Thomas Foken was born in 1949 in Zwickau, Germany.  He studied meteorology in Berlin, and received his Ph.D. in 1978 in Leipzig.  His research topic was marine micrometeorology.  He received his second doctor's degree in1990 in Berlin. From 1981 to 1997 he was the Head of Laboratories of the Meteorological Service of the GDR (after 1990 the German Meteorological Service) at the Meteorological Observatories in Potsdam and Lindenberg. In 1997, Dr. Foken became Professor of Micrometeorology at the University of Bayreuth where he retired in 2014. He has taught courses on micrometeorology and geoecology in Berlin, Potsdam and Bayreuth; he has published numerous scientific papers, and also participated in national and international experiments and research projects.

General Basics.- Basic Equations of Atmospheric Turbulence.- Specifics of the Near-Surface Turbulence.- Experimental Methods for Estimating the Fluxes of Energy and Matter.- Modeling of the Energy and Matter Exchange.-  Measurement Technique.- Microclimatology.- Applied Meteorology.         

The book focusses on atmospheric processes, which directly affect human environments within the lowest 100-1000 meters of the atmosphere over regions of only a few kilometres in extent. The book is the translation into English of the third edition of the German book "Applied Meteorology - Micrometeorological Methods". It presents, with selected examples, the basics of micrometeorology applied to disciplines such as biometeorology, agrometeorology, hydrometeorology, technical meteorology, environmental meteorology, and biogeosciences. The important issues discussed in this book are the transport processes and fluxes between the atmosphere and the underlying surface. Vegetated and heterogeneous surfaces are special subjects.  The author covers the areas of theory, measurement techniques, experimental methods, and modelling all in ways that can be used independently in teaching, research, or practical applications.