When this book was first published in 1984, the technique of remote sounding was growing rapidly in importance as a means for studying the structure, climate and weather of the atmospheres of the Earth and planets. Measurements from Earth satellites and interplanetary spacecraft proved particularly useful because they allowed good coverage of atmospheric systems in space and time, often with high resolution. This book describes how measurements can be made of the properties of the Earth and planets using this method. It includes descriptions of the scientific principles, technical implementation, mathematical methods for analysing the measurements, a history of measurements that have been made and discussions of the phenomena that have been discovered and studied using remote sounding. The technique is important for meteorology, climatology and an understanding of humankind's impact on the Earth's atmosphere.
Measurement shapes scientific theories, characterises improvements in manufacturing processes and promotes efficient commerce. In concert with measurement is uncertainty, and students in science and engineering need to identify and quantify uncertainties in the measurements they make. This book introduces measurement and uncertainty to second and third year students of science and engineering. Its approach relies on the internationally recognised and recommended guidelines for calculating and expressing uncertainty (known by the acronym GUM). The statistics underpinning the methods are considered and worked examples and exercises are spread throughout the text. Detailed case studies based on typical undergraduate experiments are included to reinforce the principles described in the book. This guide is also useful to professionals in industry who are expected to know the contemporary methods in this increasingly important area. Additional online resources are available to support the bo
An overview of the optical effects in solids, addressing the physics of various materials and their response to electromagnetic radiation. The discussion includes metals, semiconductors, superconductors, and insulators. The book begins by introducing the dielectric function into Maxwell's macroscopic equations and finding their plane-wave solution. The physics governing the dielectric function of various materials is then covered, both classically and using basic quantum mechanics. Advanced topics covered include interacting electrons, the anomalous skin effect, anisotropy, magneto-optics, and inhomogeneous materials. Each subject begins with a connection to the basic physics of the particular solid, after which the measurable optical quantities are derived. It allows the reader to connect measurements (reflectance, optical conductivity and dielectric function) with the underlying physics of solids. Methods of analysing experimental data are addressed, making this an ideal resource for
Enlarged and updated in 1983, this is the second edition of Dr Steel's popular textbook on interferometry. The text has been revised throughout and major additions have been made to reflect the phenomenal growth of laser techniques and applications. The book provides a general treatment that brings together the many different applications of the interference of light waves, light being used in its most general sense to include all electromagnetic radiation. The applications can cover precise measurement of length, the testing of optical components against a computed hologram, measurements of atmospheric pollution by infrared spectroscopy and many of the methods of radio astronomy and the measurement of size of visible stars. These apparently unrelated methods have a common theory, which the book presents and extends to each main field of application. It shows workers in one field how their problems relate to those in other fields, where they may have been solved already. The book will
The transition in anthropological and biomedical research methods over the past 50 years, from anthropometric and craniometric measurements to large-scale microarray genetic studies has resulted in co
A comprehensive guide to data analysis techniques for physical scientists, providing a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as seasoned researchers. The book begins with an extensive discussion of the foundational concepts and methods of probability and statistics under both the frequentist and Bayesian interpretations of probability. It next presents basic concepts and techniques used for measurements of particle production cross-sections, correlation functions, and particle identification. Much attention is devoted to notions of statistical and systematic errors, beginning with intuitive discussions and progressively introducing the more formal concepts of confidence intervals, credible range, and hypothesis testing. The book also includes an in-depth discussion of the methods used to unfold or correct data for instrumental effects associated with measurement and process noise as well as particle and event losses, before ending with a presentati
