This book presents the latest research developments in geoinformation science, which includes all the sub-disciplines of the subject, such as: geomatic engineering, GIS, remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, digital cartography, etc.

This unique resource offers you a thorough overview of the principles and design of magnetic sensors and magnetometers, as well as guidance in applying specific devices. From exploring sensor and magnetometer properties for optimum system design... to the testing and calibration of precise magnetometers for full utilization, this book serves as your complete reference. You get practical approaches to selecting the right sensors for specific applications and advice on development of a customized device.

Aerosols have a significant influence on the Earth's radiation budget, but there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of their effect on the Earth's climate. Currently, satellite remote sensing is being increasingly utilized to improve our understanding of the effect of atmospheric aerosols on the climate system.

Satellite Aerosol Remote Sensing Over Land is the only book that brings together in one volume the most up-to-date research and advances in this discipline. As well as describing the current academic theory, the book presents practical applications, utilizing state-of-the-art instrumentation, invaluable to the work of environmental scientists.

With contributions by an international group of experts and leaders of correspondent aerosol retrieval groups, the book is an essential tool for all those working in the field of climate change.

The region of Central and Eastern Europe has a rich and long history in cart- raphy. Many important improvements in mapping and cartography have been proposed and performed by cartographers and researchers of that region. The long and outstanding history has led to a lively and vivid presence. Now contemporary methods for depicting the earth and its cultural and natural attributes are used. This book focuses on the contemporary activities in all major realms of cartography in Central and Eastern Europe. It covers aspects of theoretical, topographical, thematic and multimedia cartography, which have been presented at the frst Symposium on Cartography for Central and Eastern Europe, which took place from February 16th to 17th, 2009 in Vienna, Austria and was organized by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Vienna University of Technology. The symposium's aim was to bring together cartographers, GI scientists and those working in related disciplines from CEE with the goal of offering a platform for discussion and exchange and stimulation of joined projects. About 130 scientists from 19 countries followed the invitation and visited Vienna, Austria. A selection of fully reviewed contributions is edited in this book and is meant as a mirror of the wide range of activities in the realm of cartography in this region. The innovative and contemporary character of these topics has lead to a great variety of interdis- plinary contributions. Topics cover an enormous range with heterogenous relati- ships to the main book issues.

"Satellite Data Compression" covers recent progress in compression techniques for multispectral, hyperspectral and ultra spectral data. A survey of recent advances in the fields of satellite communications, remote sensing and geographical information systems is included. "Satellite Data Compression," contributed by leaders in this field, is the first book available on satellite data compression. It covers onboard compression methodology and hardware developments in several space agencies. Case studies are presented on recent advances in satellite data compression techniques via various prediction-based, lookup-table-based, transform-based, clustering-based, and projection-based approaches. This book provides valuable information on state-of-the-art satellite data compression technologies for professionals and students who are interested in this topic. "Satellite Data Compression" is designed for a professional audience comprised of computer scientists working in satellite communications, sensor system design, remote sensing, data receiving, airborne imaging and geographical information systems (GIS). Advanced-level students and academic researchers will also benefit from this book.

By 1930, no place in the world was less well explored than Greenland. The native Inuit had occupied the relatively accessible west coast for centuries. The east coast, however, was another story. In August 1930, Henry George Watkins (nicknamed Gino), a 23-year-old explorer, led thirteen scientists and explorers on an ambitious journey to the east coast of Greenland and its vast and forbidding interior. Their mission: chart and survey the region and establish a permanent meteorological base 8,000 feet high on the ice cap. That plan turned into an epic survival ordeal when August Courtauld, manning the station solo through the winter, became entombed by drifting snow. David Roberts, "veteran mountain climber and chronicler of adventures" (Washington Post), draws on firsthand accounts and rich archival materials to tell the story of this daring expedition and of the ingenious young explorer at its helm.

