Thermal Physics of the Atmosphere

Thermal Physics of the Atmosphere offers a concise and thorough introduction on how basic thermodynamics naturally leads on to advanced topics in atmospheric physics. The book starts by covering the basics of thermodynamics and its applications in atmospheric science. The later chapters describe major applications, specific to more specialized areas of atmospheric physics, including vertical structure and stability, cloud formation, and radiative processes. The book concludes with a discussion of non-equilibrium thermodynamics as applied to the atmosphere. This book provides a thorough introduction and invaluable grounding for specialised literature on the subject. Introduces a wide range of areas associated with atmospheric physics Starts from basic level thermal physics Ideally suited for readers with a general physics background Self-assessment questions included for each chapter Supplementary website to accompany the book

Thermal Physics of the Atmosphere, Second Edition offers a concise and thorough introduction on how basic thermodynamics naturally leads to advanced topics in atmospheric physics. Chapters cover the basics of thermodynamics and its applications in atmospheric science and describe major applications, specifically more specialized areas of atmospheric physics, including vertical structure and stability, cloud formation and radiative processes. The book is fully revised, featuring informative sections on radiative transfer, thermodynamic cycles, the historical context to potential temperature concept, vertical thermodynamic coordinates, dewpoint temperature, the Penman equation, and entropy of moist air. This book is a necessary guide for students (graduate, advanced undergraduate, master’s level) of atmospheric science, meteorology, climate science and researchers in these fields. Introduces a wide range of areas associated with atmospheric physics Ideally suited for readers with a general physics background Includes self-assessment questions in each chapter

This text provides a modern introduction to the main principles of thermal physics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The key concepts are presented and new ideas are illustrated with worked examples as well as description of the historical background to their discovery.

A fresh introduction to thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and the study of matter for undergraduate courses.

Textbook that uniquely integrates physics and chemistry in the study of atmospheric thermodynamics for advanced single-semester courses.

This textbook is intended for introductory courses in physics, engineering and chemistry at universities, polytechnics and technical colleges. It provides either an elementary treatment of thermal physics, complete in itself, for those who need to carry the subject no further, or a sound foundation for further study in more specialised courses. The author gives a clear and concise account of those basic concepts that provide the foundations for an understanding of the thermal properties of matter. The area covered corresponds very roughly to the traditional topics of heat, kinetic theory, and those properties of matter for which there are elementary explanations in terms of interatomic forces. The book is not concerned with experimental detail but with ideas and concepts, and their quantitative application through simple models. The author provides many problems for which the answers are included. The book should also be useful in teacher training and as a reference book in the libraries of schools where pupils are being prepared for tertiary courses.

Features twenty-five chapter contributions from an international array of distinguished academics based in Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, and the USA. This multi-author contributed volume provides an up-to-date and authoritative overview of cutting-edge themes involving the thermal analysis, applied solid-state physics, micro- and nano-crystallinity of selected solids and their macro- and microscopic thermal properties. Distinctive chapters featured in the book include, among others, calorimetry time scales from days to microseconds, glass transition phenomena, kinetics of non-isothermal processes, thermal inertia and temperature gradients, thermodynamics of nanomaterials, self-organization, significance of temperature and entropy. Advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers working in the field of thermal analysis, thermophysical measurements and calorimetry will find this contributed volume invaluable. This is the third volume of the triptych volumes on thermal behaviour of materials; the previous two receiving thousand of downloads guaranteeing their worldwide impact.

Concise yet thorough, accessible, authoritative, and affordable. These are the hallmarks of books in the remarkable Physics and its Applications series. Thermodynamics is an essential part of any physical sciences education, but it is so full of pitfalls and subtleties, that many students fail to appreciate its elegance and power. In Thermal Physics, the author emphasizes understanding the basic ideas and shows how the important thermodynamics results can be simply obtained from the fundamental relations without getting lost in a maze of partial differentials. In this second edition, Dr. Finn incorporated new sections on scales of temperature, availability, the degradation of energy, and lattice defects. The text contains ample illustrations and examples of applications of thermodynamics in physics, engineering, and chemistry.

Thoroughly revised and up-dated edition of a highly successful textbook.

A self-contained introductory graduate-level course in atmospheric physics for students of meteorology or physics. This book offers an overview of how the atmosphere functions, including topics such as thermodynamics, cloud microphysics, atmospheric radiation and remote sensing.

Murry Salby's new book provides an integrated treatment of the processes controlling the Earth-atmosphere system, developed from first principles through a balance of theory and applications. This book builds on Salby's previous book, Fundamentals of Atmospheric Physics. The scope has been expanded into climate, with the presentation streamlined for undergraduates in science, mathematics and engineering. Advanced material, suitable for graduate students and as a resource for researchers, has been retained but distinguished from the basic development. The book provides a conceptual yet quantitative understanding of the controlling influences, integrated through theory and major applications. It leads readers through a methodical development of the diverse physical processes that shape weather, global energetics and climate. End-of-chapter problems of varying difficulty develop student knowledge and its quantitative application, supported by answers and detailed solutions online for instructors.

This work offers a broad coverage of atmospheric physics, including atmospheric thermodynamics, radiative transfer, atmospheric fluid dynamics and elementary atmospheric chemistry.

