This book is based on the Proceedings of the 9th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, the most recent in a series of meetings which have become the most important events in this field. Many of the contributions, however, have been expanded considerably by the authors to include introductory material. This makes this volume a useful, up-to-date introduction into the present status of observations and theory of white dwarf stars.

Understanding the formation and evolution of early galaxies is one of the most challenging problems in modern astronomy. In this volume leading specialists describe observations of high and intermediate redshift galaxies as well as the deep survey activities. Further topics include cosmology, and modelling and computer simulations of galaxy formation. Thus the reader will find here a fairly complete picture of the state of the art in this active field of astrophysics research.

This book is a translation of the French book "Pollution atmospherique. Des p- cessus a la modelisation", published by Springer France (2007). The content is mainly derived from a course devoted to air pollution I taught at Ecole nationale des ponts et chaussees (ENPC; one of the foremost French high schools, at ParisTech Institute of Technology and University Paris-Est) during the decade 1997-2006. This book has of course been deeply in uenced by my research activity at CEREA, the Teaching and Research Center for Atmospheric Envir- ment, a joint laboratory between ENPC and the Research and Development Di- sion of Electricite de France (EDF R&D), that I created and then headed from 2002 to 2007. I want to thank many of my colleagues for discussions, help and review. Thanks to Vivien Mallet for his careful review, his availability and his pieces of advice (both for the content and the form of this book). Thanks to Marc Bocquet, Karine Sartelet- Kata, Irene Korsakissok for their help in reviewing chapters. I want also to thank a few colleagues for having provided me illustrations from their research work. Thanks to Bastien Albriet, Marc Bocquet, Edouard Debry, Irene Korsakissok, H- sein Malakooti, Denis Quelo, Yelva Roustan, Karine Sartelet, Christian Seigneur and Marilyne Tombette. Thanks also to the American family, Celine and Julien, for their review of the introduction.

The interaction of the solar and heat radiation with the atmosphere and surface is the subject of the book. It is useful also for wide circle scientists involved in environmental studies. The book contains the description of 17 computer studying programs supporting different topics of courses. It includes only the base ground for comprehension of key topics and provides the accomplishment of practical works with using specially elaborated computer programs. Themes of practical works reflect main sections of mentioned courses of lectures. The packet of computer programs is added for solution of direct and inverse problems. It promotes deep and reliable comprehension of corresponding topics by students. All described approaches and computer programs are valuable resources for solving radiative transfer problems and they could be used by students for courses and diploma studies concerned atmospheric optics.

Modern researchers in plate tectonics may be concerned with the analysis of distributed deformation across diffuse plate boundaries and triple junction zones. This book extends classic methods of kinematic analysis first developed in the 1960s to the more general scenarios of diffuse deformation zones between plates. The analytic methods presented specifically target the non-rigid deformation implied by unstable triple junction configurations. These methods are then applied to the tectonic evolution of western Caribbean region which provides new ways to test and challenge the established Pacific model of Caribbean tectonics. Possible advantages of the new Pirate model of Caribbean tectonics are discussed in terms of paleo-geography and paleo-ocean connections, as well as mineral and hydrocarbon potential and seismic risks across the region.

Fundamentals of GPS receivers covers GPS receivers' theory and practice. The book begins with the basics of GPS receivers and moves onward to more advanced material. The book examines three types of GPS receiver implementations: first is the custom design by the author; second is an industry standard design, now part of the open source network; the third relates to the receiver designed by JPL /NASA. Each receiver is unique allowing the reader to see how each design solves the same problems. Chapters discuss carrier phase measurements and GPS time and frequency measurements. The overall text is measurement oriented as opposed to processing the measurements. With a focus on the fundamentals of measurements the reader will be building their intuition for the physical phenomenon at work.

Internal wave dynamics in lakes (and oceans) is an important physical component of geophysical fluid mechanics of 'quiescent' water bodies of the Globe. The formation of internal waves requires seasonal stratification of the water bodies and generation by (primarily) wind forces. Because they propagate in basins of variable depth, a generated wave field often experiences transformation from large basin-wide scales to smaller scales. As long as this fission is hydrodynamically stable, nothing dramatic will happen. However, if vertical density gradients and shearing of the horizontal currents in the metalimnion combine to a Richardson number sufficiently small (< 1/4), the light epilimnion water mixes with the water of the hypolimnion, giving rise to vertical diffusion of substances into lower depths. This meromixis is chiefly responsible for the ventilation of the deeper waters and the homogenization of the water through the lake depth. These processes are mainly formed as a result of the physical conditions, but they play biologically an important role in the trophicational state of the lake.

