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Physics of the Upper Polar Atmosphere. Asgeir Brekke. 1997. 491 pp. $44.95. Hardbound. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-96018-7.
The polar regions of the earth have always held a special fascination for atmospheric scientists because of their unique location, harsh climate, dazzling night sky with visible aurora dancing overhead, unique noctilucent displays, and a large number of other phenomena. In recent years scientific interest has intensified further with observations of the Antarctic ozone hole, the search for its cause, and investigations to see if a similar hole is developing in the Arctic region, with possible meteorological feedbacks. This book describes the unique properties of the upper atmosphere in the polar regions. It describes the physical and chemical processes operating in the upper atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere, and the couplings of these regions with variable solar output. The amount of energy transferred to the polar upper atmosphere above about 100-km altitude during auroral storms is enormous and it causes a major change in the basic temperature and compositional structure and circulation of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere that is established primarily by solar EUV and UV radiation. A fundamental question is how deep into the polar atmosphere do the effects of auroral and solar variability penetrate and how strong is the coupling between atmospheric regions? Future research will undoubtedly need to develop an understanding of these coupling mechanisms between atmospheric regions and indeed such a goal is given in the phase 3 Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics between Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) NSF document. Significant advances in our understanding of the polar region will occur when the entire atmospheric region from the ground to the solar wind couplings with the magnetosphere are considered as a coupled system. Therefore, this book is a most important reference for current and future polar research.
The book describes the main physical processes in the long chain of radiative and plasma processes that transfer energy from the sun to the earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere. This is ambitious task and the author does an excellent job using mathematical...