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.

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.

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.

Forest fIres are considered a major environmental problem in many European Union Member States as well as in other parts of the world. According to a recent report of the European Commission, forest fues are a dominant feature of the landscapes of the fIve Southern European Member States - Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece, and almost a half of the Community's forests have been classed as fue-risk areas. Protection from forest fues is an interdisciplinary endeavour, which needs to be addressed from both the technological and methodological point of view, and which necessitates a wide spectrum of various scientifIc disciplines. It also implies the solution of numerous practical problems (both of a generic nature and of a specifIc one) and the consideration of the characteristics of the specifIc areas in which fue fIghting is carried out. ScientifIc research is offering a major contribution to forest fIre fIghting. The European Commission (DG XII, Directorate General for Science, Research and Development) has supported since the 1980s a number of multinational research projects through its successive RTD programmes in the fIeld of the Environment.

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.

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.

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. The data provided by Earth Observation Satellites are being operationally used for monitoring atmospheric conditions, ice sheets and glaciar movements, vegetation dynamism and land use changes, deforestation and desertification processes, as well as water conditions. This book covers an analysis of the leading missions in global Earth observation, and then reviews the main fields in which remote sensing methods are providing vital data for global change studies.

Fundamentals of Satellite Remote Sensing: An Environmental Approach, Third Edition, is a definitive guide to remote sensing systems that focuses on satellite-based remote sensing tools and methods for space-based Earth observation (EO). It presents the advantages of using remote sensing data for studying and monitoring the planet, and emphasizes concepts that make the best use of satellite data. The book begins with an introduction to the basic processes that ensure the acquisition of space-borne imagery, and provides an overview of the main satellite observation systems. It then describes visual and digital image analysis, highlights various interpretation techniques, and outlines their applications to science and management. The latter part of the book covers the integration of remote sensing with Geographic Information System (GIS) for environmental analysis. This latest edition has been written to reflect a global audience and covers the most recent advances incorporated since the publication of the previous book, relating to the acquisition and interpretation of remotely sensed data. New in the Third Edition: Includes additional illustrations in full color. Uses sample images acquired from different ecosystems at different spatial resolutions to illustrate different interpretation techniques. Includes updated EO missions, such as the third generations of geostationary meteorological satellites, the new polar orbiting platforms (Suomi), the ESA Sentinels program, and high-resolution commercial systems. Includes extended coverage of radar and LIDAR processing methods. Includes all new information on near-ground missions, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Covers new ground sensors, as well as machine-learning approaches to classification. Adds more focus on land surface characterization, time series, change detection, and ecosystem processes. Extends the interactions of EO data and GIS that cover different environmental problems, with particular relevance to global observation. Fundamentals of Satellite Remote Sensing: An Environmental Approach, Third Edition, details the tools that provide global, recurrent, and comprehensive views of the processes affecting the Earth. As one of CRC's Essential titles, this book and stands out as one of the best in its field and is a must-have for researchers, academics, students, and professionals involved in the field of environmental science, as well as for libraries developing collections on the forefront of this industry.

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).

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).