REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS 379

REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS

E Lombi and R E Hamon, CSIRO Land and Water, location throughout the remediation process. Some
Glen Osmond, SA, Australia earth-moving activities may be required in order to
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved. ensure complete exposure of the soil to the remedial
treatment. Protocols that minimize off-site transport
of dusts, vapors, or contaminated liquors are critical.
Introduction In situ strategies have advantages in that costs, and
Public concern about environmental pollution has in- environmental and health risks associated with
creased substantially since the beginning of the twenti- excavation and off-site transport of polluted soil are
eth century with growing awareness of the stresses reduced. However ex situ strategies (transport of
being placed on the environment due to activities
arising from both industrial activity and intensive agri-
culture, and as a consequence of high-profile incidents
that have highlighted the risks of pollution for human
health. Examples of such incidents include industrial
pollution at Love Canal, USA, the chemical factory
explosion at Bhopal, India, and the nuclear near-acci-
dent at Three Mile Island, USA. Pollutants tend to have
longer residence times in soil than in water or air. The
soil acts as a sink or a filter in which pollutants are
accumulated rapidly but are depleted slowly. The de-
contamination of polluted soils is becoming an issue of
societal and political interest, because of its import-
ance for environmental protection and human health,
and its economical relevance. New technologies based
on physical, chemical, and biological processes to re-
claim polluted soils have been developed during the
last decades. This article briefly describes the available
technologies for the remediation of organic and inor-
ganic contaminants in soils. A synopsis of these
technologies is depicted in Figure 1.

Containment Versus Clean-Up Strategies

In terms of managing soil pollution, there are two types
of strategy. The first, which at the beginning of the
twenty-first century is the preferred option for many
regulatory agencies, has the remediation goal expressed
as a maximum allowable total concentration of pollu-
tant in the soil. To comply with this approach, the total
concentration of pollutant in soil must be lowered and
this can be achieved using the group of technologies
termed ‘clean-up’ technologies (Figure 1). The second
strategy does not require a reduction in the total con-
centration of a pollutant in soil, but aims to manage
exposure to the pollutant, and hence environmental
and health risks, through technologies that lower pollu-
tant mobility and bioavailability. These are termed
‘containment’ technologies (Figure 1).

