Remote Sensing

Abstract

Summary Remote sensing offers remarkable possibilities for the analysis of weather patterns over tropical Africa. This chapter summarizes the important datasets available, and describes those remote sensing data that are best applied to each of the key weather phenomena for West Africa, along with examples of their application to real case studies from West Africa. The global satellite observing system is vital to forecasting in Africa, particularly because of the scarcity of observations from the surface and upper-air station networks. The transfer of electromagnetic (EM) radiation by the Earth–atmosphere system is the basis for remote sensing applications. The chapter also describes of EM radiation, how it interacts with the Earth and atmosphere, and how the radiation measured by remote sensors is used to infer information about the atmosphere and the surface. The Meteosat Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) is the primary sensor used for operational forecasting in Africa and Europe.