Only a few centuries ago, we knew very little about our planet Earth. The Earth was considered flat by many although it was postulated by a few like Aristotle that it is spherical based on observations that included the study of lunar eclipses. Much later, Christopher Columbus successfully sailed to the West to discover the New World and Ferdinand Magellan’s ship circumnavigated the globe to prove once and for all that the Earth is indeed a sphere. Worldwide navigation and explorations that followed made it clear that the Earth is huge and rather impossible to study solely by foot or by water. The advent of air travel made it a lot easier to do exploratory studies and enabled the mapping of the boundaries of continents and the oceans. But aircraft coverage was limited and it was not until the satellite era that full c- erage of the Earth’s surface became available. Many of the early satellites were research satellites and that meant in part the development of engineering measurement systems with no definite applications in mind. The Nimbus-5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) was a classic case in point. The sensor was built with the idea that it may be useful for meteorological research and especially rainfall studies over the oceans, but success in this area of study was very limited.

Only a few centuries ago, we knew very little about our planet Earth. The Earth was considered flat by many although it was postulated by a few like Aristotle that it is spherical based on observations that included the study of lunar eclipses. Much later, Christopher Columbus successfully sailed to the West to discover the New World and Ferdinand Magellan’s ship circumnavigated the globe to prove once and for all that the Earth is indeed a sphere. Worldwide navigation and explorations that followed made it clear that the Earth is huge and rather impossible to study solely by foot or by water. The advent of air travel made it a lot easier to do exploratory studies and enabled the mapping of the boundaries of continents and the oceans. But aircraft coverage was limited and it was not until the satellite era that full c- erage of the Earth’s surface became available. Many of the early satellites were research satellites and that meant in part the development of engineering measurement systems with no definite applications in mind. The Nimbus-5 Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) was a classic case in point. The sensor was built with the idea that it may be useful for meteorological research and especially rainfall studies over the oceans, but success in this area of study was very limited.

Inside the epic quest to find life on the water-rich moons at the outer reaches of the solar system Where is the best place to find life beyond Earth? We often look to Mars as the most promising site in our solar system, but recent scientific missions have revealed that some of the most habitable real estate may actually lie farther away. Beneath the frozen crusts of several of the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn lurk vast oceans that may have existed for as long as Earth, and together may contain more than fifty times its total volume of liquid water. Could there be organisms living in their depths? Alien Oceans reveals the science behind the thrilling quest to find out. Kevin Peter Hand is one of today's leading NASA scientists, and his pioneering research has taken him on expeditions around the world. In this captivating account of scientific discovery, he brings together insights from planetary science, biology, and the adventures of scientists like himself to explain how we know that oceans exist within moons of the outer solar system, like Europa, Titan, and Enceladus. He shows how the exploration of Earth's oceans is informing our understanding of the potential habitability of these icy moons, and draws lessons from what we have learned about the origins of life on our own planet to consider how life could arise on these distant worlds. Alien Oceans describes what lies ahead in our search for life in our solar system and beyond, setting the stage for the transformative discoveries that may await us.

Once ice-bound, difficult to access, and largely ignored by the rest of the world, the Arctic is now front and center in the midst of many important questions facing the world today. Our daily weather, what we eat, and coastal flooding are all interconnected with the future of the Arctic. The year 2012 was an astounding year for Arctic change. The summer sea ice volume smashed previous records, losing approximately 75 percent of its value since 1980 and half of its areal coverage. Multiple records were also broken when 97 percent of Greenland's surface experienced melt conditions in 2012, the largest melt extent in the satellite era. Receding ice caps in Arctic Canada are now exposing land surfaces that have been continuously ice covered for more than 40,000 years. What happens in the Arctic has far-reaching implications around the world. Loss of snow and ice exacerbates climate change and is the largest contributor to expected global sea level rise during the next century. Ten percent of the world's fish catches comes from Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that up to 13 percent of the world's remaining oil reserves are in the Arctic. The geologic history of the Arctic may hold vital clues about massive volcanic eruptions and the consequent release of massive amount of coal fly ash that is thought to have caused mass extinctions in the distant past. How will these changes affect the rest of Earth? What research should we invest in to best understand this previously hidden land, manage impacts of change on Arctic communities, and cooperate with researchers from other nations? The Arctic in the Anthropocene reviews research questions previously identified by Arctic researchers, and then highlights the new questions that have emerged in the wake of and expectation of further rapid Arctic change, as well as new capabilities to address them. This report is meant to guide future directions in U.S. Arctic research so that research is targeted on critical scientific and societal questions and conducted as effectively as possible. The Arctic in the Anthropocene identifies both a disciplinary and a cross-cutting research strategy for the next 10 to 20 years, and evaluates infrastructure needs and collaboration opportunities. The climate, biology, and society in the Arctic are changing in rapid, complex, and interactive ways. Understanding the Arctic system has never been more critical; thus, Arctic research has never been more important. This report will be a resource for institutions, funders, policy makers, and students. Written in an engaging style, The Arctic in the Anthropocene paints a picture of one of the last unknown places on this planet, and communicates the excitement and importance of the discoveries and challenges that lie ahead.

