Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The experience of elaborating the theory of the radio holographic investigation
of Earth and its gas-plasma environment from space was described in publications
by Liou et al. (2003, 2010), Pavelyev et al. (2002, 2003, 2010).
Positive scienti
c results are achieved owing to the combined use of remote
sensing and ecoinformatics tools. With the global effect of climate change, ecoin-
formatics is an emerging drench of research where new techniques, tools and
infrastructure are being developed to enable more in-depth study of processes in the
nature/society system with effective employment of scienti
c data collection
instruments such as sensors, satellites, scienti
c experiments and simulations. As
Myers and Atkinson (2008) remark, ecoinformatics is the combination of multiple
environmental datasets and modeling tools used to test ecological hypotheses and
derive information.
2.2 Remote Sensing Techniques
Remote sensing is the observation and measurement of objects from a distance, i.e.
instruments or recorders are not in direct contact with objects under investigation.
Remote sensing depends upon measuring some kind of energy that is emitted,
transmitted, or re
ected from an object in order to determine certain physical
properties of the object. One of the most common types of remote sensing is
microwave radiometry, which along with many other techniques is used for the
equipment of
fl
flying laboratory and satellites.
There are several types of instrumentation that can be used for environmental
investigations. For examination of soil type, or surface moisture, the ones that come to
mind are thermal infrared radiometers, active radar systems, and the passive micro-
wave radiometers. A system of non-scanning single-beam microwave radiometers
was designed in Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics (Shutko
et al. 2010). The basic technical parameters of this system are given in Tables
2.1
and
2.2
. Common view of portable radiometers is given in Figs.
2.1
and
2.2
.
fl
Table 2.1 Set of portable
microwave radiometers
Parameter
Characteristic
Frequency (GHz)
1.41; 1.67; 5.0
Polarization
V or H
Antennas
Slot array
Dipole array
19.7
″ ×
19.7
″
; 16.3
″ ×
16.3
″
7.9
″ ×
6.5
″
Incidence angle
Fixed angles 0
30
°
off nadir
-
Sensitivity (K)
0.5
30
°
Beamwidth (3-dB)
Platform
Boom truck, land-rover, small
aircraft
Weight (kg)
12
Power required (VA)
30
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