BOOK REVIEWS 865

WMO. Meteorological and Hydrological Data Required in Planning the Development of

WMO. Modern Developments in Hydrometry, Volume 1 (WMO 427). Unipub, Inc., New

Wu, T. Y. T., et al. (editors). Swimming and Flying in Nature. Plenum, New York, New

Water Resources. Unipub, Inc., New York, New York. 4 2 pages, $5.50.

York, New York. 71 pages, $8.50.

York. 2 Volumes, 422 and 584 pages, $39.50 each.

BOOK REVIEW

Principles of Applied Climatology, by Keith Smith; John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York. 1 9 7 5 , 2 3 3 pages.

It is almost impossible for a modern textbook t o include current research in its chapters. Yet this author has come very close to achieving that goal without sacrificing the basic knowledge o n which current research rests.

The introductory chapter deals with the emergence of applied climatology and the reciprocal relations between human life and environment. Air is compared t o water as a resource needful of conservation and management.

Chapter 2 examines various small-scale climates such as the Chinook winds and lee waves, valley climates, and sea breezes. The surface topoclimates are described in detail, especially the bare soil and effect of low plants as well as forest cover. The chapter ends with a brief comment on inadvertent modifications of rural climates, which leads into a chapter on man-made climates. Here the author exhibits a rich knowledge of unusual urban climates and the factors that contribute t o their singularity. He documents these with some 220 references.

Man-made climates are described in Chapter 3 . Realizing that cities create their own climates t o a certain degree, the author lists the contaminants and the combustion processes that control their concentrations. Comparisons with rural areas are tabulated for a number of elements, and heat budget studies are described for many cities in the United States and England. The meteorology of air pollution is discussed as well as pollution effect on the atmosphere.

A chapter on climate and agriculture centers around the growing season, weather hazards, and weather-dependent outbreaks of pests and diseases. A discussion of climatic factors necessary for forest yields and the problems of forest fires ends the chapter.

Water and power resources is a chapter concerned primarily with hydrometeorology or the atmospheric mechanisms that affect water resources. Water conservation through such means as watershed management is closely connected with the wider ecological repercussions associated with deforestation. Extreme hydrological events such as floods, which were outlined in the first chapter, are further discussed under this heading. Flood prediction and forecasting are handled nicely through the use of hydrographs, and a section is devoted t o human response to floods. Droughts are shown less attention in the text, but over forty references guide the serious reader t o greater details. The remaining chapters round out the author’s applied climatology approach with subjects such as transport and the atmosphere, climate and the community, and weather forecasting. Forecasting is treated more from a geographical than a meteorological viewpoint, with an interesting discussion of weather sensitivity experienced by user groups ranging from recreation t o manufacturing. A section on artificial stimulation of precipitation covers

866 BOOK REVIEWS

practically all the known research in this field as well as the significance of general weather modification.

Keith Smith has put together a text of convenient size with clear print and concise illustrations. Many of the chapters have upwards of one hundred references so that while the book makes good reading for the casual student, the serious researcher will find no difficulty in making deeper study through the more than one thousand references.

W. J. Roberts Illinois State Water Survey Urbana. Illinois

I I BOOK REVIEWERS are needed for the Water Resources Bulletin. If you are interested in participating, please send your name and your areas of professional competence to the Book Review Editor, Dr. Krishan P. Singh, P.O. Box 232 , Illinois State Water Survey, Urbana, Illinois 61801.

WORTH NOTING:

+ For the first time since 1963, the U.S. Geological Survey has published an annual report providing a comprehensive description of the activities of the federal government’s largest earth science agency. The 194-page, highly illustrated report summarizes USGS progress in identifying the nation’s land, water, energy, and mineral resources; classifying federally owned mineral lands and water power sites; and supervising the exploration and development of energy and mineral resources on federal and Indian lands, including the Outer Continental Shelf, during fiscal year 1975. USGS Director V. E. McKelvey said it had become “increasingly clear . . . that it would be necessary to report periodically to a much larger public audience” than was reached by the agency’s other publications; hence this new annual report. Copies of the publication, “United States Geological Survey Annual Report Fiscal Year 1975,” may be purchased from USGS Branch of Distribution, 1200 South Eads St., Arlington, Virginia 22202, for $3.40 per copy (prepaid, check or money order payable to U.S. Geological Survey).

+ A “Directory of Environmental Sociologists” is available in single copies free of charge from Dr. Riley E. Dunlap, Department of Rural Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99 163.