The present work is not exactly a "course," but rather is presented as a monograph in which the author has set forth what are, for the most part, his own results; this is particularly true of Chaps. 7-13. Many of the problems dealt with herein have, since the school year 1975-76, been the subject of a series of graduate lectures at the "Universire des Sciences et Techniques de Lille I" for students preparing for the "Diplome d'Etudes Ap profondies de Mecanique (option fluides)." The writing of this book was thus strongly influenced by the author's own conception of meteorology as a fluid...