Description
An Open Access overview of physical processes that generate instability in geophysical flows, emphasising numerical methods and simple rules to predict instability.
About the Author
William D. Smyth was trained in theoretical physics and is now a professor of oceanography at Oregon State University. He has taught graduate-level courses in fluid mechanics, geophysical waves and instabilities, descriptive oceanography, dynamic meteorology and climate. His research interests focus on instability and turbulence in geophysical flows and on the broader study of complex phenomena. He has been a visiting scientist at the Liebnitz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Germany. He has twice received the Pattulo Award for Excellence in Teaching, and has been honoured with the Kirby Liang Fellowship from Bangor University in Wales and a Distinguished Visitor Fellowship from Xiamen University in China. Jeffrey R. Carpenter is a physical oceanographer at the Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geeshacht, Germany, where he is the leader of the Small Scale Physics and Turbulence Group. His work focuses on the fluid mechanics of physical process in natural water bodies, and his research interests include turbulent mixing in stable density stratification, shear flows, instability and wave interactions, double-diffusive convection, heat fluxes and eddy formation in the Arctic Ocean, turbulence measurements using ocean gliders, and the impacts of offshore wind farms on the coastal ocean.
Reviews
'Written with impressive clarity, this new textbook covers all the key types of geophysical instability and provides a window to more advanced topics such as transient optimal growth and transition to turbulence. In addition to presenting the mathematical fundamentals the authors present satisfying physical explanations for the complex mechanisms, while throughout the text (and homework exercises) numerical methods and simple codes are used to familiarise students with this important tool for simulating instability mechanisms numerically. For all these reasons it is truly an outstanding textbook - for class teaching or self-study. I will use it myself to create a new graduate course!' Eyal Heifetz, Tel Aviv University
'... large number of analytical and numerical exercises, make the book suitable for use in teaching a graduate or upper-level undergraduate course on the subject of geophysical fluid dynamics. The material covered would be helpful both to atmospheric science students and researchers who wish to understand the mathematical theory and numerical simulation techniques and to applied mathematics students and researchers who wish to learn more about the geophysical processes and the mechanisms that lead to the instabilities.' Lucy J. Campbell, Mathematical Reviews Clippings
Book Information
ISBN 9781108703017
Author William D. Smyth
Format Paperback
Page Count 338
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 860g
Dimensions(mm) 245mm * 170mm * 24mm