This collection of papers describes the evolutionary path of stars of various masses. Observational data and theoretical modeling of the stellar atmosphere and the stellar interior and their interaction are presented, covering chemical peculiarities, mass loss, and explosion, all of which are strongly related to the hydrodynamic evolution of the interior. In particular the supernova SN 1987 A is discussed for the first time in detail, including the underground neutrino observations and the detection of X-rays from the supernova. The study of its progenitor, a B 3 supergiant, was related to the topics of chemical peculiarities and mass loss mechanisms and atmospheric models. The intended readers are professional astronomers and astrophysicists, as well as physicists. The book will also be an important source of information for graduate students.

This symposium was dedicated to science opportunities with the VLT. All major areas of astronomical research were discussed in the plenary sessions, ranging from where we stand in cosmology to the new frontiers in the solar system. The workshops published in this volume focussed on different ways of finding clusters of galaxies at high redshift, on gravitational lensing by distant compact clusters, on the use of stellar populations as distance, age or abundance indicators, and on the extraordinary progress made in the discovery of extrasolar planets. This book affords a glimpse of what will be at the center of astrophysical research in the forthcoming decade. It is addressed to researchers and graduate students.

The rapid growth in our understanding of how stars form owes a lot to recent developments in techniques for carrying out infrared and millimeter-wave astronomy. Thus Star Formation and Techniques in mm-Wave Astronomy were natural joint themes for the Fifth EADN Predoctoral Astrophysics School held at the Technische Universitat Berlin. The lecture courses by six world-class experts are aimed at postgraduate students and scientists with a non-specialist interest in the field. Topics include molecular clouds, T Tauri stars, OB stars, observation methods in infrared and mm astronomy, as well as high resolution techniques.

The book is an up-to-date, concise presentation of the development of submillimeter-wave and far-infrared astrophysics. The topics range from the large-scale atomic and molecular distribution in the Galaxy and in external galaxies to the frontal properties of molecular clouds and the details of the star-formation process. A chapter on the most recent technical advances in the field illustrates the intimate connection and interplay between scientific advancement and technological capability. The book not only summarizes the advances in the field but also presents important background information, addressing experts and graduate students alike.

To get a reasonably realistic picture of the structure and evolution of stars one needs to know accurately the abundances of chemical elements and their isotopes in the stellar atmosphere and in the galactic environment of the stars. The articles collected in this volume give a modern review of the abundance accuracies for main-sequence stars. After a general introduction in the first part the accuracies of atomic transition probabilities, ionization and excitation cross-sections, and line broad- ening data are discussed. In the second part the specific problems and results for different stellar types are presented, and, finally, an overview on the possibilities of abundance determinations for stars outside the Galaxy is given.

Building on its heritage in planetary science, remote sensing of the Earth's at- sphere and ionosphere with occultation methods has undergone remarkable dev- opments since the rst GPS/Met 'proof of concept' mission in 1995. Signals of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) satellites are exploited by radio occ- tation while natural signal sources are used in solar, lunar, and stellar occultations. A range of atmospheric variables is provided reaching from fundamental atmospheric parameters such as density, pressure, and temperature to water vapor, ozone, and othertracegasspecies. Theutilityforatmosphereandclimatearisesfromtheunique properties of self-calibration, high accuracy and vertical resolution, global coverage, and (if using radio signals) all-weather capability. Occultations have become a va- able data source for atmospheric physics and chemistry, operational meteorology, climate research as well as for space weather and planetary science. The 3rd International Workshop on Occultations for Probing Atmosphere and Climate (OPAC-3) was held September 17-21, 2007, in Graz, Austria. OPAC-3 aimed at providing a casual forum and stimulating atmosphere for scienti c disc- sion, co-operation initiatives, and mutual learning and support amongst members of alldifferentoccultationcommunities. Theworkshopwasattendedby40participants from 14 different countries who actively contributed to a scienti c programme of high quality and to an excellent workshop atmosphere. The programme included 6 invited keynote presentations and 16 invited pres- tations, complemented by about 20 contributed ones including 8 posters.

