Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

1. Preliminary information. 1.1. Definition of the climatic system. 1.2. Scales of temporal variability and its mechanisms. 1.3. Predictability and non-uniqueness. 1.4. Methods of experimental research -- 2. Present state of the climatic system. 2.1. Initial information. 2.2. Mass budget. 2.3. Heat budget. 2.4. Moisture budget. 2.5. Energy budget. 2.6. Angular momentum budget. 2.7. Carbon budget -- 3. Small-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction. 3.1. Surface atmospheric layer. 3.2. Vertical distribution of the mean velocity over an immovable smooth surface: viscous sublayer; logarithmic boundary layer. 3.3. Vertical distribution of the mean velocity over an immovable rough surface: roughness parameter; hydrodynamic classification of underlying surfaces. 3.4. Hydrodynamic properties of the sea surface. 3.5. Wind-wave interaction. 3.6. Vertical distribution of the temperature and passive admixture over an immovable surface. 3.7. Coefficients of resistance, heat exchange and evaporation for the sea surface. 3.8. The Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. 3.9. Transformation of the thermal regime of the surface atmospheric layer in the presence of wind-wave interaction. 3.10. Methods for estimating surface fluxes of momentum, heat and humidity. 3.11. Methods for estimating CO[subscript 2] flux at the ocean-atmosphere interface. 3.12. Features of small-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction under storm conditions -- 4. Mesoscale ocean-atmosphere interaction. 4.1. The planetary boundary layer. 4.2. Problem of closure. 4.3. Laws of resistance and heat and humidity exchange. 4.4. System of planetary boundary layers of the ocean and atmosphere -- 5. Large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction. 5.1. Classification of climatic system models. 5.2. Similarity theory for global ocean-atmosphere interaction. 5.3. Zero-dimensional models. 5.4. One-dimensional models. 5.5. 0.5-dimensional (box) models. 5.6. 1.5-dimensional models. 5.7. Two-dimensional (zonal) models. 5.8. Three-dimensional models. 5.9. ENSO as a manifestation of the inter-annual variability of the ocean-atmosphere system -- 6. Response of the ocean-atmosphere system to external forcing. 6.1. Sensitivity of the climatic system: mathematical methods of analysis. 6.2. Equilibrium response to a change in ocean-land area ratio. 6.3. Equilibrium response to a change in the concentration of atmospheric CO[subscript 2]. 6.4. Equilibrium response to a change in land surface albedo. 6.5. Equilibrium response to a change in soil moisture content. 6.6. Equilibrium response to a change in vegetative cover. 6.7. Transient response to a change in the concentration of atmospheric CO[subscript 2].

This 1995 text is addressed to advanced students in oceanography, meteorology and environmental sciences, as well as to professional researchers in these fields. It aims to acquaint them with advances in experimental and theoretical investigations of ocean-atmosphere interactions, a rapidly developing field in earth sciences. Particular attention is paid to the scope and perspectives for satellite measurements and mathematical modeling. Approaches to the construction of coupled ocean-atmosphere models (from the simplest one-dimensional to the most comprehensive three-dimensional ones) for the solution of key problems in climate theory are discussed in detail. Field measurements and the results of numerical climate simulations are presented, to help understand the variability arising from various natural and anthropogenic factors.