232 REVIEWS

what was achieved before computing power was widely available. It was pleasing to be reminded of those visionary papers by Charney and Eliassen in the late 1940s. On the negative side, some will find the dry, planetary-scale, linearized models rather old-fashioned compared to current emphasis on moist, synoptic/ mesoscale processes in numerical weather prediction.

I recommend this book as supplementary reading to those entering the field of numerical weather forecasting, alongside standard textbooks concerned with numerical techniques and dynamical meteorology. Those engaged in planetary wave research will find much to absorb from the section on ‘global solutions’. Most dynamical meteorologists will appreciate the background to the subject provided by someone who has played a leading role in the development of general circulation models.

G. J. S H U m

The use of EOS for studies of atmospheric physics. Edited by J. C. Gille and G. Visconti. North-Holland Elsevier Science Publications, Amsterdam. 1992. Pp. 579. ISBN 0-444-89896-4. Price: USS250.00.

This book contains a number of articles based on lectures given by an assembly of experts in atmospheric physics and remote sensing at a international summer school held in Varenna on Lake Como, Italy, in the summer of 1990. It is a somewhat unusual mixture of papers, some describing instruments to be flown as part of the EOS (Earth Observing System) programme at the turn of the century, and others giving scientific reviews of aspects of atmospheric physics and chemistry. Nevertheless, the book is an excellent source of information, and will be found to be an extremely valuable addition to the literature, with a number of very useful and well- written articles included in it.

The articles on instruments planned for the EOS programme is probably a quite unique collection of papers on a range of instruments, and will become, I am sure, a useful reference for many workers in the field. These articles go into some detail of the scientific principles behind the instruments, as well as giving more technical details of their design, providing more depth than can be obtained from available EOS publications. These articles also have the benefit of being up to date, and so will serve as reference p i n t s for the instruments that are actually being developed, which, in some cases, differ from the instruments as originally proposed. The instruments include: MOPITT’ (measurements of pollution in the troposphere); TES (tropospheric emission spectrometer); AIRS (atmospheric infrared sounder); MODIS (moderate resolution imaging spectrometer); HIRIS (high-resolution imaging spectrometer); ITIR (intermediate thermal infrared radiometer); HIRDLS (high-resolution dynamics limb sounder); SWIRLS (stratospheric wind infrared limb sounder); SAFIRE (spectroscopy of the atmosphere using far infrared emission); and MLS (microwave limb sounder). In addition, the article on MLS by Joe Waters provides an invaluable compilation of microwave spectroscopy data and data sources. Indeed, a number of these largely instrumental articles also include valuable surveys of aspects of the background science: for example, Mike King’s contribution on MODIS contains some useful examples of visible and infrared spectra; the MOPITT article by Jim Drummond presents a good description of gas correlation spectroscopy (also note the related piece on wind measurement using these methods by Dan McCleese); and Rizzi and Bonzagni’s article on AIRS is prefaced by a useful review of remote-sensing principles. Also on the technical side, it is useful to have Jeff Dozier’s paper on the EOSDIS data system.

The book, also, is a gem in an entirely different way, as the result of the number of excellent articles on the theoretical basis of several aspects of atmospheric physics and chemistry. As a middle atmosphere man, I found the papers by Michael McIntyre and Jim Holton (both on dynamics) particularly interesting. However, there are absorbing features not just on the middle atmosphere. For example, there are articles on chemical aspects by Brasseur, Prinn and Isaksen, and further chapters on dynamics, for example on transport processes, and on coordinate transformations. The paper by Slingo on clouds and climate is very useful (though I look forward in due course to a much longer review of the cloud-radiation problem from this author), and other papers on global climate, air-sea interactions, and regional climate modelling are also of interest.

This must have been a first-class summer school to have attended, if the articles in this book are anything to go by. It is a fine piece of work, with some excellent examples of interesting and informative writing in some chapters, woven through with a large amount of valuable information. I thoroughly recommend it to research workers in atmospheric physics and chemistry, earth observation and remote sensing. The editors are to be congratulated. The only negative comment that this reviewer would make is that at $250 this is a very expensive book and surely will be affordable only by (fairly well endowed) libraries.

J. E. HARRIES