An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation

Kuo-Nan Liou is a Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and founding director of the Joint Institute for Regional-Earth-System Science and Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Liou has received numerous awards including the 1998 Jule G. Charney Medal from the American Meteorological Society for his work in the theory and application of radiative transport and its interaction with clouds, the 2010 COSPAR Biennial William Nordberg Medal for outstanding contributions to the application of space science, the 2012 International Radiation Commission Quadrennial Gold Medal for contributions of the lasting significance to the field of radiation research, the 2013 Roger Revelle Medal from the American Geophysical Union for outstanding contributions in atmospheric and climate sciences, and the 2018 AMS Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal for international leadership and seminal contributions to improving the theory and application of atmospheric radiative transfer and its interactions with clouds and aerosols.

"Liou's book is broad and rigorous. It covers the topics well from fundamental principles to applications. A student who has mastered the book will be well prepared to start research in atmospheric radiation. A research worker who needs a quick review of the basic physics behind the state-of-the-art radiative codes used in climate models and remote sensing will find this an invaluable resource." --Yuk L. Yung, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society"The many differences between [the first and second] editions illustrate areas of major progress in the field, as is evidenced in thermal infrared radiative transfer and even in the creations of completely new fields like three-dimensional radiative transfer or light scattering by nonspherical particles. Obviously, the major changes happened not in the theory...but in data quality and completely new measurements (mostly due to new satellite data) with higher accuracy and more reliability. The new edition illustrates this progress well." --Alexander Marshak, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society"The First Edition of this book has become a standard (advanced) text for graduate students and researchers working in the area of atmospheric radiative transfer ...Professor Liou has a leading international standing in studies of the interaction of solar radiation with the Earth's atmosphere and his book reflects his expertise in that area." --Joanna Haigh, Space and Atmospheric Physics, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK

• Fundamentals of Radiation for Atmospheric ApplicationsSolar Radiation at the Top of the AtmosphereAbsorption and Scattering of Solar Radiation in the AtmosphereThermal Infrared Radiation Transfer in the AtmosphereLight Scattering by Atmospheric ParticulatesPrinciples of Radiative Transfer in Planetary AtmospheresApplication of Radiative Transfer Principles to Remote SensingRadiation and Climate