---
title: Atmospheric Science
description: This discipline studies the Earth's atmosphere, its chemical processes, and its interactions with the oceans and land. Learners will understand the physical principles driving weather patterns, climate variability, and atmospheric composition.
category: sciences
subcategory: earth-and-environmental-science
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/atmospheric-science
---

# Atmospheric Science

This discipline studies the Earth's atmosphere, its chemical processes, and its interactions with the oceans and land. Learners will understand the physical principles driving weather patterns, climate variability, and atmospheric composition.

## Available Resources

3 Books • 1 Courses • 1 Websites

## Books

### 1. Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry

**Author:** Daniel J. Jacob

Concise 280-page text built from a Harvard one-semester course: box models and the continuity equation, atmospheric transport, geochemical cycles, the greenhouse effect, aerosols, stratospheric ozone, oxidizing capacity, smog and acid rain, with problem sets. Written by the field's leading atmospheric chemist.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691001855?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** atmospheric-chemistry, geochemistry, climate-science, textbook

### 2. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology (5th Edition)

**Author:** James R. Holton, Gregory J. Hakim

Graduate treatment of atmospheric dynamics: governing equations, geostrophic and quasi-geostrophic theory, the planetary boundary layer, vorticity and circulation, baroclinic instability, atmospheric waves, the stratosphere and numerical modeling. Requires vector calculus and differential equations.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0123848660?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** dynamic-meteorology, atmospheric-dynamics, geophysical-fluid-dynamics, graduate-textbook

### 3. Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey (2nd Edition)

**Author:** John M. Wallace, Peter V. Hobbs

The standard single-volume survey of the discipline, covering atmospheric thermodynamics, cloud microphysics, radiative transfer, dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, the boundary layer and climate. Assumes calculus and introductory physics; includes worked examples and exercises.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/012732951X?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** atmospheric-science, meteorology, cloud-physics, textbook

## Websites

### 1. JetStream — NOAA National Weather Service Online School for Weather

**Author:** National Weather Service

NOAA National Weather Service reference covering atmospheric structure, air masses, global circulation, cloud formation, thunderstorms, lightning, tropical cyclones and flooding, plus hands-on Learning Lessons experiments and public-domain diagrams free to reuse.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream

**Tags:** meteorology, weather, noaa, beginner-resource

## Courses

### 1. Fundamentals of Atmospheric Science (Meteo 300)

This is an introductory online course covering the fundamental concepts of the Earth's atmosphere, including its composition, structure, energy balance, and basic atmospheric processes. It provides a structured and comprehensive learning path suitable for beginners.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.e-education.psu.edu/meteo300/node/2

**Tags:** atmospheric-science, meteorology, online-course, beginner-resource

---

*This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge*

*Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).*

View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/atmospheric-science