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An automated instrument platform is designed to install remote sensing instruments for measurements made from stationary coastal pedestals or offshore platforms with remote control and transfer of information via the Internet. The platform is of a turret design that can rotate around a fixed base in the range of azimuthal angles up to 300°. Scientific instruments are mounted on the right and left panels of the turret. Each panel can rotate in elevation up to 200°, either independently or synchronously with the other. The design of the panels allows devices to be mounted quickly and their location to be changed easily. Cables supplying power to devices and receiving information pass through the hollow tubes of the gearboxes on which the consoles are held inside the platform in such a way that during rotation they do not interfere with its movement and do not fray. The platform is mounted on roller bearings on rails along which it extends above the water’s surface for measurements. The rotation of the platform is controlled both manually and automatically using a computer and an RS-485 interface. Power is supplied from a +27 V network. The platform can be remotely controlled, and scientific information is collected via the Internet. Examples are given of organizing autonomous measurements of water surface and atmosphere parameters in experiments at the Black Sea Hydrophysical Proving Ground of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is the only place in the Russian Federation for the calibration and validation of microwave satellite systems.

An animated analysis of the data of global radiothermal satellite monitoring carried out in August 2000 has been applied to study the processes of evolution of tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. The crucial role of tropospheric advective latent heat fluxes within the rapid intensification of the tropical cyclone has been identified and confirmed by existing examples. The main disturbing factor that introduces significant errors into the evaluations by this approach is the proximity of large landmasses; hence a deeper analysis requires a preliminary selection of tropical cyclones moving over the ocean-water space away from the shoreline as objects of study. Proposals for further improving the analysis technique aimed at a detailed investigation of individual phases of a tropical cyclone evolution using large arrays of radiothermal remote data are formulated.

The next stage of advancing the animated analysis of satellite remote data proposed by the authors is described in detail: the development of a technique for calculating the latent heat advective fluxes by radiothermal measurement data from satellites. In accordance with previously accepted principles, the calculating algorithm is closed under the input satellite data; there are no requirements for additional information, which often significantly limit the applicability of new data processing techniques. The described step of the analysis is naturally associated with the already-existing algorithms and is based on the results of calculations carried out with their help (spatiotemporal interpolation of fields of geophysical parameters of the Earth atmosphere–ocean system) to evaluate the advective fluxes of the derived quantities. When the fields of integrated atmospheric vapor content are used as the input, the results of the calculations are latent heat fluxes in standard units (MW). The approach is demonstrated using the example of processing the arrayed SSM/I data acquired in August 2000 in the context of studying the evolution of tropical cyclone (TC) Alberto.

In the paper, an algorithm is presented for constructing global ocean–atmosphere radiothermal fields with high spatiotemporal sampling by satellite microwave measurements. Attention is focused on the construction of the daily reference images of high spatial resolution. The construction of such reference maps is an important preparatory step for the further application of the earlier proposed and implemented technique of the authors of spatiotemporal interpolation. The software, which implements the described algorithm, makes it possible to obtain global animated radiothermal fields with a time step of 1.5 h and spatial resolution of 0.2°. These parameters are essential for an analysis of complex, fast, and energy-intensive processes occurring in the ocean–atmosphere system, such as the formation and evolution of tropical cyclones.

The purpose of this research is to present a detailed description of the proposed Convergence space mission on the Russian segment of the International Space Station for the wider scientific community. The key features of the mission are (1) the necessity of creating a new type of multifrequency radio-thermal airborne complexes with a specialized set of operating frequencies and with the formation of algorithms and software for the three-dimensional recovery of the water-vapor field in the lower troposphere and for estimating the horizontal advection and convective latent heat fluxes at different altitudes and with different forms of boundaries of the investigated regions. (2) An important part of the mission is the global monitoring of optical transient activity, including lightning in cloud tropospheric systems and electric discharges in the upper atmosphere, which are accompanied by a variety of short-term optical glows, commonly called transient luminous events. A significant contribution to the elucidation of the physics and the development of models of high-altitude electric discharges is the synchronous operation of the lightning detector and gamma detector to search for and study gamma-ray bursts of terrestrial origin, including those in previously unexplored latitudes, up to ±51°. It seems that the proposed instrumental configuration and integrity of the mission, which includes the synchronous operation of devices of different ranges of electromagnetic radiation (both the microwave range and optical and gamma range) will contribute significantly to the elucidation of the physics of processes of interaction of catastrophic atmospheric phenomena of the hydrodynamic type, i.e., tropical cyclones, with the electrical activity of tropospheric cloud systems (the field of lightning discharges) and activity of high-altitude electric discharges, which, in turn, can serve as a serious experimental basis for the formation of physical ideas about the genesis of gamma-ray outbreaks of terrestrial origin.

