Content area
Full Text
Satellites, Oceanography, and Society. David Halpern, Ed. 2000. 376 pp. $35.00. Hardbound. Elsevier Science. ISBN 0-444-50501-6.
Ocean monitoring using space-based assets is a critical component in the ongoing development of global observing systems. The past 20 years in satellite oceanography have been an era of instrument, technique, and technology development in each of the major conceptual areas advanced nearly 40 years ago: altimetry, scatterometry, synthetic aperture radar, and microwave, visible, and infrared radiometry. While most of the ocean observing instruments have been unique systems on various research and development platforms, ocean parameters such as sea surface temperature, wind speed, ice concentration, and water vapor have also been measured for nearly 15 years from operational meteorological satellites. Over time, operational measurements of ocean parameters coupled with continuously improving research instruments and data accuracy have proven to be a powerful combination. End-users of satellite ocean data have become convinced of the reliability, interpretation, and long-term nature of remotely sensed data, which is an essential aspect of the technology transfer process that has led to satellite data utilization in conventional oceanographic applications.
Satellites, Oceanography and Society is a compendium of articles presented at a conference of the same name held in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1998 that brought together satellite developers and data providers, oceanographers, users, and social scientists to address the ocean applications and social benefits being derived from remotely sensed ocean data. The volume consists of 19 chapters and two appendices, including the conference program. The five-day conference format included oral and (primarily) poster presentations centered around a daily topical theme, including interannual-to-decadal climate prediction, seasonal-to-- interannual climate prediction, living resources assessment and prediction, weather and wave prediction, geophysical exploration, and new directions. The book chapters are written summaries of the oral or poster contributions from each theme, except there are none on the geophysical exploration theme. The oral presentations were generally more of an overview nature, the posters more specific case studies, and chapter selections were made from voluntary manuscript submissions solicited from all participants. The result is that there is unevenness to the representation and level of the contents that might have been mitigated by explicit solicitation of manuscripts, as for a permanent reference or textbook. However, the writing style is reasonably uniform...