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The Physics and Parameterizations of Moist Atmospheric Convection. R. K. Smith, Ed. 1997.
498 pp. $248.00. Hardbound. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-7923-4868-0.
This book is a collection of 20 papers that are based on lectures given at a NATO Advanced Study Institute that was held in August 1996. The intent of the institute was to review our current understanding of moist convection and its parameterization in numerical models. The authors, 12 prominent scientists, provide tutorials, reviews, and brief treatises on subjects ranging from shallow nonprecipitating convection to deep, organized precipitating cloud systems.
The papers are organized into four themes. The first theme, moist convection, includes an overview of moist convection, a tutorial on thermodynamics, and two papers on shallow boundary layer clouds. There is a paper on the mesoscale organization of deep convection and another on momentum transports in organized convection. In addition, there are two interesting papers in this section on dry convection. There is, however, minimal connection of the material in these papers with moist convection issues. A paper on entrainment and detrainment discusses issues common to both shallow and deep convection. The somewhat random order in which the papers are presented within this first theme gives a sense that this is a collection of papers, not a book.