The methodical bases and some results of using satellite radiothermovision to study global atmospheric latent heat circulation according to the data of regular satellite radiothermal monitoring are described. This approach does not use an a priori model of circulation; it implements an objective procedure for the analysis of the dynamics of periodically measured fields of total precipitable water. The reconstructed directions and the values of the mean-zonal transport velocity, the average position of the thermal equator at ~5° N, and the positions of the axis of the intertropical convergence zone over individual oceans are very consistent with the known results of independent observations and numerical modeling. Some problematic aspects of the analysis procedure are discussed.

The atmospheric advection of water vapor is one of the most important components of the planetary hydrological cycle. Radiosondes are a means for regular observations of water vapor fluxes. However, their data are sparse in space and time. A more complete picture is provided by reanalysis assimilating these data. However, a statistically representative check of the reanalysis estimates of the water vapor fluxes far from regularly operating weather stations is difficult. The previously proposed and developed method of satellite radiothermovision makes it possible to reconstruct the vertically integrated advective water vapor fluxes from satellite microwave radiometry. In this work, for the first time, the results of direct comparisons of long (5 year) time series of zonal vertically integrated daily water vapor fluxes based on the data of radiosondes, reanalysis, and satellite radiothermovision are performed and presented. It is shown that all the data series are statistically reliably correlated (at a confidence level of 0.995). The regression factor between the fluxes from reanalysis and satellite radiothermovision was close to 1, but with a noticeable bias (the latter were about 60 kg/(m·s) less on average). Grounds are given for the hypothesis that calculations based on satellite radiothermovision mainly characterize water vapor fluxes in the lower troposphere (up to heights of about 4 km). Its verification, as well as the analysis of the noted cases of violation of the correlation between the fluxes from satellite radiothermovision and reanalysis, requires further research.

This chapter reveals the prerequisites for the creation of the method of satellite radiothermovision of mesoscale and synoptic atmospheric processes described in the book as an approach to solving specific inverse problems of remote sensing of the Earth by radiophysical means. For this purpose, the first section gives a brief description of the objects of study. It is shown that in the study of the formation and (or) evolution of the atmospheric processes under consideration, the main, and in some cases, the determining role, requiring careful quantitative analysis, is played by advection (horizontal movement) of water vapor in the lower troposphere. Obtaining sufficient volumes of reliable information about the moisture content of the lower troposphere is provided, first of all, by satellite radiothermal (passive microwave) observations. The second section of the chapter is devoted to a brief overview of the history and current state of development of these observational means. The short but important third section is devoted to satellite radiometric instruments (imagers and sounders) that are functioning in orbit now, or were operational in the nearest past. The latter is especially significant for constructing multiyear datasets to collect representative statistics on various types of atmospheric processes or the global atmospheric circulation as a whole. Finally, the fourth section briefly describes the idea of “dynamical analysis” of geophysical fields put in the core of the satellite radiothermovision approach. This idea appears to be very fruitful and applicable in a wide range of Earth remote sensing problems. The key aspect focused in this book is the retrieval of advection rates of water vapor in the lower troposphere, and, consequently, one of the most important atmospheric energy characteristics—vertically integrated horizontal fluxes of latent heat (potential energy of phase transitions of atmospheric moisture) through predetermined boundaries.

This chapter contains a description of the satellite radiothermovision approach. The combination of its constituent algorithms creates a computational scheme that is closed relative to the input information of satellite radiometry data, which provides: restoration of scalar fields of geophysical parameters of the ocean-atmosphere system of global coverage on a regular coordinate grid with a step of the order of 0.125−0.25° without data gaps and with frequent sampling (up to about 1 h) in time; restoration of the dynamics of these fields in the form of synchronous vector fields of advection (velocities of horizontal displacements); calculation of the integral characteristics of the dynamics and energy balance of the studied objects in terms of the total power of the latent heat fluxes through a given boundary or inside/outside a closed contour.

