Desert Meteorology

Description

Aridity prevails over more than one third of the land area of the Earth and over a significant fraction of the oceans as well. Yet to date there has been no comprehensive reference volume or textbook dealing with the weather processes that define the character of desert areas. Desert Meteorology fills this gap by treating all aspects of desert weather, such as large-scale and local-scale causes of aridity; precipitation characteristics in deserts; dust storms; floods; climate change in deserts; precipitation processes; desertification; land-surface physics of deserts; numerical modelling of desert atmospheres; and the effect of desert weather on humans. A summary is provided of the climates and surface properties of the desert areas of the world. The book is written with the assumption that the reader has only a basic knowledge of meteorology, physics and calculus, making it useful to those in a wide range of disciplines. It includes review questions and problems for the student. This comprehensive volume will satisfy all who need to know more about the weather and climate of arid lands. It will appeal especially to advanced students and researchers in environmental science, meteorology, physical geography, hydrology and engineering.

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.

"[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