Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (Springer Praxis Books)

An international team of over 150 experts provide up-to-date satellite imaging and quantitative analysis of the state and dynamics of the glaciers around the world, and they provide an in-depth review of analysis methodologies. Includes an e-published supplement. Global Land Ice Measurements from Space – Satellite Multispectral Imaging of Glaciers (GLIMS book for short) is the leading state-of-the-art technical and interpretive presentation of satellite image data and analysis of the changing state of the world’s glaciers. The book is the most definitive, comprehensive product of a global glacier remote sensing consortium, Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS, http://www.glims.org). With 33 chapters and a companion e-supplement, the world’s foremost experts in satellite image analysis of glaciers analyze the current state and recent and possible future changes of glaciers across the globe and interpret these findings for policy planners. Climate change is with us for some time to come, and its impacts are being felt by the world’s population. The GLIMS Book, to be released about the same time as the IPCC’s  5th Assessment report on global climate warming, buttresses and adds rich details and authority to the global change community’s understanding of climate change impacts on the cryosphere.  This will be a definitive and technically complete reference for experts and students examining the responses of glaciers to climate change. World experts demonstrate that glaciers are changing in response to the ongoing climatic upheaval in addition to other factors that pertain to the circumstances of individual glaciers. The global mosaic of glacier changes is documented by quantitative analyses and are placed into a perspective of causative factors. Starting with a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, the GLIMS book gives the rationale for and history of glacier monitoring and satellite data analysis. It includes a comprehensive set of six “how-to” methodology chapters, twenty-five chapters detailing regional glacier state and dynamical changes, and an in-depth summary and interpretation chapter placing the observed glacier changes into a global context of the coupled atmosphere-land-ocean system. An accompanying e-supplement will include oversize imagery and other other highly visual renderings of scientific data. Part I. Glacier Monitoring and Fundamentals of Glacier Remote Sensing.- 1. Introduction: Global Glacier Monitoring – long term task.- 2. Theoretical Foundations of Remote Sensing for Glacier Assessement and Mapping.- 3.Radiative Transfer Modeling in Glaciers and Glacier Lakes.- 4. Glacier Mapping and Monitoring Using Multi-Spectral Data.- 5. Digital Terrain Modeling and Glacier Topographic Characterization.- 6. ASTER Data, Data Products and Image Acquisitions.- 7. Quality in GLIMS Glacier Database.- Part II. Regional Chapters.- 8. Mapping of Glaciers in Greenland.- 9. Remote Sensing of Recent Glacier Changes in the Canadian Arctic.- 10. Digital Glacier Database for Svalbard.- 11. Glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park and Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.- 12.Glacier Dammed Lakes, Alaska.- 13. Glacier of Chugach, Alaska.- 14. Remote Sensing of Glaciers in the Canadian Cordillera, Western Canada.- 15. ASTER and DEM Change Assessment of Glaciers Near Hoodoo Mountain, British Columbia, Canada.- 16. Glaciers of the Ragged Range, Nahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories, Canada.- 17. Glaciers and Perennial Snowfields of the U.S. Cordillera.- 18. Remote Sensing of Glaciers and Icecaps in Iceland.- 19. Norway.- 20. European Alps.- 21.Satellite Inventory of Glaciers in Turkey.- 22. Recent Glacier Changes in the Mongolian Altai Mountains: Case Studies from Munkh Khairkhan and Tavan Bogd.- 23. Remote Sensing of Glaciers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.- 24. Himalayan Glaciers.- 25. Glaciers in China and Their Variations.- Part III.- 26. Remote Sensing of Rapidly Diminishing Tropical Glaciers in the Northern Andes.- 27. A New Glacier Inventory of the Southern Patagonia Icefield and Areal Changes 1986-2000.- 28. First Glacier Inventory and Recent Glacier Variations of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and Islands of Southern Chile.- 29. New Zealand’s Glaciers.- 30. Monitoring Glacier Changes on the Anatarctic Peninsula.- 31. Mapping Blue Ice Areas and Crevasses in West Antarctica Using ASTER Images, GPS and Radar Measurements.- 32. Remote Sensing of Glaciers of the Subantarctic Islands.- Part IV. Summary.- 33.  Executive Summary.