Abstract
The longwave spectral domain dealt with here, also called the “thermal infrared” domain, roughly covers the 3–15 μm spectral range. The main radiation source is not the sun but the Earth system, that is, the Earth’s surface (land and ocean) and the atmosphere. The infrared emission from bodies is directly linked to their temperature as described by Plank’s law: the hotter the bodies are, the higher their emission. The Earth and its atmosphere are heated by the fraction of sunlight they absorb. Their increase in temperature results in increased infrared emission to space, thus ensuring the energy balance of the Earth system.
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© 2013 Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Pierangelo, C., Chédin, A., Legrand, M. (2013). Longwave passive remote sensing. In: Lenoble, J., Remer, L., Tanre, D. (eds) Aerosol Remote Sensing. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17725-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17725-5_9
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-17724-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-17725-5
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