Water balance studies for large and small river basins are the subject of this book. Here, the specific focus is on the soil and water assessment tools (SWAT) model coupled with geographic information system (GIS) remote sensing data for a comprehensive study. Some books available in the market provide an overview of different hydrological models for water balance but not specifically for the SWAT model. This book effectively utilizes the SWAT model to study the water balances in small and large catchments with consistent competence and excellent accuracy for yearly and monthly water balance modules along with suspended sediment yield over several slope classes of the catchments. The approach is new and has been successfully utilized, as discussed in a case study on the Taleghan Catchment in Iran. These implementation models may assist as advantageous techniques for incorporated management of catchments in the direction of sustainable development. This book will help readers who wish to study all the changes related to those in water balances.

Quo Vadis: Evolution of Modern Navigation presents an intelligent and intelligible account of the essential principles underlying the design of satellite navigational systems-with introductory chapters placing them in context with the early development of navigational methods. The material is organized roughly as follows: the first third of the book deals with navigation in the natural world, the early history of navigation, navigating by the stars, precise mechanical chronometers for the determination of longitude at sea, and the development of precise quartz controlled clocks. Then, the reader is introduced to quantum ideas as a lead in to a discussion of microwave and optical interactions with atoms, atomic clocks, laser gyrocompasses, and time based navigation. The final third of the book deals with satellite-based systems, including orbit theory, early satellite navigation systems, and a detailed treatment of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Intended for non-specialists with some knowledge of physics or engineering at the college level, this book covers in an intuitive manner a broad range of topics relevant to the evolution of surface and space navigation, with minimum mathematical formalism.

This textbook is one of the first to explain the fundamentals and applications of remote sensing at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Topics include definitions and a brief history of payloads and platforms, data acquisition and specifications, image processing techniques, data integration and spatial modeling, and a range of applications covering terrestrial, atmospheric, oceanographic and planetary disciplines. The policy and law issues of remote sensing and the future trends on the horizon are also covered. Remote sensing is an exciting, dynamic technology that is transforming the Earth sciences - terrestrial, atmospheric, and marine - as well as the practices of agriculture, disaster response, engineering, natural resources, providing evidence in legal cases and documented humanitarian crises, and many other fields. Increasingly, understanding of these techniques will be central to a number of disciplines, particularly as the technology advances.

One of the most beautiful maps to survive the Great Age of Discoveries, the 1513 world map drawn by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis is also one of the most mysterious. Gregory McIntosh has uncovered new evidence in the map that shows it to be among the most important ever made.

This detailed study offers new commentary and explication of a major milestone in cartography. Correcting earlier work of Paul Kahle and pointing out the traps that have caught subsequent scholars, McIntosh disproves the dubious conclusion that the Reis map embodied Columbus's Third Voyage map of 1498, showing that it draws instead on the Second Voyage of 1493-1496. He also refutes the popular misinterpretation that Reis's depictions of Antarctica are evidence of either ancient civilizations or extraterrestrial visitation. McIntosh brings together all that has been previously known about the map and also assembles for the first time the translations of all inscriptions on the map and analyzes all place-names given for New World and Atlantic islands. His work clarifies long-standing mysteries and opens up new ways of looking at the history of exploration.

This book is the definitive guide to the techniques and applications of position location, covering both terrestrial and satellite systems. It gives all the techniques, theoretical models, and algorithms that engineers need to improve their current location schemes and to develop future location algorithms and systems.

Comprehensive coverage is given to system design trade-offs, complexity issues, and the design of efficient positioning algorithms to enable the creation of high-performance location positioning systems. Traditional methods are also reexamined in the context of the challenges posed by reconfigurable and multihop networks. Applications discussed include wireless networks (WiFi, ZigBee, UMTS, and DVB networks), cognitive radio, sensor networks and multihop networks.

