Book excerpt: Annotated Atlas of Coastal and Marine Winds provides a quick-reference on major, prevailing near-surface wind systems, along with concise explanations of the features that cause these winds and a quick qualitative assessment. As accessibility to the most recent and complete atmospheric datasets is often limited, either because they are subscription-based or because they are available only in netCDF format, this book alleviates roadblocks by providing the major, prevailing near-surface wind systems, concise explanations, the features that cause these winds, and a qualitative assessment on the amount of moisture that such winds typically carry to coastal and marine scientists and engineers. This book will be an ideal resource on coastal and marine winds for a variety of professionals, including coastal scientists, marine scientists, and engineers who study phenomena that are affected directly by weather and climate. - Presents a simple summary of the atmospheric process in text blocks, alongside each map - Provides a quick reference on prevailing global and regional wind patterns and moisture transport for understanding pollution patterns, prevailing storm tracks, climatology deviations, meteorology, and atmosphere-ocean relationships - Includes easy-to-access summary information about prevailing wind directions, sea level pressure, and water vapor flux, all in one place