Atmospheres Of Earth And The Planets

This book contains the lectures presented at the Summer Advanced Study Institute, 'Physics and Chemistry of Atmospheres' which was held at the University of Liege, Belgium, during the period July 29-August 9, 1974. One-hundred nineteen persons from eleven different countries attended the Institute. The authors and publisher have made a special effort for rapid publication of an up to-date status of the physics and chemistry ofthe atmospheres of Earth and the plan ets, which is an ever-changing area. Special thanks are due to the lecturers for their diligent preparation and excellent presentations. The individual lectures and the published papers were deliberately limited; the authors' cooperation in conforming to these specifications is greatly appreciated. The contents of the book are organized by subject area rather than in the order in which papers were presented during the Institute. Many thanks are due to Drs Alv Egeland, Donald M. Hunten, Gunther Lange-Hesse, Marcel Nicolet, Harold I. Schiff, Lance Thomas, Alister Vallance Jones, Richard Wayne, and Gilbert Weill who served as session chairmen during the Institute and contributed greatly to its success by skillfully directing the discussion period in a stimulating manner after each lecture. Many persons contributed to the success of the Institute. Drs Alv Egeland, Donald M. Hunten, Gunther Lange-Hesse, Marcel Nicolet, Harold I. Schiff, Erwin R. Schmerling, Lance Thomas, Alister Vallance Jones, Richard Wayne, and Gilbert Weill were especially helpful in preparing the technical program.

Proceedings of the IAU Symposium No. 40, held in Marfa, Texas, U.S.A., October 26-31, 1969

An integrated discussion of the similarities and differences between the atmospheres of various bodies of the solar system, including the Earth.

This work is addressed to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in astronomy, geology, chemistry, meteorology, and the planetary sciences as well as to researchers with pertinent areas of specialization who desire an introduction to the literature across the broad interdisciplinary range of this important topic. Extensive references to the pre-spacecraft literature will be particularly useful to readers interested in the historical development of the field during this century.

Planetary atmospheres are complex and evolving entities, as mankind is rapidly coming to realise whilst attempting to understand, forecast and mitigate human-induced climate change. In the Solar System, our neighbours Venus and Mars provide striking examples of two endpoints of planetary evolution, runaway greenhouse and loss of atmosphere to space. The variety of extra-solar planets brings a wider angle to the issue: from scorching "hot jupiters'' to ocean worlds, exo-atmospheres explore many configurations unknown in the Solar System, such as iron clouds, silicate rains, extreme plate tectonics, and steam volcanoes. Exoplanetary atmospheres have recently become accessible to observations. This book puts our own climate in the wider context of the trials and tribulations of planetary atmospheres. Based on cutting-edge research, it uses a grand tour of the atmospheres of other planets to shine a new light on our own atmosphere, and its relation with life.