How does Earth Observation work?
How does Earth Observation work? Meteosat 1: the first image The single location where we can learn the most about our planet is found nowhere on Earth but high up above it. The ability to fly satellites into space has changed all our lives in many ways, but the single greatest innovation has been the availability of new ways of seeing the world that satellites leave behind. Early pictures of the Earth seen from space became icons of the Space Age, and encouraged an increased awareness of the precious nature of our common home. Today, images of our planet from orbit are acquired continuously; they have become powerful scientific tools to enable better understanding and improved management of the Earth and its environment. Earth Observation images show the world through a wide-enough frame so that complete large-scale phenomena can be observed to an accuracy and entirety it would take an army of ground-level observers to match. Envisat satellite, artist's impression Mt. Envisat instruments
Climate and Earth’s Energy Budget : Feature Articles
by Rebecca Lindsey January 14, 2009 The Earth’s climate is a solar powered system. Globally, over the course of the year, the Earth system—land surfaces, oceans, and atmosphere—absorbs an average of about 240 watts of solar power per square meter (one watt is one joule of energy every second). The Sun doesn’t heat the Earth evenly. The climate’s heat engine must not only redistribute solar heat from the equator toward the poles, but also from the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere back to space. The energy that Earth receives from sunlight is balanced by an equal amount of energy radiating into space. When the flow of incoming solar energy is balanced by an equal flow of heat to space, Earth is in radiative equilibrium, and global temperature is relatively stable.
Glossary
The air surrounding the Earth, described as a series of shells or layers of different characteristics. The atmosphere, composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen with traces of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases, acts as a buffer between Earth and the sun. The layers, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and the exosphere, vary around the globe and in response to seasonal changes. Troposphere stems from the Greek word tropos, which means turning or mixing. The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, extending to a height of 8-15 km, depending on latitude. This region, constantly in motion, is the most dense layer of the atmosphere and the region that essentially contains all of Earth's weather. The tropopause marks the limit of the troposphere and the beginning of the stratosphere. The stratosphere and stratopause stretch above the troposphere to a height of 50 km. The stratosphere and mesosphere are referred to as the middle atmosphere.
History of Aerial Photography - Professional Aerial Photographers Association Intl
Dark Room in a Hot-Air Balloon The first known aerial photograph was taken in 1858 by French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix Tournachon, known as "Nadar". In 1855 he had patented the idea of using aerial photographs in mapmaking and surveying, but it took him 3 years of experimenting before he successfully produced the very first aerial photograph. It was a view of the French village of Petit-Becetre taken from a tethered hot-air balloon, 80 meters above the ground. (left) Nadar "elevating photography to the condition of art", caricature by Honoré Daunier. Kites, Pigeons and Rockets Gradually, improvements in photographic technology made it easier to take cameras into the skies. The English meteorologist E. In California, the devastation of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire was captured by George R. The Bavarian Pigeon Corps used their pigeons to carry messages and for aerial reconnaisance. Aerial Photography from Airplanes The Business of Aerial Photography
The film "The Day After Tomorrow" - comments by climatologist Stefan Rahmstorf
The film shows a disastrous and abrupt climate change. Due to man-made global warming, first the Larsen B ice shelf breaks up (this did happen in the real world, see animation of satellite images - allegedly only after the authors had written it into the film). This event is used to introduce the main paleo-climatologist character, Jack Hall, who is drilling out there and narrowly escapes. Later, in the north, meltwater inflow brings the North Atlantic Current to a halt, causing severe cooling. Obviously it is easy to dismiss much of this scenario as unrealistic and exaggerated. The film makers are quite up-front about the fact that it's not a scientifically realistic scenario. On the other hand, given the rules and constraints of the genre, it is remarkable to what extent the film-makers have tried to include some realistic background. The politics of climate change is also presented well. More Information Author
Glossary
Acronyms and Abbreviations a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer; this instrument is in fact the same design as the ATSR-2 flying on ERS-2. It has four infrared channels and three visible channels. Auto-Correlation Function Analogue / Digital Analogue / Digital Converter ALOS Data European Node Advanced Earth Observation Satellite - ADEOS website The ADEOS satellites prime objectives were environmental research. Annotation Data Set Annotation Data Set Record Airbus Defence and Space Advanced Land Observing Satellite - ALOS website The ALOS mission's objectives are general Earth observation and the data is used for cartography, and environmental and disaster monitoring. Air Mass Factor; a parameter which allows the transformation from slant column densities to cloumn densities along the line of sight. Active Microwave Instrument, a part of ERS-1 and ERS-2 payload, incorporating image (SAR), wind (scatterometer), and wave (imagette) modes. EOLi