Features

Contains a complete guide to models, techniques, and applications of position location

Includes applications to wireless networks, demonstrating the relevance of location positioning to these "hot" areas in research and development

Covers system design trade-offs and the design of efficient positioning algorithms, enabling the creation of future location positioning systems

Provides a theoretical underpinning for understanding current position location algorithms, giving researchers a foundation to develop future algorithms

David Munoz is Director and Cesar Vargas is a member of the Center for Electronics and Telecommunications, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. Frantz Bouchereau is a senior communications software developer at The MathWorks Inc. in Natick, MA. Rogerio Enriquez-Caldera is at Instituto Nacional de Atrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE), Puebla, Mexico.
Contains a complete guide to models, techniques and applications of position location
Includes applications to wireless networks (WiFi, ZigBee, DVB networks), cognitive radio, sensor networks and reconfigurable and multi-hop networks, demonstrating the relevance of location positioning to these hot areas in research and development
Covers system design trade-offs, and the design of efficient positioning algorithms enables the creation of future location positioning systems
Provides a theoretical underpinning for understanding current position location algorithms, giving researchers a foundation to develop future algorithms"

This book addresses the issue of smart and sustainable development in the Mediterranean (MED) region, a distinct part of the world, full of challenges and risks but also opportunities. Above all, the book focuses on smartening up small and medium-sized cities and insular communities, taking into account their geographical peculiarities, the pattern of MED urban settlements and the abundance of island complexes in the MED Basin. Taking for granted that sustainability in the MED is the overarching policy goal that needs to be served, the book explores different aspects of smartness in support of this goal's achievement. In this respect, evidence from concrete smart developments adopted by forerunners in the MED region is collected and analyzed; coupled with experiences gathered from successful, non-MED, examples of smart efforts in European countries. More specifically, current research and empirical results from MED urban environments are discussed, as well as findings from or concerning other parts of the world, which are of relevance to the MED region. The book's primary goal is to enable policymakers, planners and decision-making bodies to recognize the challenges and options available; and make to more informed policy decisions towards smart, sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban and regional futures in the MED.

Realistically representing our three-dimensional world has been the subject of many (philosophical) discussions since ancient times. While the recognition of the globular shape of the Earth goes back to Pythagoras' statements of the sixth century B. C. , the two-dimensional, circular depiction of the Earth's surface has remained prevailing and also dominated the art of painting until the late Middle Ages. Given the immature technological means, objects on the Earth's surface were often represented in academic and technical disciplines by two-dimensional cross-sections oriented along combinations of three mutually perpendicular directions. As soon as computer science evolved, scientists have steadily been improving the three-dimensional representation of the Earth and developed techniques to analyze the many natural processes and phenomena taking part on its surface. Both computer aided design (CAD) and geographical information systems (GIS) have been developed in parallel during the last three decades. While the former concentrates more on the detailed design of geometric models of object shapes, the latter emphasizes the topological relationships between geographical objects and analysis of spatial patterns. Nonetheless, this distinction has become increasingly blurred and both approaches have been integrated into commercial software packages. In recent years, an active line of inquiry has emerged along the junctures of CAD and GIS, viz. 3D geoinformation science. Studies along this line have recently made significant inroads in terms of 3D modeling and data acquisition.

Wind erosion occurs in many arid, semiarid and agricultural areas of the world. It is an environmental process in?uenced by geological and climatic variations as well as human activities. In general, wind erosion leads to land degradation in agricultural areas and has a negative impact on air quality. Dustemissiongeneratedbywinderosionisthelargestsourceofaerosolswhich directly or indirectly in?uence the atmospheric radiation balance and hence global climatic variations. Strong wind-erosion events, such as severe dust storms, may threaten human lives and cause substantial economic damage. The physics of wind erosion is complex, as it involves atmospheric, soil and land-surface processes. The research on wind erosion is multidisciplinary, covering meteorology, ?uid dynamics, soil physics, colloidal science, surface soil hydrology, ecology, etc. Several excellent books have already been written about the topic, for instance, by Bagnold (1941, The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes), Greeley and Iversen (1985, Wind as a Geological P- cess on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan), Pye (1987, Aeolian Dust and Dust Deposits), Pye and Tsoar (1990, Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes). However, considerable progress has been made in wind-erosion research in recent years and there is a need to systematically document this progress in a new book.

