The Use of EOS for Studies of Atomospheric Physics Varenna on Lake Como, Villa Monastero, 26 June-6 July 1990

This book is concerned with the atmosphere and how the understanding of its behavior could be facilitated by the observations and modeling of the interacting processes planned within the framework of the EOS program. The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a comprehensive scientific program aimed at observing the most important components of the Earth System, in order to develop the understanding of the basic processes that must be incorporated in comprehensive Earth System models. The contents are divided into four parts. Part 1 is an overview of the Earth Observing System concept and provides a general introduction to Earth System Science. Part 2 deals with the troposphere and includes a comprehensive introduction to the problems of tropospheric chemistry. The more traditional view of the troposphere as the stage for dynamics and meterology is also dealt with. The climate system is discussed in detail in Part 3, and includes the most important advances made in recent years in understanding some of these processes which have come from satellite observations. The final part deals with the middle atmosphere. The interest in ozone has made this region of the atmosphere the most closely studied in the last few years, in an attempt to establish how much of the changes in its composition may be attributable to natural variability and how much to anthropogenic influence.