The New Weather Satellite Handbook

A highly-illustrated manual for meteorology students and operational weather forecasters.

“Meteorological Satellite Systems” is a primer on weather satellites and their Earth applications. This book reviews historic developments and recent technological advancements in GEO and polar orbiting meteorological satellites. It explores the evolution of these remote sensing technologies and their capabilities to monitor short- and long-term changes in weather patterns in response to climate change. Satellites developed by various countries, such as U.S. meteorological satellites, EUMETSAT, and Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Indian satellite platforms are reviewed. This book also discusses international efforts to coordinate meteorological remote sensing data collection and sharing. This title provides a ready and quick reference for information about meteorological satellites. It serves as a useful tool for a broad audience that includes students, academics, private consultants, engineers, scientists, and teachers.

The science of forecasting has not changed, but the Internet and new marvels of technology have completely redefined the process. It s not a rare thing for weather hobbyists and National Weather Service forecasters to get a product from the very same site. With more and more charts and tools appearing on the Internet by the week, how do you make sense of the avalanche of weather imagery and data? Using a double-page format, the Weather Map Handbook demonstrates nearly every type of weather map, image, and product in common use. An overview of each item s origin, purpose, shortfalls, and tips are outlined. Standards for analysis symbology and chart markings are summarized. The surface, 850 mb, 700 mb, 500 mb, and 300-200 mb charts get two pages each, complete with philosophy, objectives, and techniques for each chart. Thickness, isentropic, and Q vector products get their own sections. The WSR-88D doppler radar, in use by the United States weather services, has played a vast part in the weather information revolution. In the Weather Map Handbook, it gets thirty pages packed with the fundamentals and algorithms of the WSR-88D. Much of this information is obscure and nearly impossible to find. From the workings of the Composite Reflectivity product to the exact process used by the Mesocyclone Detection Algorithm to deconstruct a radar scan, any NEXRAD radar product on the Internet can be understood. From the WRF to the NGM, from the GFS to the GEM, each numerical forecast model is revealed in incredible detail. Ensemble forecasts are highlighted. The satellite chapter explains visible, infrared, and water vapor imagery, how it is created, and how to interpret it. Even the METAR, TAF, SYNOP, and radiosonde formats get their own sections, complete with decoding instructions. Topping off the book is an appendix with surface and upper-level station plot models, a vast technical glossary compiled from the depths of the NWS, SPC, and NCEP, and much more! Whether you re a hobbyist, private forecaster, a professional, or a student, the Weather Map Handbook is the book you can t be without.

As the space age got underway in the wake of Sputnik, one of the earliest areas of science to take advantage of the new observational opportunities it afforded was the study of climate and weather. This book tells the story of Finnish-American educator, inventor, and scientist Verner Suomi, who, in those early days of space science, brought his pragmatic engineering skills to bear on finding ways to use our new access to space to put observational instruments into orbit. In 1959, Suomi's work resulted in the launching of Explorer VII, a satellite that measured the earth's radiation budget, a major step in our ability to understand and forecast weather. Drawing on personal letters and oral histories, the book presents a rounded picture of the man who launched the field of satellite meteorology--in the process changing forever the way we understand and interact with the weather around us.