emphasis is placed on connectivity between the various subjects and on the physical interpretation of the mathematical results"

"Pedlosky has spent his time well in writing Waves in the Ocean and Atmosphere. ... The writing is informal and engaging. ... the clarity of the figures and text is uniformly high. ... my message to students and researchers working in the fields of atmospheric and oceanic dynamics is ‘buy this book’. You will find it an invaluable reference work." (Andrew J. Willmott, Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, Vol. 99 (4), August, 2005)

"This book is based on the author’s lecture notes for a core course on wave theory ... . The treatment is avowedly informal, making the presentation more easily accessible to beginning students ... . the book is a welcome contribution to the literature by a distinguished investigator ... . It can benefit students whether or not it is the required text for a course, and can be used as well as a reference or guide by others. The opportunity to share the insights of a teacher ... should not be missed." (John Merrill, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, April, 2005)