ABSTRACT

The scientific understanding of ocean processes depends upon being able to measure the wide variety of variable parameters which describe the sea. Until recently, oceanographers could make measurements only from ships or buoys (see Chapter 19), and were consequently limited by the sampling constraints of an Earth-bound perspective. The vantage point from aloft, which Earth-orbiting satellites provide, has enabled spatially detailed measurements (using, e.g., the electro-magnetic spectrum, Figure 5.1) to be made almost instantaneously over wide areas and provide a novel perspective of the ocean. It has also made possible the regular, repeated monitoring of the ocean on a global scale, and the detection of some of the changes of climate discussed in Chapter 3.