This textbook covers the essentials of atmospheric radiation at a level appropriate to advanced undergraduates and first-year graduate students. It was written specifically to be readable and technically accessible to students having no prior background in the subject area and who may or may not intend to continue with more advanced study of radiation or remote sensing. The author emphasizes physical insight, first and foremost, but backed by the essential mathematical relationships. The second edition adds new exercises, improved figures, a table of symbols, and discussions of new topics, such as the Poynting vector and the energy balance within the atmosphere. The book web page includes additional resources for courses taught using this book, including downloadable/printable PDF figures as well as solutions to most problems (for instructors of recognized courses only).
I'm a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I became both an author and a publisher when I decided that the courses I teach needed textbooks more accessible to students seeing the material for the first time. Part of my interest in self-publishing is that it allows me to keep my textbooks affordable for students. Where else these days can you find an upper division science textbook for only $36? For that and other reasons, I hope to persuade more of my academic colleagues to consider non-traditional publishing of their own textbooks. In fact, I'm working on a new book to make that easier for those new to the process. It's called "Self-Publishing for Academic Authors: A Step By Step Guide." And now that I've announced that here, in public, for the first time, I'd better go finish it.
In addition to my teaching and research, I play lead guitar in a working rock band called the Sundogs. I'm also a private pilot, a scuba diver, an amateur photographer, and a former shipboard weather observer in the U.S. Navy. All of these activities and experiences (with the likely exception of the rock band) have shaped both my understanding of the atmosphere and helped me to bring a practical perspective to some of the subjects I write about.
By the way, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is a great university in a great city, with great undergraduate and graduate programs in Atmospheric Science. You should consider our program for your B.S. or higher degree. Visit www.aos.wisc.edu for more info, and write me if you have questions.