In Situ Versus Ex Situ Strategies

In situ remediation refers to a soil-treatment regime Figure 1 Decision tree of the alternatives available to treat
in which the soil remains confined to its original polluted soils.
380 REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS
polluted soils to an external location) may be unavoid-
able because of impracticalities in establishing essen-
tial treatment infrastructure at the polluted site, or due
to the site being positioned in a high-risk area.
Physical Treatment Technologies
Excavation and Off-site Disposal (Ex Situ,
Requires Ongoing Monitoring)
Applicable to both inorganic and organic pollutants,
excavation and off-site disposal entails removing the
polluted soil from a high-value or vulnerable site to a
disposal facility where potential pollutant exposure
routes can be more effectively managed. Some pretreat-
ment of the soil may be required to reduce the concen-
tration of readily mobile pollutants in order to meet
disposal-facility restrictions. Precautions associated
with the excavation and transport of polluted soils
need to be taken. This is a rapid method for managing
polluted sites which has been widely employed in the
past but potentially just relocates the problem and
hence is not a remediation treatment per se. With land-
fill space at a premium, leading to rapidly rising dis-
posal costs, this strategy is becoming less acceptable to
industry, regulatory bodies, and the public. Ongoing
monitoring of the disposal facility to ensure no off-site
movement of contaminants is essential.
Dilution (In Situ or Ex Situ)
Applicable to both inorganic pollutants, including
nutrients, and organic pollutants, dilution of soil pol-
lution can be achieved through soil-mixing, deep till-
age, or fracturing. It may be effective in reducing the
potential contaminant exposure dose at sites in which
pollutants are present in low levels or in which con-
tamination is present in small, dispersed ‘hot spots.’
This method increases the volume of contaminated soil
but may be appropriate for management of soils that
have been polluted by nutrient oversupply (e.g., soils
receiving dairy/piggery effluents). However, dilution
is unlikely to meet with regulatory or community
acceptance with respect to other types of pollutants.
Capping and Encapsulation (In Situ, Requires
Ongoing Monitoring)
Applicable to both inorganic and organic pollutants,
containment technologies aim to eliminate exposure
of humans and the environment to the polluted soil.
Lateral or vertical movement of the contaminant (due
to water percolation, erosion, or plant root acqui-
sition) is eliminated through the construction of
highly reactive and/or impermeable subsurface bar-
riers and surface caps. Both inorganic and organic
pollutants may be managed using the monitored
natural attenuation strategy. However, as with excav-
ation and off-site disposal, the soil is not cleaned of
pollutants, so this is not a permanent remediation
solution. Barriers may fail as a result of weathering
and/or chemical degradation, settlement, cracking,
erosion, poor drainage away from the surface cap,
or penetration by deep-rooted vegetation. There is
therefore a need for ongoing monitoring of the site
to ensure that the barriers and caps have not been
breached. Introduction of barriers constructed of ma-
terials that either sorb the contaminant or chemically
react with it can provide an extra degree of protection
against inadvertent contaminant migration. Mobile
contaminants, which might otherwise escape through
ruptures in the barrier, may instead diffuse toward it
and be chemically immobilized.
Separation–Fractionation (Ex Situ)
Applicable to both inorganic pollutants, including
radionuclides, and organic pollutants, separation
and fractionation is based on the principle that con-
taminants are frequently associated with specific
particle-size fractions within soils and uses sieving or
sedimentation to separate and remove the contamin-
ated fraction from excavated soils. For example, the
most reactive components of soils are generally found
within the clay-size fraction (<2 m) due to the high
relative surface area of this fraction. Contaminants
entering the soil in soluble forms therefore typically
partition to, and hence are concentrated in, the clay
fraction. Separation of this fraction from the soil pro-
duces a highly polluted residue which requires further
treatment (e.g., see Incineration, below) or disposal.
However, the benefit is that the mass of material re-
quiring further treatment is significantly reduced com-
pared with the original soil. Contaminants may also
be present in the form of discrete particles (e.g., lead
(Pb) pellets from firing ranges), allowing for removal
from the soil using physical sieving techniques. Immis-
cible organic pollutants may also be isolated from the
soil using gravity separation methods.
Electrokinetic Separation (In Situ)
Applicable to both inorganic and polar organic pollut-
ants, electrokinetic technology uses the generation of a
low-intensity current between electrodes placed in the
soil to mobilize and concentrate anionic and cationic
pollutants toward the anode and cathode, respect-
ively. The contaminants are then recovered through
processes such as electroplating, precipitation, and
coprecipitation at the electrode, concentration on
ion-exchange resins or physical extraction of the
aqueous phase. Soil types amenable to this treatment
are those of low permeability (high clay content)

