Coupled atmosphere-ocean models are at the core of numerical climate models. There is an extraordinarily broad class of coupled atmosphere-ocean models ranging from sets of equations that can be solved analytically to highly detailed representations of Nature requiring the most advanced computers for execution. The models are applied to subjects including the conceptual understanding of Earth's climate, predictions that support human activities in a variable climate, and projections aimed to prepare society for climate change. The present book fills a void in the current literature by presenting a basic and yet rigorous treatment of how the models of the atmosphere and the ocean are put together into a coupled system. The text of the book is divided into chapters organized according to complexity of the components that are coupled. Two full chapters are dedicated to current efforts on the development of generalist couplers and coupling methodologies all over the world.

Carlos R Mechoso is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, and has been appointed 'Professor Honorífico' by the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain. He is author of more than 200 scientific publications, including pioneering contributions on numerical modeling of the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. Much of his research has focused on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its impacts. He has chaired international research programs on different aspects of the climate of the Americas and is a fellow of the American and Royal Meteorological Societies.Soon-Il An is Professor at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Director at Irreversible Climate Change Research Center, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. He is author of more than 120 scientific publications covering El Niño/Southern Oscillation, decadal-to-multidecadal climate variability phenomena, and past and future climate changes. He received the National Academy of Sciences Award in Korea. He served as Lead Author for IPCC WG1 5th Assessment Report, and Editor-in-Chief of Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences.Sophie Valcke is a 'highly qualified' research engineer at CERFACS where she is working on high-resolution atmosphere-ocean-ice coupled modelling and leading a team of 4 engineers developing the OASIS3-MCT coupler. Dr Valcke participates in different international committees for the organization of workshops on HPC (High Performance Computing) and coupling for climate modelling. Dr Valcke is CERFACS Principal Investigator for the EU projects IS-ENES and the ESiWACE Center of Excellence favoring her interaction with climate modelling groups in Europe and for the nationally-funded COCOA project focusing on the physics of the ocean-atmosphere interface.