Middle Atmosphere Dynamics

"During the past decade remarkable advances have been made in our understanding of the dynamics, physics, and chemistry of the middle at­mosphere. Much of the observational and theoretical research that has led to this progress was stimulated by fears that human activities might adversely af­fect the ozone layer. The advances in our understanding of the chemistry of the stratosphere that have occurred during this period are quite well known. The parallel advances in our understanding of the dynamics of the middle at­mosphere have been no less significant but are less widely appreciated. It is these that provide the primary motivation for the present book. The middle at­mosphere cannot be properly understood without considering the complex in­teractions among dynamics, chemistry, and radiation. Because the chemical aspects of middle atmosphere science have been treated in depth elsewhere, the discussion of chemistry in the present work is limited to those aspects essential for a basic understanding of the ozone layer. A careful treatment of radiative heating and cooling processes is essential for an understanding of many of the features of the structure of the middle atmosphere. Since standard texts on at­mospheric radiation devote very little space to aspects of the subject essential for middle atmosphere studies, we have included a much more complete treat­ment of radiative processes than is usually found in dynamics texts."