Microwave Remote Sensing Tools In Environmental Science

This book gives new insight to the study of the global environmental changes using the ecoinformatics and microwave remote sensing tools together with the adaptive-evolutionary technology of geoinformation monitoring. The main advantage of this book consists in the accumulation of the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge for the parameterization of the global biogeochemical cycles and other environmental processes in the context of globalization and sustainable development. In this regard, the crucial global problems of the dynamics of the climate-nature-society system have been considered and the key problems of ensuring its sustainable development have been addressed. An analysis of the present trend in changing ecological systems has been discussed, including different types of forest ecosystems and ocean aquatories. The emphasis has been given to the accomplishment of the global geoinformation monitoring, which could provide a reliable control of the environmental processes development with reliable prognostic estimates of the consequences of human activities. A new approach to the numerical modelling of the climate-nature-society system has been presented and demonstrative results have been given about the modelling of the dynamics of this system‟s characteristics, in cases of realization of some scenarios of the anthropogenic impacts to the biogeochemical cycles, the land ecosystems and oceans. Methods and algorithms for the big data manipulation and processing in the remote sensing environmental monitoring systems have been described.

This volume contains a collection of refereed papers which were presented at the Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment, 14--17 February 1994, Rome, Italy. The last decade has marked a period of steady advancement and new developments in the observation of the terrestrial environment by passive microwave sensors. Both ground-based and satellite-borne systems have improved their accuracy, stability and spatial resolution and are providing a wealth of quantitative data, which are increasingly being employed in application-oriented projects. The contributions in this volume cover different fields of applications of microwave radiometry, the various observation and retrieval techniques and the recent technological developments. The articles are divided into four sections: measurement of atmospheric water vapor and cloud liquid, measurement of rain, observation of the surface, and new radiometric systems.

This book is the second edition of Environmental Monitoring using GNSS and highlights the latest developments in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). It features a completely new title and additional chapters that present emerging challenges to environmental monitoring—“climate variability/change and food insecurity.” Since the publication of the first edition, much has changed in both the development and applications of GNSS, a satellite microwave remote sensing technique. It is the first tool to span all four dimensions of relevance to humans (position, navigation, timing and the environment), and it has widely been used for positioning (both by military and civilians), navigation and timing. Its increasing use is leading to a new era of remote sensing that is now revolutionizing the art of monitoring our environment in ways never imagined before. On the one hand, nearly all GNSS satellites (Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo and Beidou) have become operational, thereby providing high-precision, continuous, all-weather and near real- time remote sensing multi-signals beneficial to environmental monitoring. On the other hand, the emerging challenges of precisely monitoring climate change and the demand for the production of sufficient food for ever-increasing populations are pushing traditional monitoring methods to their limits. In this regard, refracted GNSS signals (i.e., occulted GNSS signals or GNSS meteorology) are now emerging as sensors of climate variability, while the reflected signals (GNSS reflectometry or GNSS-R) are increasingly finding applications in determining, e.g., soil moisture content, ice and snow thickness, ocean heights, and wind speed and direction, among others. Furthermore, the increasing recognition and application of GNSS-supported unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV)/drones in agriculture (e.g., through the determination of water holding capacity of soil) highlights the new challenges facing GNSS. As such, this new edition three new chapters address GNSS reflectometry and applications; GNSS sensing of climate variability; and the applications in UAV/drones. Moreover, it explores the application of GNSS to support integrated coastal zone management.

Taking a detailed, non-mathematical approach to the principles on which remote sensing is based, this book progresses from the physical principles to the application of remote sensing.

This book presents results of the combined use of microwave remote sensing, optical tools, and ecoinformatics methods under solution-applied tasks at both regional and global scales. Ecoinformatics methods are used to assess links between global climate change and the level of ocean pollution, with specific focus on the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the South-China Sea. The theoretical and applied aspects of instrumental tools are considered in this book as a basis for the monitoring of water quality in various watersheds, with particular attention to microwave remote sensing monitoring data to determine the ecotoxicological status of hydro-ecosystems affected by climate change. The book develops new information technologies that provide solutions for hydrochemical tasks using algorithms and models based on computer technologies for big data processing. This will help to synthesize effective computer-based systems for the solution of problems arising due to anthropogenic impacts on hydrological processes and objects at various spatial scales. This book is intended for specialists in the fields of environmental monitoring, climate change, human-nature interactions, and geopolitics. The book will be useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying these fields of science as well.

Nowadays, the innovation in space technologies creates a new trend for the Earth observation and monitoring from space. This book contains high quality and compressive work on both microwave and optical remote sensing applications. This book is divided into five sections: (i) remote sensing for biomass estimation, (ii) remote sensing-based glacier studies, (iii) remote sensing for coastal and ocean applications, (iv) sewage leaks and environment disasters, and (v) remote sensing image processing. Each chapter offers an opportunity to expand the knowledge about various remote sensing techniques and persuade researchers to deliver new research novelty for environment studies.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Radar technology is increasingly being used to monitor the environment. This monograph provides a review of polarimetric radar techniques for remote sensing. The first four chapters cover the basics of mathematical, statistical modelling as well as physical modelling based on radiowave scattering theory. The subsequent eight chapters summarize applications of polarimetric radar monitoring for various types of earth environments, including vegetation and oceans. The last two chapters provide a summary of Western as well as former Soviet Union knowledge and the outlook. This monograph is of value to students, scientists and engineers involved in remote sensing development and applications in particular for environmental monitoring.