Atmospheric science
Atmospheric science studies Earth’s atmosphere, including its composition, structure, motion, weather, and interactions with the surface and oceans.
Atmosphere: A layer of gases surrounding a planet, held there by gravity. Atmospheric science examines this gaseous envelope and its interactions with Earth.
Thermodynamics: The study of heat, energy, work, and the states of physical systems. Thermodynamics describes atmospheric stability, condensation, and energy exchanges.
Weather forecasting: The prediction of future atmospheric conditions for specific places and times. Forecasting applies atmospheric observations and models to near-term conditions.
Luke Howard: An English chemist and meteorologist who introduced the familiar cloud classification in 1803. His cloud nomenclature gave atmospheric observation a durable descriptive system.
Cloud feedback: The change in clouds caused by climate change and its subsequent effect on climate. Cloud responses remain a major source of uncertainty in climate projections.
Atmospheric composition: The proportions and distributions of gases, aerosols, and particles in an atmosphere. Composition determines radiative effects, chemistry, and many atmospheric processes.
Fluid dynamics: The study of how liquids and gases move under forces and constraints. Air behaves as a fluid whose motion drives winds and weather systems.
Climate science: The study of climate, its variability, its mechanisms, and its changes over time. It extends atmospheric inquiry from weather events to long-term patterns.
Vilhelm Bjerknes: A Norwegian physicist and meteorologist who helped establish modern weather forecasting and polar-front theory. His program framed forecasting as a problem in atmospheric physics.
Aerosol–cloud interactions: The ways atmospheric particles alter cloud formation, properties, and precipitation. These interactions complicate estimates of aerosol effects on climate and rainfall.