Atmospheric rivers are filamentary structures in the field of atmospheric water vapor, which provide rapid moisture transfer from the tropics to middle and high latitudes. Systematic studies of atmospheric rivers have revealed their significant role in the meridional transport of atmospheric latent heat. Starting in the intratropical convergence zone and overcoming the boundaries of the Hadley cells, atmospheric rivers often reach the polar regions and can significantly affect the climatic parameters of the latter. A particularly pronounced effect should be expected in the northern hemisphere, where there is no constant blocking effect associated with the circumpolar course. It is established that the atmospheric rivers of the Pacific basin are the cause of a significant number of extreme weather events on the west coast of North America. Atmospheric rivers over the Atlantic can have a similar effect on the regions of Western Europe. Of significant interest is the climatology of atmospheric rivers, i.e. statistics of their characteristic parameters at climatically significant scales. Significant efforts of researchers are directed to the development and improvement of satellite data processing algorithms for automatic detection and restoration of atmospheric river parameters. This chapter discusses the unique capabilities of satellite radiothermovision to ensure further progress in this area of research.

As shown in the previous chapters, the approach of satellite radiothermovision is without limitation applicable to the study of various mesoscale and synoptic processes. However, the illustration of its application is compulsorily limited to a few specific examples (tropical cyclones, atmospheric rivers, global circulation). All possible applications cannot be covered in all their diversity. In this regard, the task of effective information support of a wide scientific community with the results of calculations of the dynamics of atmospheric fields over long observation intervals is becoming very urgent. This problem was addressed by creating a geoportal of satellite radiothermovision.

This chapter demonstrates the unique capabilities of the satellite radiothermovision approach for studying the processes of evolution of tropical cyclones (TC). A general description of these atmospheric phenomena and the justification of the importance of their study by remote sensing methods is given in Chap. 2. Satellite radiothermovision provides the possibility of calculating convergent and divergent latent heat fluxes generated in the vicinity of an existing TC, and, as shown in the examples of processing specific data of satellite radiometry observations, which play the determining role in his energy budget. To this end, the first section of the chapter indicates the most common characteristics and methods for assessing the energy (power) of a TC and briefly discusses the main factors that can influence its intensification and dissipation, and some approaches to their analysis. The second section describes the data used and the methods of their processing in the framework of the satellite radiothermovision approach (Ermakov et al. 2019a,b,c). The third section describes the results of an analysis of the evolution of a number of specific TCs in the field of total precipitable water (TPW) of the atmosphere, and shows the relationship between the intensification (dissipation) of TCs and the formation of convergent (divergent) latent heat fluxes that are sufficient in absolute value to explain the evolution of TCs (Ermakov et al. 2019b, 2015). The fourth section provides examples of the integrated processing of combined satellite remote sensing data that allow the study of the evolution of TCs simultaneously in the fields of TPW and the temperature of the surface layer of the ocean (SST) (Ermakov et al. 2015). Finally, in the fifth section, using the analysis of the evolution of a system of interacting TCs (twin typhoons) as an example, the flexibility is demonstrated of adapting the previously used research methods to study a wide range of diverse mesoscale atmospheric processes (Ermakov et al. 2017).

The study of global atmospheric circulation is, of course, closely connected with the task of studying the Earth’s climate and its changes, which, in turn, is of not only fundamental scientific, but also universal interest. The most important tool for studying climate today is mathematical modeling. It not only provides a qualitative picture of the evolution of climate over epochs spanning millions of years, but also makes it possible (many times!) to set up numerical experiments on climate models, evaluating the influence of various disturbing influences. However, it should be borne in mind that the forecast of climate change in numerical models is a family of “scenarios”—possible trajectories of a point in the phase space of climatic variables that wander around a certain attractor and sometimes pass from one attractor to another. The choice of a particular scenario by the climate system depends, among others, on a large set of random small-scale factors, the deterministic accounting of which is impossible in principle. To clarify the current climate evolution scenario, real-world observations are needed, reflecting not only its “instantaneous” state, but also short-term dynamics. It should be expected that the need for such data will only increase with the development and refinement of climate models. In this general context, this review is devoted to what qualitative and quantitative information about the climate system can be extracted based on satellite radio-thermal monitoring of the Earth using the satellite radiothermovision approach. Of greatest interest is the joint use of fields of scalar geophysical quantities and the corresponding vector fields of advection for calculating the integral physical characteristics of processes, in particular, horizontal flows of latent heat through predetermined boundaries.

