Active (imaging radar) and passive (radiometer) microwave systems are increasingly used for Arctic ecological research. Unfortunately, until now ecologists interested in remote sensing often lacked access to the full suite of physical and analytical techniques of microwave systems, data processing, and ecological applications because a suitable reference book did not exist.

Arctic Ecological Research from Microwave Satellite Observations answers this demand by summarizing the main microwave satellite applications for Arctic ecological research. This book is invaluable to specialists with a background in microwave techniques, as well as to other ecologists interested in applications of microwave active and passive remote sensing for tundra, boreal forest, and Arctic sea-ice habitat and marine mammal studies.

It presents a brief introduction to Arctic ecological problems, the role of satellite sensing for monitoring Arctic ecosystems, and related data processing applications. The volume then examines results of Arctic sea-ice habitat studies using OKEAN-01 satellite data, then provides a comparative analysis of multisensor satellite monitoring of habitat using OKEAN-01, SSM/I and AVHRR satellite instruments. It also describes the evaluation of relative information content of ALMAZ-1, ERS-1, JERS-1 SAR, and Landsat-TM data for identifying wet tundra habitats. The book concludes with results of sensitive boreal forest type detection to monitor potential impacts of climate change on boreal forest structure.