Introduction to satellite oceanography [Paperback]

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.1.- Some Historical Notes.- Measurement Philosophies.- Orbits.- Remote Sensing Vehicles.- Enticing Examples of Data.- 2.- The Nature of Radiation.- Blackbody Radiation.- Maxwells Equations.- Interaction of Electromagnetic Waves with Matter.- Polarization.- Interaction with a Plane Surface.- Interpretation of Fresnel Reflectivity.- Radiometry.- Radiance Across an Interface.- Radiative Transfer Equation.- 3.- Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation.- Infrared Properties of Water.- Infrared Optical Properties of the Atmosphere.- Infrared Radiative Transfer Equation.- Atmospheric Effects on Infrared Sensing.- Infrared Measurements of Surface Temperature and Heat Flux.- Applications.- Colour Plates after 258 before.- 4.- Visible Remote Sensing and Instrumentation.- Visible Optical Properties of Water and Air.- Visible Radiative Transfer Equation.- Visible Solar Irradiance on the Sea.- 4 (continued).- Visible Reflectance from Beneath the Oceans Surface.- Reflection from the Sea Surfacl3y