Abstract
A brief introduction to the physics of the neutral atmospheres is given by reviewing some fundamental concepts. Some fluid mechanical principles of atmospheric physics are highlighted. To a good approximation, Earth’s atmosphere and most other planetary atmospheres can be treated as an ideal gas that is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Thermodynamical laws are powerful in describing the basics of energy conservation in the atmosphere. Transport phenomena, such as diffusion, conduction, viscosity, and radiation are discussed briefly in order to provide some insight in the mechanisms of energy and momentum transfer processes in planetary atmospheres.
The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.
—Galileo Galilei (15–16th century A.D.)
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Notes
- 1.
This coordinate system is called in honor of the mathematician René Descartes.
- 2.
Named after the Italian physicist Amedeo Avogadro.
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Yiğit, E. (2015). Introduction to Atmospheric Physics. In: Atmospheric and Space Sciences: Neutral Atmospheres. SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21581-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21581-5_2
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