In Thermal Physics: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers, the fundamental laws of thermodynamics are stated precisely as postulates and subsequently connected to historical context and developed mathematically. These laws are applied systematically to topics such as phase equilibria, chemical reactions, external forces, fluid-fluid surfaces and interfaces, and anisotropic crystal-fluid interfaces. Statistical mechanics is presented in the context of information theory to quantify entropy, followed by development of the most important ensembles: microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical. A unified treatment of ideal classical, Fermi, and Bose gases is presented, including Bose condensation, degenerate Fermi gases, and classical gases with internal structure. Additional topics include paramagnetism, adsorption on dilute sites, point defects in crystals, thermal aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, density matrix formalism, the Ising model, and an introduction to Monte Carlo simulation. Throughout the book, problems are posed and solved to illustrate specific results and problem-solving techniques. Includes applications of interest to physicists, physical chemists, and materials scientists, as well as materials, chemical, and mechanical engineers Suitable as a textbook for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and practicing researchers Develops content systematically with increasing order of complexity Self-contained, including nine appendices to handle necessary background and technical details

Everyone is familiar with the daily changes of air temperature. The barometer shows that these are accompanied by daily changes of mass distribution of the atmosphere, and consequently with daily motions of the air. In the tropics the daily pressure change is evident on the barographs; in temperate and higher latitudes it is not noticeable, being overwhelmed by cyclonic and anticyclonic pressure variations. There too, however, the daily change can be found by averaging the variations over many days; and the same process suffices to show that there is a still smaller lunar tide in the atmosphere, first sought by Laplace. Throughout nearly two centuries these 'tides', thermal and gravitational, have been extensively discussed in the periodical literature of science, although they are very minor phenomena at ground level. This monograph summarizes our present knowledge and theoretical under standing of them. It is more than twenty years since the appearance of the one previous monograph on them - by Wilkes - and nearly a decade since they were last comprehensively reviewed, by Siebert. The intervening years have seen many additions to our know ledge of the state of the upper atmosphere, and of the tides there, on the basis of measurements by radio, rockets and satellites.

This book is based on many years of teaching statistical and thermal physics. It assumes no previous knowledge of thermodynamics, kinetic theory, or probability---the only prerequisites are an elementary knowledge of classical and modern physics, and of multivariable calculus. The first half of the book introduces the subject inductively but rigorously, proceeding from the concrete and specific to the abstract and general. In clear physical language the book explains the key concepts, such as temperature, heat, entropy, free energy, chemical potential, and distributions, both classical and quantum. The second half of the book applies these concepts to a wide variety of phenomena, including perfect gases, heat engines, and transport processes. Each chapter contains fully worked examples and real-world problems drawn from physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, electronics, and mechanical engineering.

A large portion of this straightforward, introductory text is devoted to the classical equilibrium thermodynamics of simple systems. Presentation of the fundamentals is balanced with a discussion of applications, showing the level of understanding of the behavior of matter that can be achieved by a macroscopic approach. Worked examples plus a selection of problems and answers provide an easy way to monitor comprehension from chapter to chapter.

Third edition of John Houghton's acclaimed textbook for advanced undergraduate/graduate courses in atmospheric science.

This is an intermediate to advanced undergraduate textbook presenting a broad coverage of atmospheric physics.

The extraordinary growth and development of atmospheric sciences during the last dec ades, and the concern for certain applied problems, such as those related to the environ ment, have prompted the introduction of college and university courses in this field. There is consequently a need for good textbooks. A few appropriate books have appeared in the last few years, aimed at a variety of levels and having different orientations. Most of them are of rather limited scope; in par ticular, a number of them are restricted to the field of dynamics and its meteorological applications. There is still a need for an elementary, yet comprehensive, survey of the terrestrial atmosphere. This short volume attempts to fill that need. This book is intended as a textbook that can be used for a university course at a second or third year level. It requires only elementary mathematics and such knowledge of physics as should be acquired in most first-year general physicS courses. It may serve in two ways. A general review of the field is provided for students who work or plan to work in other fields (such as geophysics, geography, environmental sciences, space research), but are interested in acquiring general information; at the same time, it may serve as a general and elementary introduction for students who will later specialize in some area of atmospheric science.

Bad experiences with construction quality, the energy crises of 1973 and 1979, complaints about 'sick buildings', thermal, acoustical, visual and olfactory discomfort, the move towards more sustainability, have all accelerated the development of a field, which until 35 years ago was hardly more than an academic exercise: building physics. Through the application of existing physical knowledge and the combination with information coming from other disciplines, the field helps to understand the physical performance of building parts, buildings and the built environment, and translates it into correct design and construction. This book is the result of thirty years teaching, research and consultancy activity of the author. The book discusses the theory behind the heat and mass transport in and through building components. Steady and non steady state heat conduction, heat convection and thermal radiation are discussed in depth, followed by typical building-related thermal concepts such as reference temperatures, surface film coefficients, the thermal transmissivity, the solar transmissivity, thermal bridging and the periodic thermal properties. Water vapour and water vapour flow and moisture flow in and through building materials and building components is analyzed in depth, mixed up with several engineering concepts which allow a first order analysis of phenomena such as the vapour balance, the mold, mildew and dust mites risk, surface condensation, sorption, capillary suction, rain absorption and drying. In a last section, heat and mass transfer are combined into one overall model staying closest to the real hygrothermal response of building components, as observed in field experiments. The book combines the theory of heat and mass transfer with typical building engineering applications. The line from theory to application is dressed in a correct and clear way. In the theory, oversimplification is avoided. This book is the result of thirty years teaching, research and consultancy activity of the author.