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This textbook is the first to focus on teaching readers how to formulate and solve forward and inverse problems related to coupled media, and provides examples of how to solve concrete problems in environmental remote sensing of coupled atmosphere-surface systems.

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This book is dedicated to the formulation and solution of forward and inverse problems related to coupled media, and provides examples of how to solve concrete problems in environmental remote sensing of coupled atmosphere-surface systems.
The authors discuss radiative transfer in coupled media such as the atmosphere-ocean system with Lambertian as well non-Lambertian reflecting surfaces at the lower boundary. The spectral range from the ultraviolet to the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is considered, as are multi-spectral as well as hyperspectral remote sensing, while solutions of the forward problem for unpolarized and polarized radiation are discussed in detail.

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INTRODUCTION
Brief HistoryWhat is Meant by a Coupled System?
Scope
INHERENT OPTICAL PROPERTIES (IOPs)
General Definitions
Examples of Scattering Phase Functions
Scattering Phase Matrix
IOPs of a Polydisperision of Particles - Integration Over the Size Distribution
Scattering of an Electromagnetic Wave by Particles
Absorption and Scattering by Spherical Particles - Mie Theory
Atmosphere IOPs
Snow and Ice IOPs
Water IOPs
Fresnel Reflectance and Transmittance at a Plane Interface between Two Coupled Media
Surface Roughness Treatment
Problems
BASIC RADIATIVE TRANSFER THEORY
Derivation of the Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE)
Radiative Transfer of Unpolarized Radiation in Coupled Systems
Radiative Transfer of Polarized Radiation in Coupled Systems
Methods of Solution of the RTE
Calculation of Weighting Functions - Jacobians
Problems
FORWARD RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELING
Quadrature Rule - The Double-Gauss Method
Discrete Ordinate Equations - Compact Matrix Formulation
Discrete Ordinate Solutions
Problems
THE INVERSE PROBLEM
Probability and Rules for Consistent Reasoning
Parameter Estimation
Model Selection of Hypothesis Testing
Assigning Probabilities
Generic Formulation of the Inverse Problem
Linear Inverse Problems
Bayesian Approach to the Inverse Problem
Ill-Posedness of Ill-Conditioning
Nonlinear Inverse Problems
Problems
APPLICATIONS
Principal Component (PC) Analysis
Simultaneous Retrieval of Total Ozone Column (TOC) Amount and Cloud Effects
Coupled Atmosphere-Snow-Ice Systems
Coupled Atmosphere-Water Systems
Simultaneous Retrieval of Aerosol and Aquatic Parameters
Polarized RT in a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean System
What if MODIS Could Measure Polarization?
APPENDIX
Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves
Spectral Sampling Strategies
Rough Surface Scattering and Transmission
Bundary Conditions

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