An Introduction to Ocean Remote Sensing by Seelye Martin is an excellent textbook for teaching remote sensing of the oceans at the beginning of the 21st century. Since 1987, Dr. Martin has taught remote sensing to graduate students and senior undergraduates. Ocean Remote Sensing is a classical textbook that starts with fundamentals and basic principles. It then covers the entire field, which has been difficult to do in the past because some aspects of remote sensing were better developed than others. Now, with 40 years of meteorology and oceanography from space behind us, (beginning with the Nimbus I satellite and the early infrared measurements of sea-surface temperature in the mid-1960s), the time was ripe for a fundamental textbook on remote sensing of the ocean. There are numerous satellite systems currently gathering oceanographic data routinely, and many more are planned. The basics of the techniques are now well understood, so that more oceanographers can rely on remotely sensed data. We have now used a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the visible and infrared wavelengths, to many frequencies in the microwave region. Remote-sensing techniques have been used in passive and active modes. The active mode has mostly been used from space in the microwave range, but lasers using visible light are being used from aircraft and are planned for satellite missions. Every graduating oceanography student should now be well versed in this important data source.

Katsaros, K.B. 2005. Review of An Introduction to Ocean Remote Sensing, by S. Martin. Oceanography 18(3):86–89, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.36.

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