These notes were developed because no suitable textbook exists covering the subject matter of the subtitle. There are many books which contain the word "remote sensing" in their titles, but they generally emphasize the sensing of earth resources such as vegetation, crops, crop diseases, soil, fish, water, snow, ice, land use, terrain, coastal features, geologic features, and pollution of all sorts. The emphasis of this course is strictly on the remote sensing of the properties of the atmosphere and ocean surface.The topics covered by these notes fall into four major categories: (1) the physics of radiation (Chapters 1 through 8), (2) instrumentation for remote sensing (Chapters 10, 11 & 12), (3) techniques of remote sensing (Chapters 9 & 13 through 17), and (4) the mathematics of inversion techniques (Chapters 18 through 23). While the basic concepts and principles of remotesensing must of necessity be covered first, the remaining material need not be developed in the order suggested by the numbering of the chapters.The subject areas of the subtitle limit the topics covered, but the field of remote sensing has grown so large and rapidly that the restriction is deliberate. For example, nothing is discussed concerning active remote sensing. However, the successful completion of this course would equip the student with most of the background needed for the understanding of active techniques. Furthermore, passive remote sensing has a longer history and, consequently, is further along in its applications, particularly in producing meteorological and oceanographic parameters on a daily operational basis. Finally, it should be mentioned that this course is designed to be a first course in the subject; therefore, depth is sacrificed for breath. Indeed, many of the topics covered could be expanded individually into complete courses in their own right.
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