In their Preface the authors state “…the time has come to write a textbook that acknowledges the following basic fact: The radiation that enters, or is emitted by, the ocean encounters the same basic processes of scattering and absorption as those involved in atmospheric radiation. [italicized in the original] There are no inherently different optical properties between atmospheric and aqueous media. Because the two media share a common interface that readily passes radiative energy, there is even more need for a unified approach.” This statement and the book’s title both promise to connect the two fields of atmospheric and oceanic radiative transfer, which historically have developed as almost independent disciplines, each with its own particular problems, nomenclature, and numerical methods. I therefore base my review in part on how well this text achieves this stated goal.

Mobley, C.D. 2000. Review of Radiative Transfer in the Atmosphere and Ocean, by G.E. Thomas and K. Stamnes. Oceanography 13(2):108–109, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2000.46.

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