Desert Meteorology

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Jan 18, 2009 - Science
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.
 

Contents

1 Introduction
1
2 The atmospheric dynamics of deserts
7
3 The climates of the world deserts
63
4 Atmospheric and surface energy budgets of deserts
159
5 Surface physics of the unvegetated sandy desert landscape
189
6 Vegetation effects on desert surface physics
219
7 Substrate effects on desert surface physics
245
8 Desertsurface physical properties
265
16 Severe weather in the desert
419
17 Effects of deserts on the global environment and other regional environments
445
18 Desertification
457
19 Biometeorology of humans in desert environments
491
20 Optical properties of desert atmospheres
519
Appendix A Glossary of meteorological and landsurface terms
527
Appendix B Abbreviations
535
Appendix C Units numerical constants and conversion factors
536

9 Numerical modeling of desert atmospheres
271
10 Desert boundary layers
291
11 Desert microclimates
303
12 Dynamic interactions among desert microclimates
327
13 Desert rainfall
347
14 Anthropogenic effects on the desert atmosphere
383
15 Changes in desert climate
395
Appendix D Symbols
538
Appendix E
541
Hints to solving some problems and exercises
547
References
549
Index
587
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

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.

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