which are poorly drained. This is a new technology,
but limited pilot trials show promising results as
of 2003.
Soil-Flushing (In Situ)
Applicable to both inorganic pollutants, including
radionuclides, and organic pollutants, in soil-flushing
an aqueous solution (water or water containing con-
taminant-solubilizing additives) is circulated through
the contaminated soil. The pollutant is desorbed from
the soil and retrieved from the fluid. The operation
usually takes the form of a continuous cycle, with
the purified fluid being reinjected back into the con-
taminated soil, circulated, reextracted, and repurified.
This technology performs poorly in soils with low per-
meability and with pollutants that partition strongly to
the soil surface. For soils in which the pollutant has
been present for an extended period of time, natural
attenuation processes can also markedly reduce pollu-
tant mobility, requiring many flushing cycles to be
completed before pollutant concentrations are signifi-
cantly reduced. These factors can make application of
this technology impractical in terms of the timescales
needed to complete remediation and associated costs.
Vitrification (In Situ or Ex Situ, Requires
Ongoing Monitoring)
Applicable primarily to inorganic pollutants, espe-
cially radionuclides, in vitrification an electric current
is used to melt the soil at temperatures up to 2000 C.
The melted soil cools to form a chemically stable,
leach-resistant, glass-like solid which encases and
entraps inorganic pollutants. Organic pollutants are
destroyed through pyrolysis at the high temperatures
attained. However, this procedure destroys the soil,
thereby limiting future site use. Adoption of this
method is likely to be limited to inorganic contamin-
ants under extreme cases where pollutant risks are
very high, such as may be the case for radionuclide-
polluted soils. Given its use for high-risk pollutants,
it is important to institute an ongoing monitoring
protocol for the solidified mass to ensure that con-
taminants are not lost over time through leaching or
chemical weathering processes.
Solidification (In Situ or Ex Situ, Requires
Ongoing Monitoring)
Applicable primarily to inorganic pollutants, includ-
ing radionuclides, solidification involves introduction
to the polluted soil of a leach- or weathering-resistant
material through either mixing or injection which is
then allowed to cure to form a solid product. The
material acts to prevent pollutant exposure and
migration by physically encapsulating the pollutants
within a nontoxic, impermeable coating. A wide range
REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS 381
of materials have been used in solidification technolo-
gies, including: cement, fly ash, bitumen, emulsified
asphalt, and polyethylene. The resulting product is not
soil but can often be used as a building or construction
material. Ongoing monitoring of the final product is
necessary to assess contaminant leakage.
Incineration (Ex Situ)
Applicable primarily to organic pollutants and patho-
gens, excavated soil is transferred to a contained
facility and heated under controlled conditions in an
incinerator. Organic pollutants are vaporized and
collected, or destroyed through pyrolysis. Some vola-
tile metals (e.g., mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), Pb)
may also be released and captured from the exhaust
gases. For soils or residues generated from sepa-
ration–fractionation treatments containing very high
concentrations of inorganic pollutants, it may be eco-
nomically viable to roast or smelt the soil and recover
the metal or nutrient for reuse.
Soil Vapor Extraction (In situ or Ex situ)
Applicable to organic pollutants, in soil vapor ex-
traction, volatile organic contaminants (VOCs) are
mobilized and removed from soils through appli-
cation of a pressure–concentration gradient using a
vacuum. Extraction wells are drilled into the soil
(in situ) or the soil is excavated and placed over a
network of perforated pipes (ex situ) and the organic
pollutants contained within gases extracted following
application of the vacuum are collected and destroyed
by processes such as pyrolysis or photo-oxidation.
Volatilization of the organic contaminants from the
soil can be thermally enhanced by steam or hot-air
injection, or electrical or electromagnetic heating
techniques.
Photo-oxidation (Ex Situ)
Applicable to organic pollutants, vacuum-extracted
organic pollutants (see Soil vapor extraction, above)
are condensed, mixed with catalyst, and fed into a
reactor in photo-oxidation. Ultraviolet light (sun-
light or artificial) activates the catalyst, causing oxida-
tion of the organic compounds into simple inorganic
products, mainly carbon dioxide and water.
Chemical Treatment Technologies
Monitored Natural Attenuation (In Situ,
Requires Ongoing Monitoring)
Both inorganic and organic pollutants can be man-
aged by a monitoring natural attenuation strategy.
The mobility and biological availability of pollutants
can decrease with time of contact of pollutants with
382 REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS
soils due to chemical reactions and/or sorption which
occur over the long term. The rates of these reactions
depend upon the chemical characteristics of both the
soil and the pollutant. The rates are difficult to pre-
dict, but are possible to measure. For low-risk pol-
luted soils in which there is evidence that natural
attenuation is occurring at a satisfactory rate, it may
