Emilio Chuvieco

Xiaojun Yang

Jonathan Li

Global Change studies are increasingly being considered a vital source of information to understand the Earth Environment, in particular in the framework of human-induced climate change and land use transformation. Satellite Earth Observing systems provide a unique tool to monitor those changes. While the range of applications and innovative techniques is constantly increasing, this book provides a summary of key case studies where satellite data offer critical information to understand the causes and effects of those environmental changes, minimizing their negative impacts. This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of remote sensing, geographical information, meteorology and environmental sciences. Also scientists and graduate up to post-graduate level students in environmental science will find valuable information in this book.

Advances in Earth Observation of Global Change

The book provides a systematic review of the different applications for remote sensing and geographical information system techniques in research and management of forest fires. The authors have been involved in this field of research for several years. The book also benefits from data generated within the Megafires project, founded under the DG-XII of the European Union. A clear integration of research and experience is provided. New data gathered from fires affecting European countries between 1991 and 1997 are included as well as satellite images and auxiliary cartographic information. Geographic Information System files have been included in the attached CD-ROM depicting land cover, elevation, Koeppen classification climates and NOAA-AVHRR data of all European Mediterranean Europe at 1 sq km resolution. All these files are in Idrisi format and can be easily accessed from any GIS program. An Idrisi viewer has also been included in the CD-ROM.

in the European Mediterranean Basin

Remote Sensing of Large Wildfires

Wildland fires are becoming one of the most critical environmental factors affecting a wide range of ecosystems worldwide. In Mediterranean ecosystems (including also South-Africa, California, parts of Chile and Australia), wildland fires are recurrent phenomena every summer, following the seasonal drought. As a result of changes in traditional land use practices, and the impact of recent climate warming, fires have more negative impacts in the last years, threatening lives, socio-economic and ecological values. The book describes the ecological context of fires in the Mediterranean ecosystems, and provides methods to observe fire danger conditions and fire impacts using Earth Observation and Geographic Information System technologies.

Earth Observation of Wildland Fires in Mediterranean Ecosystems

The main purpose of the book is to provide solid arguments for Catholics who have left their faith to think again about their current positions and better know the arguments behind the Church’s teaching, particularly those related to controversial contemporary issues. It also provides arguments for practicing Catholics to speak about God with their friends and colleagues. The book is mainly addressed to college and young professionals, but other readers with intellectual interests should also benefit from it. Following the First Letter of Saint Peter, we Christians should always be ready to provide answers: “... for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have... with courtesy and respect” (1 Peter 3:14-16).

Give God a Second Chance

The book presents a wide range of techniques for extracting information from satellite remote sensing images in forest fire danger assessment. It covers the main concepts involved in fire danger rating, and analyses the inputs derived from remotely sensed data for mapping fire danger at both the local and global scale. The questions addressed concern the estimation of fuel moisture content, the description of fuel structural properties, the estimation of meteorological danger indices, the analysis of human factors associated with fire ignition, and the integration of different risk factors in a geographic information system for fire danger management.

Estimation and Mapping : the Role of Remote Sensing Data

Wildland Fire Danger

The main purpose of the book is to provide solid arguments for Catholics who have left their faith to think again about their current positions and better know the arguments behind Church's teaching, particularly those related to controversial contemporary issues. It also provides arguments for practicing Catholics to speak about God with their friends and colleagues. The book is mainly addressed to college and young professionals, but other readers with intellectual interests should also benefit from it. Following the First Letter of Saint Peter, we Christians should always be ready to provide answers: ..". for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have... with courtesy and respect" (1 Peter 3:14-16).

Global Change is increasingly considered a critical topic in environmental research. Remote sensing methods provide a useful tool to monitor global variables, since they provide a systematic coverage of the Earth’s surface, at different spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. This book offers an analysis of the leading missions in global Earth observation, and reviews the main fields in which remote sensing methods are providing vital data for global change studies.

The Role of Satellite Remote Sensing in Monitoring the Global Environment

Earth Observation of Global Change

An extensive review of remote sensing principles with an emphasis on environmental applications, Fundamentals of Satellite Remote Sensing discusses a wide range of topics, from physical principles to data acquisition systems and on to visual and digital interpretation techniques. The text focuses on the interpretation and analysis of remote sensing images and how they improve our understanding of environmental processes and their interaction with human activities. The authors discuss new interpretation approaches, including hyperspectral analysis, high-spatial resolution data, and radiative transfer models. The presentation includes an analysis of accuracy assessment methods and demonstrates how to integrate remote sensing results with geographic information systems. It also covers recent missions, such as Terra-Aqua, Envisat, Ikonos-Quickbird-Geoeye and SPOT-5, as well as LIDAR and interpherometric radar. The discussion of visual criteria to extract interpretation from satellite images emphasizes differences and similarities with conventional photo-interpretation techniques. A chapter on accuracy assessment and the connection between remote sensing and geographic information systems helps readers extend the interpretation of satellite images to a more operational, applications-oriented framework.

Emilio Chuvieco

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