This paper is focused on the development of a methodological basis for the authors’ approach to the processing of large volumes of satellite radiothermal data, which is known as satellite radiothermovision. A closed scheme for calculating the latent heat flux (and other integral characteristics of the dynamics of geophysical fields) through arbitrary contours (boundaries) has been constructed and mathematically described. The opportunity for working with static, as well as movable and deformable boundaries of arbitrary shape, has been provided. The computational scheme was tested using the example of calculations of the atmospheric advection of the latent heat from the North Atlantics to the Arctic in 2014. Preliminary analysis of the results showed a high potential of the approach when applying it to the study of a wide range of synoptic and climatically significant atmospheric processes of the Earth. Some areas for the further development of the satellite radiothermovision approach are briefly discussed. It is noted that expanding the analysis of the available satellite data to as much data as possible is of considerable importance. Among the immediate prospects is the analysis of large arrays of data already accumulated and processed in terms of the satellite radiothermovision ideology, which are partially presented and continuously updated on a specialized geoportal.

In this paper we develop further the satellite radiothermovision methods for analyzing the evolution of tropical cyclones. The complicated case of Goni and Atsani interacting typhoons is considered. It has been shown that, although their interaction does not explicitly influence the features of the typhoon trajectories, indications of the formation of complex advective fluxes in the lower troposphere can be revealed from both a qualitative analysis of miscellaneous satellite data and a quantitative estimation of latent heat advection. At the same time, in contrast to the previous works, we had to introduce the integration contours of a complex form (differing from a circular one) into the analysis, so that the energy balance of the typhoon system is correctly described. In a general way, defining such contours is a separate problem whose solution is probably related to the invocation of a large volume of additional satellite information. Due to the peculiarity of the considered case of Goni and Atsani twin typhoons, we demonstrated the effectiveness of a simplified approach that uses a composite contour formed by overlapping two circular ones. Generally, as in the cases previously considered, we found the interrelation between the intensification and dissipation of typhoons (tropical cyclones) and the modes of convergent and divergent advection of latent heat with amplitudes sufficient to support the total power of the system.

A multisensory algorithm of satellite radiothermovision has been proposed that makes it possible to combine the data of satellite radiothermal monitoring of the Earth from different sources within a single method of spatiotemporal interpolation taking into account the differences in time of measurements and in the spatial resolution of different instruments. The new algorithm was tested in a series of measurements with SSMIS instruments onboard F16, F17 satellites of DMSP and AMSR-2 instruments onboard the GCOMW1 satellite in November 2013, as well as a series of measurements with the same instruments in August 2012 supplemented with data from WindSat. The parameters of the spatiotemporal interpolation of total precipitable water fields are improved nearly twofold (with a time step of 1.5 h on a regular grid with 0.125° sampling) compared with the method that previously used only SSM/I data. The achieved spatial sampling exceeds known world analogues while maintaining a high accuracy of interpolation. In addition, the problem of the transition from the fields at a fixed local time to the fields at a fixed universal time is briefly considered. It has been shown that this transition is mainly relevant in the study of the fast atmospheric processes on a global scale with high temporal resolution.

Additional a priori information on the state of the atmosphere with respect to the average climatic characteristics potentially improves the efficiency of retrieval algorithms in comparison to the usage of mean climatic statistics of the atmosphere. The developed methodology introduces an efficiency measure that allows the estimation of the efficiency of a priori information usage for atmospheric profile retrieval from satellite MW data processing, namely, the usage of the horizontal statistical dependences of variations in atmospheric profiles.

