Introduction To Satellite Oceanography

This a text intended to occupy the middle ground between brief review papers on oceanographic applications of remote sensing and detailed technical reports about sensors and satellites. It provides marine scientists with a broad introduction to the subject from first principles and an explanation of the different techniques for applying satellite data in oceanography. It also gives sensor technologists and remote sensing specialists an oceanographer's perspective of satellite remote sensing in ocean study and provides a view across all types of satellite remote sensing of the ocean, visible, infrared and microwave frequencies, and both active and passive sensors.

Satelli te oceanography, as the term is used in this book, is a generic term that means application of the technology of aerospace electromagnetic remote sensing to the study of the oceans. The key words here are "application of technology ••. to the study of the oceans." The goal is to learn more about our planet's hydrosphere. As such, remote sensing technology is another tool in the oceanographer's sea bag, just like a bathythermograph or a plankton net. But is a whole book necessary if remote sensing is just another tool? While it is true that no one has written a whole book on plankton nets, volumes have been written about what is found in those nets. Today's state-of-the-art measurements from spacecraft or aircraft first must be interpreted in terms of their physics; then the interpretations must be understood in terms of oceanic processes. This is not materially different from the analogy to Ii plankton net; marine biolo gists still argue about what didn't get caught in the net.

Covering significant new advances in satellite oceanography, this new edition introduces remote sensing for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

A broad general introduction to remote sensing and its applications in oceanography. Designed to provide specialists with a sufficient depth of information necessary to understand oceanographic remote sensing processes and applications and non-specialists with the breadth of information necessary to understand how remote sensing makes a contribution to marine science. Provides an overview of all types of satellite remote sensing in ocean study: visible, infrared and microwave frequencies and both active and passive sensors. Also offers remote-sensing specialists the information required to assess the needs and perspectives of oceanographers.

Fully updated, with significant new coverage of advances in satellite oceanography and results from new satellite missions, the second edition of this popular textbook introduces students to how remote sensing works, how to understand observations from Earth-observing systems, and the observations' importance to physical and biological oceanography. It provides full explanations of radiative transfer, ocean surface properties, satellite orbits, instruments and methods, visible remote sensing of biogeochemical properties, infrared and microwave retrieval of sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity retrieval, passive microwave measurements, scatterometer wind retrieval, altimetry and SAR. Also included are descriptions of the online archives where data can be obtained, and readers can obtain online tools for working with the data - enabling hands-on engagement with real-world observations. This is an ideal textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in oceanography, remote sensing and environmental science, and a practical resource for researchers and professionals working with oceanographic satellite data.