Abstract
Photon measurements are vital in astronomy but can also help to improve the understanding of our closer neighbourhood. The use of photon observations from space for Earth and planetary studies is outlined. In particular, some of the most important radar instruments for Earth observation and climate studies, as well as the corresponding satellite orbits, are described and the importance of monitoring our environment from space is emphasised.
Keywords
- Synthetic Aperture Radar
- Synthetic Aperture Radar Image
- Total Columnar Ozone
- Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar
- Normalize Radar Cross Section
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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The geoid varies in height by as much as 100 m over distances of several thousand kilometres due to uneven mass distribution within the planet’s crust, mantle and core.
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The reference ellipsoid is a mathematical idealized smoothed representation of the physical Earth, used as a first approximation of the geoid. The geoid’s total variation (peak to peak) is less than 200 m compared to a perfect mathematical ellipsoid.
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SST is the water temperature close to the surface. However, the exact meaning of “surface” varies according to the measurement method used. A satellite infrared radiometer indirectly measures the temperature of a very thin layer of about 10 μm thickness (referred to as the “skin”) of the ocean which leads to the expression skin temperature (because infrared radiation is emitted from this layer). A microwave instrument measures subskin temperature at about 1 mm depth. A thermometer attached to a moored or drifting buoy in the ocean would measure the temperature at a specific depth, e.g., at 1 m below the sea surface.
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Pauluhn, A. (2013). Earth and planet observations. In: Huber, M.C.E., Pauluhn, A., Culhane, J.L., Timothy, J.G., Wilhelm, K., Zehnder, A. (eds) Observing Photons in Space. ISSI Scientific Report Series, vol 9. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7804-1_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7804-1_39
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