Additional a priori and/or supplementary information on the state of the atmosphere potentially improves the efficiency of retrieval algorithms in comparison to the usage of mean climatic statistics of the atmosphere. Exploration and evaluation of the efficiency of the application of such additional information is the main point of this work. To achieve this goal, this work investigates the statistical approach expansion by including new types of a priori information about the temperaturehumidity state of the atmosphere. The developed methodology introduces an efficiency measure that allows the estimation of the efficiency of the following a priori information types for atmospheric profile retrieval from satellite MW data processing: 1) covariance matrices of the full vector temperature-humidity state of the atmosphere along a vertical profile, 2) covariance matrices of atmosphere variations along the atmospheres horizontal layer, and 3) physical limits of humidity profile variations. The results of atmospheric profile retrieval, based on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, confirm the possibility of using this approach to restore atmospheric parameters in real time, i.e. for times shorter than the correlation intervals in the atmosphere.

Satellite radiothermovision is a set of processing techniques applicable for multisource data of radiothermal monitoring of oceanatmosphere system, which allows creating dynamic description of mesoscale and synoptic atmospheric processes and estimating physically meaningful integral characteristics of the observed processes (like avdective flow of the latent heat through a given border). The approach is based on spatiotemporal interpolation of the satellite measurements which allows reconstructing the radiothermal fields (as well as the fields of geophysical parameters) of the ocean-atmosphere system at global scale with spatial resolution of about 0.125° and temporal resolution of 1.5 hour. The accuracy of spatiotemporal interpolation was estimated by direct comparison of interpolated data with the data of independent asynchronous measurements and was shown to correspond to the best achievable as reported in literature (for total precipitable water fields the accuracy is about 0.8 mm). The advantages of the implemented interpolation scheme are: closure under input radiothermal data, homogeneity in time scale (all data are interpolated through the same time intervals), automatic estimation of both the intermediate states of scalar field of the studied geophysical parameter and of vector field of effective velocity of advection (horizontal movements). Using this pair of fields one can calculate the flow of a given geophysical quantity though any given border. For example, in case of total precipitable water field, this flow (under proper calibration) has the meaning of latent heat advective flux. This opportunity was used to evaluate the latent heat flux though a set of circular contours, enclosing a tropical cyclone and drifting with it during its evolution. A remarkable interrelation was observed between the calculated magnitude and sign of advective latent flux and the intensity of a tropical cyclone. This interrelation is demonstrated in several examples of hurricanes and tropical cyclones of August, 2000, and typhoons of November, 2013, including super typhoon Haiyan.

A previously developed approach of satellite radiothermovision was applied to the analysis of meridional advection of atmospheric latent heat at climatically significant scales (13 years of continuous passive microwave satellite observations). The results are in good agreement with basic understanding of atmospheric latent heat circulation, though some revealed particularities remain to be the subject to further detailed investigation. Further prospects to application of the developed approach to investigation of atmospheric rivers and global tropical cyclogenesis in the context of multiyear climate variations are briefly discussed. An important aspect of the research is that the calculation approach is independent of any estimates from circulation models.

Measurements were made with use of microwave radiometer-spectrometer P22M working in the range of 18–27.2 GHz with a spectral resolution of 200 MHz. Experimental results were compared with model calculations. Along with general correspondents of experimental and model results, there are some mismatches in the details. Variability of spectral characteristics of radiation is analyzed on a series of measurements obtained under different weather conditions: clear sky, clouds and the initial stage of precipitation. Such measurement may be useful for development of new techniques in vertical atmospheric profiles retrieval.

Both development and application of remote sensing involves a considerable expenditure of material and intellectual resources. Therefore, it is important to use high-tech means of distribution of remote sensing data and processing results in order to facilitate access for as much as possible number of researchers. It should be accompanied with creation of capabilities for potentially more thorough and comprehensive, i.e. ultimately deeper, acquisition and complex analysis of information about the state of Earth's natural resources. As well objective need in a higher degree of Earth observation (EO) data assimilation is set by conditions of satellite observations, in which the observed objects are uncontrolled state. Progress in addressing this problem is determined to a large extent by order of the distributed EO information system (IS) functioning. Namely, it is largely dependent on reducing the cost of communication processes (data transfer) between spatially distributed IS nodes and data users. One of the most effective ways to improve the efficiency of data exchange processes is the creation of integrated EO IS optimized for running procedures of distributed data processing. The effective EO IS implementation should be based on specific software architecture.