Land use and land cover (LULC) as well as its changes (LUCC) are an interplay between bio-geophysical characteristics of the landscape and climate as well as the complex human interaction including its different patterns of utilization superimposed on the natural vegetation. LULC is a core information layer for a variety of scientific and administrative tasks(e.g. hydrological modelling, climate models, land use planning).In particular in the context of climate change with its impacts on socio-economic, socio-ecologic systems as well as ecosystem services precise information on LULC and LUCC are mandatory baseline datasets required over large areas. Remote sensing can provide such information on different levels of detail and in a homogeneous and reliable way. Hence, LULC mapping can be regarded as a prototype for integrated approaches based on spaceborne and airborne remote sensing techniques combined with field observations. The book provides for the first time a comprehensive view of various LULC activities focusing on European initiatives, such as the LUCAS surveys, the CORINE land covers, the ESA/EU GMES program and its resulting Fast-Track- and Downstream Services, the EU JRC Global Land Cover, the ESA GlobCover project as well as the ESA initiative on Essential Climate Variables. All have and are producing highly appreciated land cover products. The book will cover the operational approaches, but also review current state-of-the-art scientific methodologies and recommendations for this field. It opens the view with best-practice examples that lead to a view that exceeds pure mapping, but to investigate into drivers and causes as well as future projections.

Flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards in the world. Available records suggest that both flood frequency and severity are on the rise and this is likely to worsen in the context of climate change. As population, infrastructure and poverty grow rapidly in developing countries, particularly in urban agglomerations of 10 million people or more, floods could cause widespread devastation, economic damage and loss of life. Assessment of vulnerability and risk from naturally occurring phenomena is therefore imperative in order to achieve urban sustainability. This book uses geospatial techniques to evaluate hazards, risk and vulnerability at a metropolitan scale in a data-scarce country. An empirical study was performed using remote sensing, GIS and census data. This research offers a new approach to mapping population, infrastructures and communities at risk which can greatly contribute to the deeper understanding of flood disasters in a rapidly expanding megacity. Examples shown in this book are from Dhaka Megacity, however, the techniques and methods can easily be implemented in medium to large cities of similar characteristics. The book is essential reading for hazard researchers, geospatial scientists, disaster management professionals, geographers, urban planners, and social scientists. Ashraf M. Dewan is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Spatial Sciences at Curtin University, Western Australia (on leave from his substantive position as Associate Professor in the Geography & Environment Department at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh).

Focusing on the special challenges posed by accurately pinpointing a location indoors, this volume reflects the distance we have come in the handful of decades since the germination of GPS technology. Not only can we locate a signal to within a meter's accuracy, but we now have this technology in the most basic mobile phone.

Tracing recent practical developments in positioning technology and in the market it supplies, the author examines the contributions of the varied research-in silicon, signal and image processing, radio communications and software-to a fast-evolving field. The book looks forward to a time when, in addition to directing your road journey, positioning systems can peer indoors and guide you to an available photocopier in your office building. Featuring standalone chapters each dealing with a specific aspect of the subject, including treatments of systems such as Zebra, Awarepoint, Aeroscout, IEEE 802.11, etc. This study has all the detail needed to get up to speed on a key modern technology.