This book is a collection of the most recent and significant research on algorithms for the analysis of polar sea-ice SAR data. All algorithms are implemented and tested. One chapter is from the Alaskan SAR Facility, the major NASA archive of polar SAR data and a source of many SAR analysis algorithms, including high-level results of such analyses. One chapter has been written jointly by the US and Canadian Ice Centers, which provide e.g., operational sea-ice products to the shipping and oil-drilling industries and to polar explorations. This book will be useful to all researchers in the polar sciences community.

How can we best protect the polar marine environment against pollution? Leading scholars on environmental law, the law of the sea, and Arctic and Antarctic affairs here examine this important question. To what extent do existing global instruments of environmental protection apply to the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean? Can the arrangements adopted at regional, sub-regional and national levels provide adequate protection? This book examines and compares various levels of regulation in protecting the marine environment of the Arctic and Antarctic, with specific attention to land-based activities, radioactive waste dumping, and shipping in ice-covered waters. Developments since the establishment of the Arctic Council in 1996 and the entry into force of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1998 are also discussed. This is a volume that will appeal to polar specialists and to all those interested in environmental law and policy.

One of the most attractive features of the young discipline of Space Science is that many of the original pioneers and key players involved are still available to describe their field. Hence, at this point in history we are in a unique position to gain first-hand insight into the field and its development. To this end, The Century of Space Science, a scholarly, authoritative, reference book presents a chapter-by-chapter retrospective of space science as studied in the 20th century. The level is academic and focuses on key discoveries, how these were arrived at, their scientific consequences and how these discoveries advanced the thoughts of the key players involved. With over 90 world-class contributors, such as James Van Allen, Cornelis de Jager, Eugene Parker, Reimar Lüst, and Ernst Stuhlinger, and with a Foreword by Lodewijk Woltjer (past ESO Director General), this book will be immensely useful to readers in the fields of space science, astronomy, and the history of science. Both academic institutions and researchers will find that this major reference work makes an invaluable addition to their collection.

The climate and other characteristics of the polar regions have been major factors in shaping the legal regime applicable to the polar oceans. In Antarctica, states have had to grapple with the question of how to account for developments in the Law of the Sea, while preserving the compromise over sovereignty contained in the Antarctic Treaty. The Arctic also has presented challenges for the Law of the Sea, as illustrated by the continued attention given to special rules for polar shipping. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has led to substantial agreement on the legal regime of ocean spaces. The present volume explores the impact the Convention has had on the polar regions in this respect, including after its entry into force in 1994. To this end, it looks at a number of issue areas in the field of maritime delimitation (baselines, maritime zones, delimitation of maritime zones betweenm neighboring states) and jursidiction (environmental protection, navigation and fisheries) from a bipolar perspective. It is strongly suggested that the legal regime of the polar oceans will be further elaborated to more effectively deal with existing activities or to accommodate new activities. It is likely that the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea will continue to provide the basic legal framework for this exercise and that states will be careful not to unravel the delicate balance contained in it.

An innovative survey of large-scale ocean circulation that links observations, conceptual models, numerical models, and theories.