Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Geographical Information, Remote Sensing
and Climatology
3.1. Introduction
Research carried out in the field of climatology is based on weather observations
that are recorded in a certain number of climatological stations. These observations
can sometimes be recorded over a very long period of time, as is the case in China
(where rainfall records date back to the Middle Ages), and in England where rainfall
records date back to the 18th century. In his thesis, “Climate history since the year
1000”, the historian E. Leroy Ladurie [LER 83] proved the usefulness of written or
iconographic documents for the study of past climates. Different climate events have
also strongly influenced history, for example, during war [PEG 89]. However, our
knowledge of the Earth's climate is not only used for strategic purposes. It is, above
all, the agricultural industry that depends on climatic conditions and, in some cases,
the local climate can be seen as a useful resource or as a constraint. This means that
climate does not play a neutral role in space or in the world of geographical
reasoning: it is one of the elements that influences the land that is used by humans.
Different societies function in different ways and this depends on a particular
country's level of development, on a society's knowledge of different climate
factors, and on the methods that it has available so that it can protect itself from
harmful climatic events.
Since the 1970s satellite observation of the Earth's atmosphere has greatly
transformed and improved our knowledge of how different climate mechanisms
function. From a very early point in the 1970s climatologists have understood the
importance and significance of satellite data for their research: this can be seen in
pioneering research such as that carried out by Tonnerre-Guérin [TON 76], Mounier
and Pagney [MOU 82], and the success of Barrett's manual [BAR 74]. Other
pioneering work carried out in this field include the contents of Satellites et
Climatologie the 3 rd Conference held by the International Association of
Search WWH ::




Custom Search