Remote Sensing of Aerosols, Clouds, and Precipitation compiles recent advances in aerosol, cloud, and precipitation remote sensing from new satellite observations. The book examines a wide range of measurements from microwave (both active and passive), visible, and infrared portions of the spectrum. Contributors are experts conducting state-of-the-art research in atmospheric remote sensing using space, airborne, and ground-based datasets, focusing on supporting earth observation satellite missions for aerosol, cloud, and precipitation studies. A handy reference for scientists working in remote sensing, earth science, electromagnetics, climate physics, and space engineering. Valuable for operational forecasters, meteorologists, geospatial experts, modelers, and policymakers alike. - Presents new approaches in the field, along with further research opportunities, based on the latest satellite data - Focuses on how remote sensing systems can be designed/developed to solve outstanding problems in earth and atmospheric sciences - Edited by a dynamic team of editors with a mixture of highly skilled and qualified authors offering world-leading expertise in the field

Aerosols have a significant influence on the Earth's radiation budget, but there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of their effect on the Earth's climate. Currently, satellite remote sensing is being increasingly utilized to improve our understanding of the effect of atmospheric aerosols on the climate system. Satellite Aerosol Remote Sensing Over Land is the only book that brings together in one volume the most up-to-date research and advances in this discipline. As well as describing the current academic theory, the book presents practical applications, utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation, invaluable to the work of environmental scientists. With contributions by an international group of experts and leaders of correspondent aerosol retrieval groups, the book is an essential tool for all those working in the field of climate change.

This book gives a much needed explanation of the basic physical principles of radiative transfer and remote sensing, and presents all the instruments and retrieval algorithms in a homogenous manner. The editors provide, for the first time, an easy path from theory to practical algorithms in one easily accessible volume, making the connection between theoretical radiative transfer and individual practical solutions to retrieve aerosol information from remote sensing, and providing the specifics and intercomparison of all current and historical retrieval methods.

The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate the usefulness of the data from the S192 Multispectral Scanner aboard Skylab in snow-cloud discrimination. From the available S192 screening films and digital tape data, the reflectance characteristics of snow, ice, and water clouds in different spectral bands from the visible into the near infrared spectral region can be determined. In the visible part of the spectrum, snow, ice, and water clouds appear white. In the near infrared, Band 11 (1.55 to 1.75 micrometers), water clouds are white, ice clouds are gray and snow is black. The ratio of the radiance values in Band 6 (0.68 to 0.76 micrometers to Band 11 (1.55 to 1.75 micrometers appears to provide a method for discriminating between snow cover, ice, and water clouds. (Author).

This Spotlight presents the state-of-the-art of aerosol remote sensing, including remote sensing principles and satellite- and ground-based approaches. The mechanism and theories are introduced along with the component mixing rules, e.g., Maxwell-Garnett, Bruggeman, and volume-weighted average approaches. Recent advances in aerosol-component methods are discussed, focusing on composition schemes, inversion methods, and validation results. The final section looks at the remote sensing applications of atmospheric aerosol composition and species.

This new text offers experienced students a comprehensive review of available techniques for the remote sensing of aerosols. These small particles influence both atmospheric visibility and the thermodynamics of the atmosphere. They are also of great importance in any consideration of climate change problems. Aerosols may also be responsible for the loss of harvests, human health problems and ecological disasters. Thus, this detailed study of aerosol properties on a global scale could not be more timely.

This book, presented in three volumes, examines environmental disciplines in relation to major players in contemporary science: Big Data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Today, there is a real sense of urgency regarding the evolution of computer technology, the ever-increasing volume of data, threats to our climate and the sustainable development of our planet. As such, we need to reduce technology just as much as we need to bridge the global socio-economic gap between the North and South; between universal free access to data (open data) and free software (open source). In this book, we pay particular attention to certain environmental subjects, in order to enrich our understanding of cloud computing. These subjects are: erosion; urban air pollution and atmospheric pollution in Southeast Asia; melting permafrost (causing the accelerated release of soil organic carbon in the atmosphere); alert systems of environmental hazards (such as forest fires, prospective modeling of socio-spatial practices and land use); and web fountains of geographical data. Finally, this book asks the question: in order to find a pattern in the data, how do we move from a traditional computing model-based world to pure mathematical research? After thorough examination of this topic, we conclude that this goal is both transdisciplinary and achievable.