
Comprehensive Remote Sensing
- 2nd Edition - June 1, 2025
- Imprint: Elsevier
- Editor: Shunlin Liang
- Language: English
- Hardback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 2 2 0 - 9
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 3 9 4 9 - 6
Remote sensing, which involves monitoring Earth’s environment from airborne platforms and satellites, is rapidly advancing. Researchers from diverse backgrounds increasingly use r… Read more

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Request a sales quoteIn addition to governments, many private companies are launching satellites. Advances in computing power and data storage have enabled massive data processing and analysis. Consequently, remote sensing has become essential for geographers, oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists, computer scientists, and others. "Comprehensive Remote Sensing" addresses this diversity with structured chapters that begin with fundamental concepts and principles, followed by reviews of the latest developments and a comprehensive list of references. It is a valuable resource for readers at various levels of specialization.
Volume 1 focuses on satellite missions and sensors. Volume 2 covers various data processing techniques, including cloud and shadow detection, analysis-ready data (ARD) techniques for high-resolution data, and machine learning methods. Volumes 3-8 discuss advances in new inversion methods and high-level satellite products that characterize the spatio-temporal variations in essential environmental variables under a changing climate. Volume 9 highlights remote sensing applications, which have entered a new era with the availability of vast high-resolution satellite and UAV observations.
- Fully up-to-date, this new edition offers a comprehensive overview of the field, from theory to applications, curated by world experts
- Includes new information on the latest satellite missions, sensor technology, data fusion algorithms, deep learning data processing techniques, high-level satellite products, carbon and water cycles, Earth’s energy balance, and various applications with societal benefits
- Serves a wide audience, from geoscientists and ecologists to policymakers involved in climate science and sustainable development
- Over 100 structured chapters, with extensive references and visual representations, help readers navigate the breadth of topics and provide an in-depth account of current knowledge
Major satellite programs and associated sensors: EOS; Landsat , SPOT; JPSS program, other national space programs (JAXA, China, India, etc.)
2. Remote sensing data processing and analysis methodology
Geometric processing; radiometric processing; data fusion, image classification, data assimilation
3. Quantitative remote sensing of vegetation
Vegetation index, Biochemical properties, Vegetation structural information (tree high, etc.), LAI, FAPAR, fractional vegetation, biomass, gross/net primary, productivity, phenology
4. Remote sensing of hydrological cycle
Precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, snow water equivalent, surface and underground water storage
5. Remote sensing of Earth energy budget
TOA net radiation (albedo, outgoing radiation), surface net radiation (incident shortwave radiation, albedo, downward and upwelling longwave radiation), land surface temperature and emissivity, SST, surface sensible heat flux
6. Remote Sensing of land surface type change
Land cover mapping, plant functional types, land use change detection (afforestation/reforestation/deforestation, urban expansion and urban heat island, crop distribution, irrigation), invasive species, surface water, wetland, fire burned area, hazardous mapping (drought, flooring, landslides, etc.), snow cover, frozen/shaw, surface topography
7. Atmospheric remote sensing
Atmospheric profiles (temperature, water vapor), aerosols, clouds, ozone, carbon, wind
8. Oceanic remote sensing
Ocean color, acoustic tomography, surface topography, salinity, wind and velocity, sea level, sea ice, Coastal Environment
9. Remote sensing applications
Various applications in Earth system science and societal benefit areas, such as agriculture, biodiversity, climate, disasters, ecosystems, energy, health, water, and weather
- Edition: 2
- Published: June 1, 2025
- Imprint: Elsevier
- No. of pages: 4300
- Language: English
- Hardback ISBN: 9780443132209
- eBook ISBN: 9780443239496
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Shunlin Liang
Dr. Liang received his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1993. He is a Chair Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong. He has published over 490 SCI journal papers, 43 book chapters, and ten special issues of various journals. He has authored/edited eight books, five of which have been translated into Chinese. Dr. Liang is a Fellow of the IEEE and AAAS, and a Global STEM Professor. He serves as an Editor-in-Chief of the Science of Remote Sensing journal.
Dr. Liang led the development of the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products, freely available at awww.glass.hku.hk and www.geodata.cn. He is also leading to develop the high-resolution (30 m) version of GLASS (Hi-GLASS) products. His Google Scholar H-index is 107, with over 46,000 citations. Clarivate recognizes him as a Highly Cited Researcher, placing him among the top 0.1% of scientists globally.