About

This online textbook could be followed section by section, presenting first the climate system and its components, then the way various types of climate models are developed and used, and finally the application of those concepts to the analysis of the climate during different periods. Alternatively, we designed the web site so that the entry can be first a term of the glossary or a result of the search engine, then navigating through the whole textbook to obtain the required information. Readers looking for the explanation of a precise point or for a more general overview of a topic could also follow the two different approaches.

From the beginning, our intent was to provide an entirely free and unrestricted access to the material published on this website. As a consequence, providing that you cite the source and do not alter the scientific message, you are allowed to print the online textbook for non-commercial use, to include some parts in courses or lectures and to use the figures that are not protected by copyright.

We hope that you will find this site enjoyable and instructive.

If you need to cite this online textbook, please use the following reference:
Goosse H., P.Y. Barriat, W. Lefebvre, M.F. Loutre and V. Zunz, (date of view). Introduction to climate dynamics and climate modeling. Online textbook available at http://www.climate.be/textbook.

Additional information on the goals of the textbook can be found in the Preface.

Email corrections and suggestions can be sent to: hugues.goosse@uclouvain.be

Acknowledgements

Many colleagues have read carefully the various sections of this online textbook and suggested modifications that improved significantly the quality of the published material. We would like to thank particularly André Berger, Victor Brovkin, Michel Crucifix, Eric Deleersnijder, Anne de Montety, Thierry Fichefet, Hans Renssen, Benoit Tartinville and Kevin Trenberth. We benefit of very useful advices from Françoise Docq, Marcel Lebrun, Denis Smidts of the Institut de Pédagogie universitaire et des Multimédias of the Université catholique de Louvain (IPM, http://www.ipm.ucl.ac.be). Antoine Barthélemy helped in the introduction of revisions in the text and on the textbook web site. We also want to acknowledge the organisations, publishers and scientists who allow us to reproduce their work without any charge. This work is supported by the Fonds de Développement Pédagogique of the Université catholique de Louvain in the framework of the project: "Réalisation de simulations interactives comme support à l’apprentissage dans le cadre du cours d’introduction à la physique du système climatique et à sa modélisation."