Satelli te oceagraphy, as the term is used in this book, is a generic term that means application of the techlogy of aerospace electromagnetic remote sensing to the study of the oceans. The key words here are application of techlogy **. to the study of the oceans. The goal is to learn more about our planet's hydrosphere. As such, remote sensing techlogy is ather tool in the oceagrapher's sea bag, just like a bathythermograph or a plankton net. But is a whole book necessary if remote sensing is just ather tool? While it is true that one has written a whole book on plankton nets, volumes have been written about what is found in those nets. Today's state-of-the-art measurements from spacecraft or aircraft first must be interpreted in terms of their physics; then the interpretations must be understood in terms of oceanic processes. This is t materially different from the analogy to Ii plankton net; marine biolo- gists still argue about what didn't get caught in the net.
