The journal Boundary-Layer Meteorology was started in 1970 and has become the premier vehicle for the publication of research papers in its field. Dr R.E. Munn served as Editor-in-Chief until recently. The special 25th Anniversary volume, on which this book is based, was compiled from review and other articles solicited and selected as a `Festschrift' to honour Ted Munn's achievement as editor of the journal over that time. Articles by leading contributors to the field include reviews of field studies (Askervein, HEXOS, Cabauw) and their impacts; numerical modelling (large-eddy simulation of the surface layer, frontal structures); analyses and critical discussions (of the von Karman constant, bulk aerodynamic formulations, air-sea interaction, vegetation canopies); and reviews or previews of progress in our understanding of the atmospheric boundary layer, turbulence simulation, Lagrangian descriptions of turbulent diffusion and remote sensing of the boundary layer. The collection provides an excellent perspective on the state of the subject and where it is headed. It should provide fascinating and stimulating reading for researchers and students of boundary-layer meteorology and related areas.

This book contains twenty-one original papers and one review paper published by internationally recognized experts in the Atmosphere Special Issue "Recent Advances in Urban Ventilation Assessment and Flow Modelling", years 2017–2019. The Special Issue includes contributions on recent experimental and modelling works, techniques, and developments mainly tailored to the assessment of urban ventilation on flow and pollutant dispersion in cities. The study of ventilation is of critical importance, as it addresses the capacity with which a built urban structure is capable of replacing the polluted air with ambient fresh air. Here, ventilation is recognized as a transport process that improves local microclimate and air quality and closely relates to the term “breathability”. The efficiency with which street canyon ventilation occurs depends on the complex interaction between the atmospheric boundary layer flow and the local urban morphology. The individual contributions to this Issue are summarized and categorized into four broad topics: (1) outdoor ventilation efficiency and application/development of ventilation indices, (2) relationship between indoor and outdoor ventilation, (3) effects of urban morphology and obstacles to ventilation, and (4) ventilation modelling in realistic urban districts. The results and approaches presented and proposed will be of great interest to experimentalists and modelers, and may constitute a starting point for the improvement of numerical simulations of flow and pollutant dispersion in the urban environment, for the development of simulation tools, and for the implementation of mitigation strategies.

The major developments in the field of fluid and solid mechanics are scattered throughout an array of scientific journals, making it often difficult to find what the real advances are, especially for a researcher new to the field. The Advances in Applied Mechanics book series draws together the recent significant advances in various topics in applied mechanics. Published since 1948, Advances in Applied Mechanics aims to provide authoritative review articles on topics in the mechanical sciences, primarily of interest to scientists and engineers working in the various branches of mechanics, but also of interest to the many who use the results of investigation in mechanics and various application areas. Advances in Applied Mechanics continues to be a publication of high impact. Review articles are provided by leading scientists in the field on an invitation only basis. Many of the articles published have become classics within their fields. Volume 39 in the Mechanics series contains articles on vortex dynamics, the numerical simulation of two-phase flows, environmental problems in China, and piezoelectrics.