Description
Prefaced by the poetic epigram "who has seen the wind?" and emanating from a career collaborating with other scientists on atmospheric instruments, this text by Shepherd (earth and space science, York U., Toronto) offers a unified approach to observing and measuring atmospheric radiation in all its spectral information dimensions. Coverage includes spectral and imaging concepts, instrument responsitivity and superiority, and current and prototype imager types and applications. Chapters include problems and illustrations of instruments and data. The author concedes that finding the most effective spectral imaging instrument for a specific atmospheric measurement is not that simple, as the concept of superiority does not address all the issues. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Optical instruments are routinely employed to obtain a wealth of information about the atmosphere, including its composition, temperature, and winds. A bewildering variety of optical instruments have been proposed over the years, making it difficult to decide which instrument should be chosen to make a specific measurement. Spectral Imaging of the Atmosphere traces the historical development of both spectral and imaging methods and places them in a unified framework relevant to observations of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere. The underlying concepts of various measurement methodologies are presented and paired with appropriate applications. A selection of specific spectral imaging instruments, appropriate to illustrate each conceptual type, is described in detail.Shepherd's work provides both scientists and engineers with an in-depth understanding of the fundamental concepts they need to know in order to plan a program of atmospheric measurements. Expected future methods and developments are also presented. Problems designed to test and enhance the reader's understanding of the material are included in each chapter.
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