Lasse H. Pettersson – författare

This book provides results of spatial and temporal distributions of water quality parameters and marine primary production and its relationship with the driving atmospheric, ocean circulation and hydrobiological mechanisms established through a synergistic use of multi-spectral region spaceborne data and results of numerical model simulations of marine in-water and atmospheric processes related to the marine ecosystem. The changes in the studied marine/oceanic environments are analysed in light of recent climate change that imposes its influence through a set of forward and feedback interactions and forcing.

This unique book written by Russian and Norwegian scientists is an analysis of studies based on extensive data analysis and numerical modelling simulations of the White Sea and provides a quantitative assessment of vulnerability of the White Sea marine ecosystems of future anthropogenic and, to some extent, climate change forcing. The authors address a wide range of issues, including geographical position and the paleogeological background of the White Sea Basin. They provide the most recent data on the White Sea bathymetry, examine the White Sea ecosystem profile, and provide extensive historical marine and riverine data records. An integrated assessment of the state of the ecology, vulnerability and sustainability of the White Sea is presented. They look specifically at the applications of satellite Earth observation (remote sensing) oceanographic investigations into changes in regional physical oceanography and ecology, provide extensive coverage of the problems of multi-faceted data assimilation in ocean modelling and conclude with a look at the present state of the art and future developments in this area of nature conservation.

Remote Sensing of Sea Ice in the Northern Sea Route: Studies and Applications initially provides a history of the Northern Sea Route as an important strategic transport route for supporting the northern regions of Russia and cargo transportation between Europe and the Northern Pacific Basin. The authors then describe sea ice conditions in the Eurasian Arctic Seas and, using microwave satellite data, provide a detailed analysis of difficult sea ice conditions. Remote sensing techniques and the basic principles of SAR image formation are described, as well as the major satellite radar systems used for ice studies in the Arctic. The authors take a good look at the use of sensing equipment in experiments, including the ICE WATCH project used for monitoring the Northern Sea Route. The possibilities of using SAR remote sensing for ice navigation in the Northern Sea Route is also detailed, analysing techniques of automatic image processing and interpretation. A study is provided of regional drifting ice, fast ice and river ice in the coastal areas of the Arctic Seas. The book concludes with a review of the practical experience using SAR images for supporting navigation and offshore industrial activity, based on a series of experiments conducted with the Murmansk Shipping Company on board nuclear icebreakers.

“Polar Seas Oceanography” describes a new tool called the Generic Model System for simulations and assessment of potential radioactive spreading in the Arctic regions, through rivers, estuaries, regional seas and the Arctic and Atlantic basin. It considers the present and future potential for spreading of radionuclear pollution from sources, such as from the major Russian processing plants through Siberian rivers as well as from European sources such as the UK Sellafield plant. The book provides support for decision making involving risk prevention, forecasting and readiness for probable crises, alerting and detection, relief and mitigation and damage assessment. The book combines the expertise of professionals from the radionuclear and climate-change sciences.

Sometimes known as "Red Tides", some of the wide variety of phytoplankton species in the World’s oceans produce toxins which can harm marine life. In certain circumstances, these harmful algal blooms can even cause illness or death in humans. Shellfish filter feed on phytoplankton and concentrate their toxins in their bodies and people who eat them can contract life threatening food poisoning. A number of countries have monitoring programmes to measure the presence of toxins in algal blooms. Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms is all about the research techniques to monitor visible algal blooms and through remote sensing, including infrared techniques, predict them through mathematical modelling.