Earth System Monitoring

Modern Earth System Monitoring represents a fundamental change in the way scientists study the Earth System. In Oceanography, for the past two centuries, ships have provided the platforms for observing. Expeditions on the continents and Earth’s poles are land-based analogues. Fundamental understanding of current systems, climate, natural hazards, and ecosystems has been greatly advanced. While these approaches have been remarkably successful, the need to establish measurements over time can only be made using Earth observations and observatories with exacting standards and continuous data. The 19 peer-reviewed contributions in this volume provide early insights into this emerging view of Earth in both space and time in which change is a critical component of our growing understanding.

This title analyzes distributed Earth observation missions from different perspectives. In particular, the issues arising when the payloads are distributed on different satellites are considered from both the theoretical and practical points of view. Moreover, the problems of designing, measuring, and controlling relative trajectories are thoroughly presented in relation to theory and applicable technologies. Then, the technological challenges to design satellites able to support such missions are tackled. An ample and detailed description of missions and studies complements the book subject.

This title analyzes distributed Earth observation missions from different perspectives. In particular, the issues arising when the payloads are distributed on different satellites are considered from both the theoretical and practical points of view. Moreover, the problems of designing, measuring, and controlling relative trajectories are thoroughly presented in relation to theory and applicable technologies. Then, the technological challenges to design satellites able to support such missions are tackled. An ample and detailed description of missions and studies complements the book subject.

The stresses associated with climate change are expected to be felt keenly as human population grows to a projected 9 billion by the middle of this century, increasing the demand for resources and supporting infrastructure. Therefore, information to assess vulnerabilities to climate change is needed to support policies and investments designed to increase resilience in human and Earth systems. There are currently many observing systems that capture elements of how climate is changing, for example, direct measurements of atmospheric and ocean temperature. Although those measurements are essential for understanding the scale and nature of climate change, they do not necessarily provide information about the impacts of climate change on humans that are especially relevant for political and economic planning and decision making. Monitoring Climate Change Impacts tackles the challenge of developing an illustrative suite of indicators, measurements (and the locations around the globe where the measurements can be applied), and metrics that are important for understanding global climate change and providing insight into environmental sustainability. Eight panels provided input on: cryosphere, land-surface and terrestrial ecosystems, hydrology and water resources, atmosphere, human health and other dimensions, oceans (both physical and biological/chemical), and natural disasters. The book also provides an illustrative set of metrics that are likely to be affected by climate change over the next 20-25 years and, when taken together, can potentially give advance warning of climate-related changes to the human and environment systems.

Earth Observation Science (EOS) is the study of the global Earth land-ocean-atmosphere system through observations. The principal tools for such studies are measurements from space since these provide the coverage of the planet that is necessary to capture the behaviour of the entire coupled system. In addition, surface observations, and measurements from aircraft, balloons and sounding rockets provide valuable contributors to what are now termed "integrated, global observing systems.” Coupled with models, the EOS measurement suites provide powerful tools for research into the factors controlling and changing the Earth system in which we live. The objectives of this book are to describe new methods and applications of satellite technology in the fields of land and emergency monitoring. It draws on new research outcomes from the European FP7 project GIONET (European Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation Research Training). GIONET combines industrial partners with universities and research institutes, and this book provides a perspective on Earth Observation applications that is motivated by the cross-fertilisation of both sectors. Hence, this book will find readers in both industry and academia. This book highlights a broad range of innovative uses of Earth Observation technology to support environmental management, decision making, crisis management and climate policies. It uses advanced concepts of multi-sensor image integration, multi-temporal analysis and synergies between data and models. This is a truly interdisciplinary subject that encompasses a range of applications in various fields which are discussed in detail throughout the text. If you are interested in remote sensing applications and looking for inspiration, this is the book for you.