THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO UNDERTAKE A THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF THE VARIOUS CLIMATIC REGIMES THAT MAY BE REALIZED BY THE EARTH-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE PUT ON QUESTIONS OF STABILITY, LONG CHANGE, AND RESPONSE TO FACTORS OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ORIGIN. IN ADDITION TO THE DATA AND TECHNIQUES OF SPACE PHYSICS THE METHODS OF THERMODYNAMICS OF IRREVERSIBLE PROCESSES, STOCHASTIC THEORY OF FLUCTUATIONS AND OF MONLINEAR MATHEMATICS WILL BE APPLIED SYSTEMATICALLY. INDEED, THE EARTH-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM IS A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF A MONLINEAR SYSTEM SUBJECT TO FEEDBACK INTERACTIONS AND DRIVEN FAR AWAY FROM THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM.

THE LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION ADOPTED THROUGHOUT THE MAJOR PART OF THE WORK WILL BE THAT OF SIMPLE ENERGY-BALANCE MODELS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO PERFORM A RATHER EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS, TENDING TO CLIMATE PROBLEMS. BIFURCATION DIAGRAMS CLASSIFYING THE POSSIBLE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN CLIMATIC REGIMES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED: THE THERMODYNAMIC INTERPRETATION OF SUCH TRANSITIONS WILL BE WORKED OUT: AND THE ROLE OF FLUCTUATIONS WILL BE ANALYZED IN GREAT DETAIL. WE ALSO HOPE TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH., IN DUE COURSE, A SIMILAR PROGRAM ON MORE SOPHISTICATED MODELS DESCRIBING THE COUPLING BETWEEN TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE.