Radiation and Water in the Climate System

The study of the earth's climate requires reliable global data sets to validate numerical simulation models and to identify regional and global fluctuations and trends. This book presents ways to obtain such data from space-borne and ground-based measurements, both passive and active, over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. It describes the basics of such methods together with the most recent advancements and spans the field from clouds and the planetary radiation budget to surface processes and ocean properties. Each subject is backed by extensive reference lists to enable readers to probe more deeply.

Contenu

A: Some Background on Observations, Data Assimilation and Modeling.- 1 Energy and Water Cycles in the Climate System: What can we measure from space?.- 2 Observational Requirements for Modeling of Global and Regional Climate Change.- 3 Surface Fluxes of Momentum, Heat, and Water Vapor.- 4 Introduction to Numerical Weather Prediction Data Assimilation.- 5 Priciples of Active and Passive Remote Measurements of Water in the Atmosphere and at Ground.- 6 Extratropical Cyclones: Their Mesoscale Structure, Precipitation and Role in the Transport of Water.- B: Remote Sensing of Clouds, Radiation and Precipitation.- 7 Clouds and the Radiative Heating of the Earth Surface-Atmosphere System.- 8 Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Water Vapor.- 9 Properties of Clouds and Cloud Systems.- 10 Lidar Measurements: Atmospheric Constituents, Clouds, and Ground Reflectance.- 11 Retrieval of Precipitation from Satellites.- 12 Precipitation at the Ground: Radar Techniques.- 13 Ground-Based Remote Sensing of Cloud Properties Using Millimeter-Wave Radar.- C: Properties and Processes at Ground.- 14 Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture.- 15 Remote Sensing Parameterization of Meso-scale Land Surface Evaporation.- 16 Satellite Remote Sensing of Evaporation over Sea.- 17 Applications of Passive and Active Microwave Sensors to the Study of Weather Systems over the Ocean.- 18 Physical Basis for Microwave Remote Sensing of Sea Ice and Snow.- 19 Retrieval of Sea Ice and Snow Parameters from Microwave Radiometer and Radar Data.- D: New Developments.- 20 TRMM: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.- 21 Model Development for Passive Microwave Remote Sensing at ESA ESTEC.- E: Poster Sessions.- 22 Poster Summaries.