This book fills a gap in knowledge of breaking waves and their influence on the generation of marine fluxes from ocean surfaces. Based on published data as well as on the author's experience, the text explores in detail the relationship chain of breaking waves, whitecaps coverage, rate of wave energy dissipation, amount of aerosol fluxes rising from a given sea basin, and possible seasonal variations.

This book contributes to the current discussion on global environmental changes by discussing modifications in marine ecosystems related to global climate changes. In marine ecosystems, rising atmospheric CO2 and climate changes are associated with shifts in temperature, circulation, stratification, nutrient input, oxygen concentration and ocean acidification, which have significant biological effects on a regional and global scale. Knowing how these changes affect the distribution and abundance of plankton in the ocean currents is crucial to our understanding of how climate change impacts the marine environment. Ocean temperatures, weather and climatic changes greatly influence the amount and location of nutrients in the water column. If temperatures and currents change, the plankton production cycle may not coincide with the reproduction cycle of fish. The above changes are closely related to the changes in radiative forcing, which initiate feedback mechanisms like changes in surface temperature, circulation, and atmospheric chemistry.

This book discusses the impacts of climate change that are already being felt on every continent and provides the scientific basis for a number of modern approaches and state-of-the art methods for monitoring the environment, social behavior and human expectations concerning protection of the environment. The book approaches these issues from the perspectives of various disciplines, from physics to the social sciences, and highlights both current challenges and future prospects. On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – 12 of which involve taking action on climate change – officially came into force. To achieve sustainable development, it is and will remain crucial to harmonize three interconnected core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

This book demonstrates the capabilities of passive microwave technique for enhanced observations of ocean features, including the detection of (sub)surface events and/or disturbances while laying out the benefits and boundaries of these methods. It represents not only an introduction and complete description of the main principles of ocean microwave radiometry and imagery, but also provides guidance for further experimental studies. Furthermore, it expands the analysis of remote sensing methods, models, and techniques and focuses on a high-resolution multiband imaging observation concept. Such an advanced approach provides readers with a new level of geophysical information and data acquisition granting the opportunity to improve their expertise on advanced microwave technology, now an indispensable tool for diagnostics of ocean phenomena and disturbances.

Optical Remote Sensing is one of the main technologies used in sea surface monitoring. Optical Remote Sensing of Ocean Hydrodynamics investigates and demonstrates capabilities of optical remote sensing technology for enhanced observations and detection of ocean environments. It provides extensive knowledge of physical principles and capabilities of optical observations of the oceans at high spatial resolution, 1-4m, and on the observations of surface wave hydrodynamic processes. It also describes the implementation of spectral-statistical and fusion algorithms for analyses of multispectral optical databases and establishes physics-based criteria for detection of complex wave phenomena and hydrodynamic disturbances including assessment and management of optical databases. This book explains the physical principles of high-resolution optical imagery of the ocean surface, discusses for the first time the capabilities of observing hydrodynamic processes and events, and emphasizes the integration of optical measurements and enhanced data analysis. It also covers both the assessment and the interpretation of dynamic multispectral optical databases and includes applications for advanced studies and nonacoustic detection. This book is an invaluable resource for researches, industry professionals, engineers, and students working on cross-disciplinary problems in ocean hydrodynamics, optical remote sensing of the ocean and sea surface remote sensing. Readers in the fields of geosciences and remote sensing, applied physics, oceanography, satellite observation technology, and optical engineering will learn the theory and practice of optical interactions with the ocean.