Remote Sensing of the European Seas [Paperback]

Here is a review of the current potential of Earth Observations that devotes particular attention to the challenges posed by the European Seas. The assessment of surface parameters by means of passive techniques  which measure reflected visible and near-infrared sunlight, or surface emissions in the thermal infrared or microwave spectral regions  is addressed. Active techniques  which use transmitted impulses of visible or microwave radiation  are covered as well.

Princess Enheduanna, daughter of king Sargon of Akkad, lived around 2300 BC. She was a high priestess of the moon god Nanna in the ancient city of Ur. And an accomplished poet too. In fact, she is the author of a number of Sumerian hymns, and is generally considered to be the earliest author known by name. When she came to honor Inanna  the goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare, daughter of Nanna and often associated with the planet Venus (the one that the Akkadians called Ishtar)  above all the other gods of the Sumerian pantheon, she mentioned for the very first time, in her Hymn number 8, nothing less than the Seven Seas. . . Septem Maria, would call them the Romans centuries later, after inher- ing the concept from the Greeks (for whom seven probably just meant several), but perhaps applying it to the wrong place  i. e. the extensive system of coastal lagoons, which at the time dotted the northern Adriatic Sea  at least in the description of Pliny the Elder, Roman fleet commander and scholarly author of Historia Naturalis. Indeed, which seven seas are int- ded depends on the context. According to the historians, there are at least nine bodies of water in the medieval European and Arabic literature that can - pire to qualify as one of the famous seven.List of Contributors.- Preface.- Part 1: Introduction.- 1. The European Marginal and Enclosed Seas: an Overview.- Special Requirements for Remote Sensing of the European Seas.- Part 2: VIS & TIR passive/active R.- 3lÓ)