Book excerpt: Passive Microwave Remote Sensing of Oceans Igor V. Cherny and Victor Yu. Raizer In Passive Microwave Remote Sensing of Oceans, the detailed results of more than 20 years of experimental and theoretical investigations in the field of ocean remote sensing, utilising microwave radiometric techniques and multi-frequency aerospace instruments, are presented. Experimental results presented in this book to some extent contradict the traditional view that microwave radiometry and, in particular, millimetre-wave frequencies are not useful for remote sensing of oceans. The authors show that studies of the ocean and atmosphere as a coupled system, and of processes occurring at the ocean surface and in deep water, can be reliably evolved using compact passive radiometric sensors. They further demonstrate that for studies of global, large-scale and local processes in the ocean-atmosphere system, only the combination of microwave and optical techniques will reveal the spatial structure and dynamics of the ocean surface at scales from centimetres to several hundred metres. The text first introduces ocean surface phenomena, discussing the ocean-atmosphere interface, the classification of surface waves, the generation and statistics of wind waves, and wave-breaking and foaming processes. The microwave emission characteristics of the ocean surface are then described, and the influence of wind waves, bubble-foam-spray coverage, oil spills and sea ice are discussed. The instruments and methods used for passive microwave remote sensing of the oceans from both aircraft and from satellites are reviewed. Microwave observations of processes in the ocean-atmosphere system are then described in detail, incorporating a new approach for microwave diagnostics of deep-ocean processes. Examples presented include the Rossby soliton, frontal zone in the Kurosio region, influence of brief showers on the subsurface layer, and interaction of tropical cyclones with the ocean during their origin and subsequent trajectories over the ocean surface. Readership: Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying remote sensing, marine science, oceanography, geography, geophysics, meteorology, climatology, atmospheric physics and environmental science. Professional oceanographers and those interested in oceanographic remote sensing processes and their applications, marine scientists and engineers, environmental scientists, and those studying the ocean-atmosphere system.