Remote Sounding of Atmospheres

This book describes how measurements can be made of the properties of the Earth and planets using the technique of remote sounding.

J. T. Houghton (Author), F. W. Taylor (Author), C. D. Rodgers (Author)

9780521310659, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 March 1986

352 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.465 kg

When this book was first published in 1984, the technique of remote sounding was growing rapidly in importance as a means for studying the structure, climate and weather of the atmospheres of the Earth and planets. Measurements from Earth satellites and interplanetary spacecraft proved particularly useful because they allowed good coverage of atmospheric systems in space and time, often with high resolution. This book describes how measurements can be made of the properties of the Earth and planets using this method. It includes descriptions of the scientific principles, technical implementation, mathematical methods for analysing the measurements, a history of measurements that have been made and discussions of the phenomena that have been discovered and studied using remote sounding. The technique is important for meteorology, climatology and an understanding of humankind's impact on the Earth's atmosphere.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Platforms in space
3. Visible, infrared and microwave imaging
4. Radiation budget measurements
5. Principles of remote temperature sounding
6. Instruments for remote temperature sounding
7. Retrieval theory
8. Remote temperature sounding for weather forecasting
9. Stratospheric and mesospheric temperature measurements
10. Minor constituent abundance measurements
11. Cloud, aerosol and precipitation measurements
12. Density, pressure and wind measurement
13. Ionospheric measurements
14. Remote sounding of the atmospheres of Venus and Mercury
15. Remote sounding of the atmosphere of Mars
16. Remote sounding in the outer solar system
17. Further developments
References
Index and glossary.

Subject Areas: Atmospheric physics [PHVJ]