Dynamic Earth Environments: Remote Sensing Observations from Shuttle-Mir Missions

The U.S./Russian collaboration that used the Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station as platforms for acquiring remote sensing information about the Earth between 1996 and 1998 produced significant scientific results on hydrology, land use, and changes in some of the Earth's most dynamic environments. Many of these outstanding images are presented here and compared with photographs taken during earlier missions, allowing detection of changes on the Earth's surface. Studies reported in this fascinating volume include observations of El Nino - related phenomena; fluctuating water levels of the Caspian and Aral Seas; smoke, dust, and aerosols in the atmosphere; urban land use changes; and drought in the southeastern United States and Mexico. This valuable information, and the techniques used to gather it, will form the basis for future remote sensing studies to be conducted from the International Space Station.

Table of Contents:
Shuttle--Mir Earth Science Investigations: Studying Dynamic Earth Environments from the Mir Space Station (C. Evans, et al.). Russian Visual Observations of Earth: Historical Perspective (N. Glazovskiy & L. Dessinov). Twenty--Eight Years of Urban Growth in North America Quantified by Analysis of Photographs from Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle--Mir (J. Robinson, et al.). Fluctuating Water Levels as Indicators of Global Change: Examples from Around the World (C. Evans, et al.). The 1997--1998 El Nino: Images of Floods and Drought (C. Evans, et al.). Imaging Aerosols from Low Earth Orbit: Photographic Results from the Shuttle--Mir and Shuttle Programs (M. Wilkinson, et al.). Biomass Burning and Smoke Palls with Observations from the Space Shuttle and Shuttle--Mir Missions (M. Wilkinson, et al.). Windows of Opportunity: Photo Survey of the Mir Earth Observation Windows (P. Saganti & K. Lulla). THE CASPIAN SEA. Geographical, Geological, and Ecological Effects of Caspian Sea--Level Fluctuations: Introduction (N. Glazovskiy & V. Rudakov). A Caspian Chronicle: Sea--Level Fluctuations Between 1982 and 1997 (P. Dickerson). Morphological and Geological Structure of the Northern Coast of the Caspian Sea (L. Aristarkhova, et al.). Shoreline Dynamics and the Hydrographic System of the Volga Delta (N. Alekseevskiy, et al.). Changes in Avian Habitats in Volga Delta Wetlands During Caspian Sea--Level Fluctuations (E. Baldina, et al.). Changes in Coastal Vegetation in the Northern Caspian Region During Sea--Level Rise (V. Kravtsova & E. Myalo). Dynamics of the Northeastern Caspian Sea Coastal Zone in Connection with Sea--Level Rise (V. Kravtsova). Evolution of the Gulf of Kara--Bogaz--Gol in the Past Century (A. Varushchenko, et al.). Eddy Formation in the Caspian Sea (L. Shipilova). Geomorphology of Southern Azerbaijan and Coastal Responses to the Caspian Transgression (E. Ignatov & G. Solovieva). Land--Use Changes in the Northwest Caspian Coastal Area, 1978--1996: Case Study of the Republic of Kalmykia (A. Shestakov). Appendix. Index. Photo Insert.

About the Author :
KAMLESH P. LULLA is Chief of the Office of Earth Sciences and Chief Scientist for Astronaut Training in Earth Sciences at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. LEV V. DESSINOV is Head of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia.

Review :
"This book reports uniquely valuable remote sensing techniques that will form the basis for remote sensing studies in the future." (La Doc Sti, September 2000)