Atmospheric dynamics is the foundation for understanding the movement of air currents. As such, it is a core component of all atmospheric science curricula. Atmospheric dynamics is the discipline concerned with what different classes of geophysical disturbances are made up of, how and why they form, what factors dictate their structure and movement, how the Earth's uneven surface impacts them, how they evolve to their mature stage, how they interact with the background flow, how they eventually decay and, above all, how they collectively constrain the atmospheric general circulation as a whole. An analysis of atmospheric dynamics can be process-oriented trying to address one or more of the questions above. Its goal would be to establish quantitative understanding of the nature of those processes. An analysis of atmospheric dynamics can be also phenomenon-oriented with the objective of developing a feel for why a specific phenomenon is as observed. We strive to cover both aspects of atmospheric dynamics in this book.

This book is mainly intended to serve students of atmospheric sciences. The goal is to come up with a book distinctly different from but complementary to the existing pool of texts on atmospheric dynamics. This book aims at being a resource valuable to instructors and self-explanatory to students as much as possible. It would be a bonus if weather forecasters as well as some practitioners in atmospheric science, ocean science, environmental science and applied mathematics find this book to be a useful reference.