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This book provides a general overview of research activities related to locati- based services. These activities have emerged over the last years, especially around issues of positioning, sensor fusion, spatial modelling, cartographic communi- tion as well as in the ? elds of ubiquitious cartography, geo-pervasive services, user-centered modelling and geo-wiki activities. The innovative and contemporary character of these topics has led to a great variety of interdisciplinary contributions, from academia to business, from computer science to geodesy. Topics cover an enormous range with heterogenous relationships to the main book issues. Whilst contemporary cartography aims at looking at new and ef? cient ways for com- nicating spatial information, the development and availability of technologies like mobile networking, mobile devices or short-range sensors lead to interesting new possibilities for achieving this aim. By trying to make use of available technologies, cartography and a variety of related disciplines look speci? cally at user-centered and context-aware system development, as well as new forms of supporting way? nding and navigation systems. The contributions are a selection of full reviewed papers submitted to the th 5 Conference on Location Based Services and TeleCartography in Salzburg November 2008, jointly organized by Salzburg Research and Vienna University of Technology, Research Group Cartography. The production of this book would not have been possible without the prof- sional and formidable work of Manuela Schmidt and Felix Ortag. The editors are grateful for their help as well as for the help of Sven Leitinger.

This book examines air pollution of a big city using multi-year and multi-season data from ground-based air monitoring stations and satellite sounding data, which provides more clear and detailed information on the main sources of air pollution, the long-term trend of pollution, the influence of meteorological parameters on pollution levels, and trajectories of polluted air masses. For example, the book shows that particulate matter from local sources is transported from deserts to create air quality challenges. It also analyzes the effects of desert and semi-desert landscapes on high concentrations of pollutants.

This book offers a cross disciplinary treatment of the rapidly growing field of integrated approaches in risk assessment in mountainous areas. All major aspects related to hazard and risk assessment, risk management, and governance are illustrated with a wide range of case studies. The first part of the book focuses on new techniques for assessing the natural hazards of different types of mass movements. State-of-the-art techniques for morphological characterization and monitoring of displacements are described. Computational advances are covered to explain the process systems and to quantify the hazards of fast and slow-moving landslides. In the second part of the book methodologies are included for assessing the impact of these natural hazards on the society in terms of risks. In this part, methodologies for defining the vulnerability of the elements at risk are shown and the use of run-out models for risk assessment of the dangerous rapid mass movements are evaluated. The third part of the book focuses on the response of society towards the problems of hazard and risk. It highlights the role of spatial planning, early warning systems and evacuation plans for risk management. It establishes practical thresholds for acceptable and tolerable risks and emphasizes the importance of education and communication to society. Audience The book is of interest to a wide range of experts from related disciplines, practitioners and stakeholders to demonstrate the importance of an integrated approach for all aspects of risks in mountainous areas.

This book is dedicated to studying the ocean with radar tools, in particular, with space radars. Being intended mainly for the scientists preoccupied with the problem (as well as senior course students), it concentrates and generalizes the knowledge scattered over specialized journals. The significant part of the book contains the results obtained by the author.

* Systematically collects and describes the approaches used by different laboratories and institutions
* Deals with the physics of radar imagery and specifically with ocean surface imagery.
* Useful for students and researchers specializing in the area of ocean remote sensing using airborne or space-borne radars, both SAR and RAR

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.

Spanning the Islamic world, from ninth-century Baghdad to nineteenth-century Iran, this book tells the story of the key Muslim map-makers and the art of Islamic cartography. Muslims were uniquely placed to explore the edges of the inhabited world and their maps stretched from Isfahan to Palermo, from Istanbul to Cairo and Aden. Over a similar period, Muslim artists developed distinctive styles, often based on geometrical patterns and calligraphy. Map-makers, including al-Khwarazmi and al-Idrisi, combined novel cartographical techniques with art, science and geographical knowledge. The results could be aesthetically stunning and mathematically sophisticated, politically charged as well as a celebration of human diversity. 'Islamic Maps' examines Islamic visual interpretations of the world in their historical context, through the lives of the map-makers themselves. What was the purpose of their maps, what choices did they make and what was the argument they were trying to convey? Lavishly illustrated with stunning manuscripts, beautiful instruments and Qibla charts, this book shows how maps constructed by Muslim map-makers capture the many dimensions of Islamic civilisation, providing a window into the worldviews of Islamic societies.