The trajectory characteristics and the intensity evolution of the Alberto tropical cyclone (TC) in the integral water-vapor field are analyzed in detail using a software-algorithmic complex designed for constructing highly detailed global radio-thermal fields of the ocean-atmosphere system based on microwave satellite measurements. This complex was developed by the authors earlier and allows one to obtain global animated radio-thermal fields with a time step of 1.5 h and a spatial resolution of 0.2°. Special attention is paid to the problem of revealing the energy sources of three consecutive intensifications of this TC. The analysis of satellite data with the use of the animation method developed by the authors shows for the first time that these sources are regions with an increased (exceeding the critical level) integral water-vapor content located in different geographical areas lying along the complex trajectory of the TC with a variable intensity. The first region was located in the equatorial intertropical convergence zone, the second was located above the Gulf Stream water area, and the third resided in the area affected by the Azores High.

The possibility of utilizing a specialized approach to the space-time interpolation of satellite data that takes the kinematics of multiscale processes into account in solving the problems of remote sensing of fast processes in the Earth’s atmosphere is considered. The approach is borrowed from the rapidly progressing disciplines of machine vision and video data compression. The main advantages of this method are its completeness with respect to the input (interpolated) satellite data, its capacity to estimate the kinematics of multiscale processes and take it into account, a relatively low computational cost, and the ease of its software-algorithmic implementation. The problem of an “instantaneous” source of hidden energy for the intensification of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Katrina is solved based on the developed software-algorithmic approach using data from the SSM/I satellite radiometers of the DMSP mission.

Numerous applications of Earth observation (EO) data for Earth resource exploration both for land use management purposes and for fundamental research goals require as much as possible independent EO data sets provided for a number of data consumers, i.e. for collective (shared) data usage. In addition data distribution procedures should be accompanied with sophisticated information services enabling correct interpretation and application of provided data. As a result data providers should be able to convert data in a lot of consumer-proper formats and in some cases it should require additional data processing before data shipping. Presented work proposes basic infrastructure for collective (shared) EO data usage that enables above mentioned integration of information resources contained in typical Russian EO centers. Paper reveals architecture design, description of basic infrastructure elements, and examples of real implementations.

We present methods and results of radio imaging of various technical objects at a frequency of 94 GHz for vertical and horizontal polarizations. We analyze the features of the formation of polarization-difference images in the millimeter-wave range and the typical properties and methods of processing of such images. The influence of experimental conditions (noise level, antenna focusing, and imperfect knowledge of the directional pattern) on the quality of image reconstruction is numerically simulated. To increase the spatial resolution of images, we propose filtering of the spatial spectrum of a reconstructed image, which allows for its a priori statistical characteristics. Possibilities of passive polarization stereo imaging and a method of its realization in the millimeter-wave range are considered.

A lot of nowadays machine vision tasks imply real-time video stream processing at rates of order of (25 frames / sec) x (640 x 480 pixels / frame) x (24 bit / pixel) = 184 Megabit / sec and higher. As reasonable estimations show, a very limited number of operations (even quite primitive) is allowed to be applied to each pixel of every video frame being processed in order to realize the processing rate required. Hence implementing algorithms widely exploiting formal methods (e.g. sorts of iterative approaches, transformations in multidimensional feature space etc) over the whole video stream becomes unaffordable. A potential (and practically working) overcome is introducing a cascade approach. From architectural viewpoint cascade processing consists of several predefined stages. Video frame passes through them from the zero stage (original frame) to the final stage (processing results). Some stages can be skipped, and the whole processing can be canceled at any stage. Passing through two sequential stages can be viewed as applying some operation to the information left to be processed. The keystone of cascade approach is designing an optimal sequence in which the simplest operations precede the more complex ones, so that the processing mechanism becomes essentially non-uniform and non-linear in terms of processing rates: the great amount of useless data is discriminated on the initial quick stages while the further analysis exploits smart algorithms over comparatively low data flux. The presentation demonstrates a practical example of cascade approach for the task of airplanes' tail identification numbers recognition.

Experimental two linear polarization thermal images of auto-tractor equipment at 3mm wavelength which were formed in the wave zone of lens antenna with diameter 0.6 m are presented. Advantages of polarization stereoradiovision and a priory methods of image spatial resolution reconstruction when the goal is determination parameters and geometrical shape of object dielectric details are discussed.