Polar Remote Sensing is a two-volume work providing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary discussion of the applications of satellite sensing. Volume 2 focuses on the ice sheets, icebergs, and interactions between ice sheets and the atmosphere and ocean. It contains information about the applications of satellite remote sensing in all relevant polar related disciplines, including glaciology, meteorology, climate and radiation balance and oceanogaraphy. It also provides a brief review of the state-of-the-art of each discipline, including current issues and questions. Various passive and active remote sensor types are discussed, and the book then concentrates on specific geophysical applications. Its interdisciplinary approach means that major advances and publications are highlighted. Polar Remote Sensing: Ice Sheets summarizes fundamental principles of detectors, imaging and geophysical product retrieval includes a chapter on the important new field of satellite synthetic-aperture radar interferometry is a "one stop shop" for polar remote sensing information contains significant new information on the Earth's polar regions describes sophisticated groundbased remote sensing applications with specific reference to their use in polar regions.

From the reviews: Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts has appeared in semi-annual volumes since 1969 and it has already become one of the fundamental publications in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics and neighbouring sciences. It is the most important English-language abstracting journal in the mentioned branches. ... The abstracts are classified under more than hundred subject categories, thus permitting a quick survey of the whole extended material. The AAA is a valuable and important publication for all students and scientists working in the fields of astronomy and related sciences. As such it represents a necessary ingredient of any astronomical library all over the world." Space Science Reviews #1 "Dividing the whole field plus related subjects into 108 categories, each work is numbered and most are accompanied by brief abstracts. Fairly comprehensive cross-referencing links relevant papers to more than one category, and exhaustive author and subject indices are to be found at the back, making the catalogues easy to use. The series appears to be so complete in its coverage and always less than a year out of date that I shall certainly have to make a little more space on those shelves for future volumes." The Observatory Magazine #1

This volume is devoted to the Persistent Scatterer Technique, the latest development in radar interferometric data processing. It is the only book on Permanent Scatterer (PS) technique of radar interferometry, and it details a newly developed stochastic model and estimator algorithm to cope with possible problems for the application of the PS technique. The STUN (spatio-temporal unwrapping network) algorithm, developed to cope with these issues in a robust way, is presented and applied to two test sites.

Solar radiation data is important for a wide range of applications, e.g. in engineering, agriculture, health sector, and in many fields of the natural sciences. A few examples showing the diversity of applications may include: architecture and building design, e.g. air conditioning and cooling systems; solar heating system design and use; solar power generation; evaporation and irrigation; calculation of water requirements for crops; monitoring plant growth and disease control; skin cancer research.

The high accuracy of modern astronomical spatial-temporal reference systems has made them considerably complex. This book offers a comprehensive overview of such systems. It begins with a discussion of 'The Problem of Time', including recent developments in the art of clock making (e.g., optical clocks) and various time scales. The authors address the definitions and realization of spatial coordinates by reference to remote celestial objects such as quasars. After an extensive treatment of classical equinox-based coordinates, new paradigms for setting up a celestial reference system are introduced that no longer refer to the translational and rotational motion of the Earth. The role of relativity in the definition and realization of such systems is clarified. The topics presented in this book are complemented by exercises (with solutions). The authors offer a series of files, written in Maple, a standard computer algebra system, to help readers get a feel for the various models and orders of magnitude. Beyond astrometry, the main fields of application of high-precision astronomical spatial-temporal reference systems and frames are navigation (GPS, interplanetary spacecraft navigation) and global geodynamics, which provide a high-precision Celestial Reference System and its link to any terrestrial spatial-temporal reference system. Mankind's urgent environmental questions can only be answered in the context of appropriate reference systems in which both aspects, space and time, are realized with a sufficiently high level of accuracy. This book addresses all those interested in high-precision reference systems and the various techniques (GPS, Very Long Baseline Interferometry, Satellite Laser Ranging, Lunar Laser Ranging) necessary for their realization, including the production and dissemination of time signals.

