Desert Meteorology

by Thomas T. Warner

Overview

Aridity prevails over more than one-third of the land area of Earth, and over a significant fraction of the oceans. Until this book, there has been no comprehensive reference volume or textbook that deals with the weather processes of desert areas. Treating all aspects of desert weather, this text/reference will satisfy all who need to know more about the weather and climate of arid lands, especially advanced students and researchers in environmental science, meteorology, physical geography, hydrology, and engineering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521100489
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/18/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	620
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Tom Warner was a Professor in the Department of Meteorology at the Pennsylvania State University before accepting his current joint appointment with the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Professor Warner's career has involved teaching and research in mesoscale meteorological processes and in numerical weather prediction, and he has published on these subjects in numerous professional journals. His recent research and teaching have focused on atmospheric processes and operational weather prediction in arid areas.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The atmospheric dynamics of deserts; 3. The climates of the world deserts; 4. Atmospheric and surface energy budgets of deserts; 5. Surface physics of the unvegetated sandy desert landscape; 6. Vegetation effects on desert surface physics; 8. Desert-surface physical properties; 9. Numerical modelling of desert atmospheres; 10. Desert boundary layers; 11. Desert microclimates; 12. Dynamic interactions among desert microclimates; 13. Desert rainfall; 14. Anthropogenic effects on the desert atmosphere; 15. Changes in desert climate; 16. Severe weather in the desert; 17. Effects of deserts on the global environment and other regional environments; 18. Desertification; 19. Biometeorology of humans in desert environments; 20. Optical properties of desert atmospheres; Appendices; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"[T]his work treats all aspects of desert weather."
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

"...to date there has been no comprehensive reference volume or textbook dealing with the weather processes that define the character of the desert areas. Desert Meteorology fills this gap by treating all aspects of the desert weather..."
Journal of the American Water Resources Association

"The text is enjoyable to read. Not only will this book be extremely useful to meteorologists, environmental scientists and applied biologists interested in desert meteorology and its processes, but also to anybody seeking general information about these challenging environments."
Royal Meteorological Society

Desert Meteorology is a comprehensive and extraordinary book on desert ecosystems, and should be read, referred to, or even browsed through by everyone interested in and concerned with the fate of our planet."
Esmail Malek, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

From the Publisher