This book reviews the theory and applications of the normal-mode
functions in numerical weather prediction and weather and climate
dynamics. The normal-mode functions, the eigensolutions of the
linearized primitive equations describing the evolution of atmospheric
winds and mass variables, have been used for a long time. They have
played an important role in the development of data assimilation schemes
and the initialization of numerical weather prediction models. Chapters
also present how the normal modes can be applied to many theoretical and
numerical problems in the atmospheric sciences, such as equatorial wave
dynamics, baroclinic instability, energy transfers, and predictability
across scales.