Based on the experiences of the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa and the Radar and Surveillance System (RaSS) national laboratory of the National Interuniversity Consortium of Telecommunication (CNIT), Radar Imaging for Maritime Observation presents the most recent results in radar imaging for maritime observation. The book explores both the areas of sea surface remote sensing and maritime surveillance providing key theoretical concepts of SAR and ISAR imaging and more advanced and ad-hoc techniques for applications in maritime scenarios. The book is organized in two sections. The first section discusses the fundamentals of standard SAR/ISAR processing and novel imaging techniques, such as Bistatic, Passive, and, 3D Interferometric ISAR. The second section focuses on the applications and results obtained by processing real data from maritime observations like SAR image processing for oil spill, detection in SAR images and fractal analysis. Useful to both beginners and experts in maritime observation, this book provides several examples of (mainly space-borne) radar imaging of maritime targets. Nevertheless, the same principles and techniques apply to the case of manned or unmanned carriers and to ground and air moving targets.

This monograph offers a wide array of contemporary information on weather radar polarimetry and its applications. The book tightly connects the microphysical processes responsible for the development and evolution of the clouds’ bulk physical properties to the polarimetric variables, and contains the procedures on how to simulate realistic polarimetric variables. With up-to-date polarimetric methodologies and applications, the book will appeal to practicing radar meteorologists, hydrologists, microphysicists, and modelers who are interested in the bulk properties of hydrometeors and quantification of these with the goals to improve precipitation measurements, understanding of precipitation processes, or model forecasts.

Doppler radar systems have been instrumental to improve our understanding and monitoring capabilities of phenomena taking place in the low, middle, and upper atmosphere. Weather radars, wind profilers, and incoherent and coherent scatter radars implementing Doppler techniques are now used routinely both in research and operational applications by scientists and practitioners. This book brings together a collection of eighteen essays by international leading authors devoted to different applications of ground based Doppler radars. Topics covered include, among others, severe weather surveillance, precipitation estimation and nowcasting, wind and turbulence retrievals, ionospheric radar and volcanological applications of Doppler radar. The book is ideally suited for graduate students looking for an introduction to the field or professionals intending to refresh or update their knowledge on Doppler radar applications.

Spacelab was a reusable laboratory facility that was flown on the Space Shuttle from 1983 to 1998. Completing 22 major missions and contributing to many other NASA goals, Spacelab stands as one of the Shuttle program’s most resounding successes. The system comprised multiple components, including a pressurized laboratory module, unpressurized carrier pallets and other related hardware, all housed in the Shuttle’s Payload Bay and crew compartment. But how did all those varied components actually come together? The answer is the little-known “Level-IV”, a team of managers and engineers who molded separate elements of hardware into cohesive and safe payloads. Without the dedication and drive of the Level-IV team, the huge successes of the Spacelab missions would not have been achieved. This is their story. You will learn herein how Level-IV was formed, who was involved, and the accomplishments, setbacks and problems faced along the way, in a story that blends both the professional and personal sides of Level-IV operations and its legacy. Upon reading this book, you will gain a new appreciation for this crucial team and understand what is meant when you hear the term “Level-IV”.