Content area
Full text
Remote Sensing of the Lower AtmosphereAn Introduction. Graeme L. Stephens. 1994. 523 pp. $65.00. Hardbound. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508188-9. This book is a useful contemporary text on the subject of atmospheric remote sensing. It provides a clear understanding of the interactions between radiation and the atmosphere, which result in measurable signatures that are exploited and used for remote sensing. Appealing to both the graduate student of atmospheric sciences and the professional meteorologist/ atmospheric scientist, principles are described in a manner that stimulates creativity and provides a broad understanding of the physical basis for contemporary atmospheric remote sensing.
The author, a world-class atmospheric scientist, has drawn material for this book from lecture notes compiled for courses on remote sensing and atmospheric radiation, which he teaches at Colorado State University. As a result, this book is written in a manner that makes it a useful course textbook. Of particular use to the student is the "Notes and Comments" section and the often mind-teasing problems at the end of each chapter. The instructors will find the "Class Projects" presented in an appendix helpful in formulating small class research problems as part of their course. I have chosen to use this book as a primary reference text for a course entitled "Atmospheric Technology," which I have taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). Even though my emphasis is more equally weighted between the technology...