Spectral Imaging of the Atmosphere

Optical instruments are routinely employed to obtain a wealth of information about the atmosphere, including its composition, temperature, and winds.

A bewildering variety of optical instruments have been proposed over the years, making it difficult to decide which instrument should be chosen to make a specific measurement.

Spectral Imaging of the Atmosphere traces the historical development of both spectral and imaging methods and places them in a unified framework relevant to observations of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere.

The underlying concepts of various measurement methodologies are presented and paired with appropriate applications.

A selection of specific spectral imaging instruments, appropriate to illustrate each conceptual type, is described in detail.

Shepherd's work provides both scientists and engineers with an in-depth understanding of the fundamental concepts they need to know in order to plan a program of atmospheric measurements.

Expected future methods and developments are also presented.

Problems designed to test and enhance the reader's understanding of the material are included in each chapter.