This book is authored by TexasView lead, Dr. Rebecca Dodge, and New HampshireView lead, Dr. Russell Congalton, and starts with an overview of how remote sensing imagery is
enabling scientists, engineers, policymakers, and others to meet the environmental
challenges resulting from interactions between environmental change
and human activities. Some of those interactions include:
◊ Weather hazards
◊ Geological hazards
◊ Land use/land cover changes
◊ Water resource changes
◊ Climate variability
◊ Resource development
◊ Environmental restoration
In particular, the first section examines how satellite images are able to
detect features at the Earth’s surface (such as plants, rocks, soil, water, fire,
ice and snow) and in the Earth’s atmosphere (such as clouds, ozone, carbon
monoxide, smoke, dust, ash and other particulate matter). Some of these
observations can only be made in parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
that are not visible to the human eye.
The book concludes with selected applications of satellite imagery on issues
that affect the environment and human society. These examples cover the
range of environmental challenges listed above and have been provided by
applied scientists in diverse disciplines who work for organizations including
academic partner universities in the AmericaView Consortium, the U.S.
Geological Survey, and the National Aeronautic and Space Administration.