* Multidisciplinary approach of risk assessment and management, which can provide more efficient earthquake mitigation. * Transfer of Geo-scientific and engineering knowledge to Civil Protection and insurance agents * Approaches and common practices directly related to the preparation of earthquake emergency plans * Illustrated examples of actual applications, including web sites * Case-studies and information on relevant international projects

Cosmogenic radionuclides are radioactive isotopes which are produced by natural processes and distributed within the Earth system. With a holistic view of the environment the authors show in this book how cosmogenic radionuclides can be used to trace and to reconstruct the history of a large variety of processes. They discuss the way in which cosmogenic radionuclides can assist in the quantification of complex processes in the present-day environment. The book aims to demonstrate to the reader the strength of analytic tools based on cosmogenic radionuclides, their contribution to almost any field of modern science, and how these tools may assist in the solution of many present and future problems that we face here on Earth. The book provides a comprehensive discussion of the basic principles behind the applications of cosmogenic (and other) radionuclides as environmental tracers and dating tools. The second section of the book discusses in some detail the production of radionuclides by cosmic radiation, their transport and distribution in the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, their storage in natural archives, and how they are measured. The third section of the book presents a number of examples selected to illustrate typical tracer and dating applications in a number of different spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, solar physics and astronomy). At the same time the authors have outlined the limitations of the use of cosmogenic radionuclides. Written on a level understandable by graduate students without specialist skills in physics or mathematics, the book addresses a wide audience, ranging from archaeology, biophysics, and geophysics, to atmospheric physics, hydrology, astrophysics and space science.

The proceedings of this workshop should probably be prefaced with a few words on some of the more confusing jargon. The phrases "Very Low-Mass star" , "VLM star", or simply "VLM" are now used fairly uniformly by as tronomers studying the stars at the bottom of the hydrogen-burning stellar main sequence - unfortunately, however, there is no clear definition as to what constitutes a VLM star. The reader should be warned that VLM stars are variously considered to be stars with; masses less than 0.3M ; masses 0 less than 0.1M ; spectra later than about M6-7; luminosities fainter than 0 Mv = 15; or luminosities fainter than Mbol = 12. The important features of a VLM star, however, would seem to be (1) that it is about as faint as a star can be, and (2) that it still remains a star (ie. it still burns hydrogen) . All of the above criteria, therefore, would seem to qualify an object as a VLM star, and requiring a more stringent definition is probably quibbling.

The book summarizes research into the fundamental properties of the outer Milky Way (including its mass, scale and rotation properties) and covers topics such as spiral structure, the interstellar medium, star formation, satellites of the Milky Way and the outer parts of some nearby galaxies. It contains new work on the outer rotation curve of the Milky Way, first results of a new low frequency galactic disk survey, new results on the scale of the Galaxy (the distance of the Sun from the center and the relation of the disk of the Milky Way to the halo). This is the first volume specifically dedicated to outer galaxy research. Professional astronomers and astrophysicists as well as graduate students will welcome this book as a guide in understanding the outer parts of the Milky Way and also other galaxies.

Light scattering by densely packed inhomogeneous media is a particularly ch- lenging optics problem. In most cases, only approximate methods are used for the calculations. However, in the case where only a small number of macroscopic sc- tering particles are in contact (clusters or aggregates) it is possible to obtain exact results solving Maxwell's equations. Simulations are possible, however, only for a relativelysmallnumberofparticles,especiallyiftheirsizesarelargerthanthewa- length of incident light. The ?rst review chapter in PartI of this volume, prepared by Yasuhiko Okada, presents modern numerical techniques used for the simulation of optical characteristics of densely packed groups of spherical particles. In this case, Mie theory cannot provide accurate results because particles are located in the near ?eld of each other and strongly interact. As a matter of fact, Maxwell's equations must be solved not for each particle separately but for the ensemble as a whole in this case. The author describes techniques for the generation of shapes of aggregates. The orientation averaging is performed by a numerical integration with respect to Euler angles. The numerical aspects of various techniques such as the T-matrix method, discrete dipole approximation, the ?nite di?erence time domain method, e?ective medium theory, and generalized multi-particle Mie so- tion are presented. Recent advances in numerical techniques such as the grouping and adding method and also numerical orientation averaging using a Monte Carlo method are discussed in great depth.

1.1 Basic idea and main task of photogrammetry If you want to measure the size of an object, let's say the length, width and height of a house, then normally you will carry this out directly at the object. Now imagine that the house didn't exist anymore - it was destroyed, but some historic photos exist. Then, if you can determine the scale of the photos, it must be pos- ble to get the desired data. Of course you can use photos to get information about objects. This kind of - formation is different: So, for example, you may receive qualitative data (the house seems to be old, the walls are coloured light yellow) from photo interpre- tion, or quantitative data like mentioned before (the house has a base size of 8 by 6 meters) from photo measurement, or information in addition to your background knowledge (the house has elements of the "art nouveau" style, so may be c- th structed at the beginning of the 20 century), and so on.