This textbook is written for graduate students and researchers in meteorology and related sciences. While most meteorological textbooks only present equilibrium thermodynamics, this book also introduces the linear theory of non-equilibrium and provides the necessary background for more advanced studies. The authors start by introducing the equations that describe the basic laws of thermodynamics and entropy and go on to discuss the thermodynamics of blackbody radiation, thermodynamic potentials, and the constitutive equations of irreversible fluxes. Later chapters look at the state functions of ideal gases, thermodynamics of cloud air, heat equations for special adiabatic systems, atmospheric statics, stability, and atmospheric energetics of hydrostatic equilibrium. Each chapter ends with a set of exercises that are designed to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the subject. Answers to all the exercises are given at the end of the book.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Basic thermodynamic concepts; 2. Budget equations; 3. The first law of thermodynamics; 4. The second law of thermodynamics; 5. Thermal radiation; 6. Thermodynamic potentials, identities and stability; 7. The constitutive equations for irreversible fluxes; 8. State functions of ideal gases; 9. State functions of the condensed pure phase; 10. State functions for cloud air; 11. Heat equation and special adiabatic systems; 12. Special adiabats of homogeneous systems; 13. Thermodynamic diagrams; 14. Atmospheric statics; Answers to problems; List of frequently used symbols; List of constants; References and bibliography; Index.

Author Biography

Wilford Zdunkowski is Professor Emeritus in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in the Universitat Mainz, Germany. Andreas Bott is a University Professor for Theoretical Meteorology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn, Germany.