C. David Whiteman, Staff Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, U.S.A., is one of the most respected scientists in the field of mountain meteorology. He has been involved in mountain meteorological research projects in many parts of the world including air pollution studies. He is also a brilliant teacher with excellent skills in presenting complex material in an easily understandable way.

David Whiteman recognized early the high potential that a textbook on mountain meteorology would have in helping students, lay people and professionals interested in mountain weather and the complex interaction of air pollution dispersal with meteorological transport processes in complex terrain. His plans were supported by the USDA Forest Service addressing the need for a training manual for aerial spraying operations in national forests, and the National Weather Service needed a reference and training book for weather forecasters and meteorologists involved in air pollution studies as well as in forest fire and smoke management. It was probably not an easy task to pull together the required material to satisfy everyone with a single book. In this regard, the present volume is a success.

The fundamentals are presented by Dave Whiteman himself in a clear and understandable manner making this book a perfect textbook for undergraduate courses. Specific applications on fire weather and smoke management were written by Carl J. Gorski and Allen Farnsworth, and applications on aerial spraying were written by Harold W. Thistle and John W. Barry. It is gratifying to note that metric units are used along with units common in North America throughout the book. Most details and examples are from observations in the Rocky Mountains, especially from Colorado, where Dave spent his early years as a scientist, but he includes peculiarities and examples from the European Alps, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Himalayas. The generous layout of the book and the selection of figures, which are mostly redrawn for clarity, are strongly animating the reader to keep reading on.

The book is organized in four parts of which the first three provide the meteorological background necessary to understand the fourth part, which then deals with air pollution dispersion (Chapter 12), fire weather and smoke management (Chapter 13), and aerial spraying (Chapter 14). The title of the book makes clear that it is not intended to introduce the reader to details of chemical reactions of atmospheric constituents, but the closely related topic of how atmospheric constituents are transported and dispersed by air motions above mountainous terrain is well treated. This book provides the reader with all the basic knowledge necessary to appreciate how the vertical temperature profile and thermal inversion in valleys trap air pollutants in the lowest portion of the atmosphere, and how wind direction, wind speed and atmospheric stability enhance or inhibit the dispersion of pollutants. The text also explains in detail the essential processes in the diurnal cycle causing the valley inversion to break up every morning and leading to a very uneven spatial distribution of pollutants in the valley atmosphere.

The chapter on fire weather and smoke management is specifically written for the benefit of U.S. fire fighters. It provides much interesting and essential information that applies to mountain parts everywhere in the world where prescribed fires are embodied in agricultural practices and where it is essential not to burn the land on the wrong side of the ignition lines. The chapter on aerial spraying similarly focuses primarily on requirements arising in the United States with applications to pest control, fertilization, defoliation, or the control of diseases.

With the aim of covering a wide audience, the authors restrained from using references to original papers in the text of the book. Although this may appeal to undergraduate students and students from other disciplines intending to widen their interdisciplinary knowledge, senior scientists preferring an exhaustive list of references for each and every single statement made will consider this a detriment. However, Dave Whiteman has found a balance between the two extremes by providing many essential references in combination with figures and tables, so that this material can be traced to the original publications.

On the whole, this book can be strongly recommended to anyone interested in mountain meteorology and its impact on pollution dispersion and transport. The book is carefully done, it will reach a wide audience at an affordable hard cover price, and most likely it will become a standard reference book on mountain meteorology.