be appropriate to rank these soils as lower priority in
terms of requirement for other remedial treatments.
Even if contaminant solubility is not of immediate
concern, action to reduce movement of polluted soil
through erosion needs to be considered to prevent
physical transport of contaminants off-site. Factors
affecting the potential reversibility of the natural at-
tenuation process are also unclear, so there is an
ongoing requirement for monitoring of any site for
which natural attenuation is enlisted as the primary
‘treatment’ strategy.
Fixation–Stabilization (In Situ or Ex Situ,
Requires Ongoing Monitoring)
Applicable primarily to inorganic pollutants, in-
cluding nutrients. The availability or toxicity of a
pollutant is not necessarily related to its total concen-
tration in the soil. This is because contaminants
can exist in different chemical forms in soils, and it
is primarily the aqueous and easily exchangeable
forms which are both mobile and biologically avail-
able. Fixation–stabilization technologies aim to
decrease the concentration of the aqueous and ex-
changeable forms of pollutants in soils through the
application of nontoxic reactive agents. Agents that
have been tested for this purpose include: lime, sol-
uble phosphate compounds, fly ash, clays such as
zeolite and also those rich in iron and aluminum
oxides (e.g., red mud, steel shots, red gypsum, etc.),
as well as mixtures of these materials. Many such
agents are by-products from processing industries
and so are inexpensive. The agents act either by en-
couraging the formation of insoluble precipitates of
inorganic pollutants or by increasing the amount of
pollutant sorbed to the solid phase, thereby decreas-
ing the aqueous concentration of the pollutant. An
advantage of this method is that, providing pollutant
mobility and availability can be decreased to a satis-
factory level, the soil can retain many components of
its original functionality. Limitations to use of this
technology include soils contaminated with mixed
pollutants for which a chemical strategy to manage
one of the pollutants is incompatible with the chem-
istry required to manage another. For example, in-
creasing soil pH can significantly reduce the mobility
of metals such as Pb, zinc (Zn), and nickel (Ni) but
could result in an increase in the mobility of other
co-contaminants such as arsenic (As) and cyanide.
Moreover, as with the natural attenuation strategy,
care is needed to prevent physical transport of pol-
luted soil offsite, and an ongoing monitoring program
may be necessary to assess the continued stability of
the fixation treatment.
Chemical Oxidation–Reduction (Ex Situ, may
Require Monitoring (Inorganics))
Applicable to some inorganic and organic pollutants,
chemical oxidation–reduction uses the addition of
oxidizing or reducing agents to convert pollutants to
less toxic or inert compounds. For example, both Cr
and As exist in more than one valence state. Cr(vi) is
more toxic and mobile in soils than Cr(iii), and
As(iii) is more toxic and mobile than As(v). Chemical
reduction of Cr and oxidation of As can therefore
decrease the pollutant toxicity. However, depending
on conditions, there is always a risk of reconversion
back to the more toxic valence state. Hence it is neces-
sary to institute an ongoing monitoring program to
detect this. Biological degradation processes are usu-
ally more cost-effective for organic pollutants than
chemical oxidation methods and hence tend to be
preferred.
Aqueous and Solvent Extraction (Ex Situ)
Applicable to inorganic and organic pollutants, in
the process of aqueous and solvent extraction, excav-
ated soil is placed in a pile and leached with an ex-
traction fluid, or soil and extraction fluid are mixed
in a reactor vessel. The extraction fluid dissolves the
pollutants and the fluid is collected and then treated
to remove the pollutants. The excavated soil is often
pretreated using physical separation techniques to
minimize the volume of material required to be
extracted. For inorganic pollutants, an acidic aqueous
solution which may contain surfactants is typically
used as the extraction fluid. Soil pH is neutralized
with base following removal of the pollutant. For
organic pollutants, the extraction fluid is likely to be
an organic solvent. Traces of the solvent may remain in
the soil following extraction, so toxicity of the solvent
is an important consideration. Low extraction effi-
ciencies for pollutants that are highly attenuated (see
Monitored Natural Attenuation, above) can severely
limit the performance of this technology.
Dehalogenation (Ex Situ)
Applicable to halogenated organic pollutants, de-
halogenation, the removal of halogen groups from
organic pollutants, generally renders such com-
pounds less toxic or nontoxic. Reagents that catalyze
the removal of halogen groups are mixed with pol-
luted soils, and the mixture is heat treated in a reactor

vessel to facilitate the reaction. Due to the cost of
reagents, this technology is generally uneconomical
for highly polluted soils or large volumes of polluted
soil.
Biological Treatment Technologies
Biodegradation Techniques (In Situ)
Applicable to organic pollutants, biodegradation
techniques are bioremediation clean-up techniques
which aim to decrease the total concentration of
pollutant in soil through the degradation of organic
compounds by microorganisms. The microorganisms
involved, also called degraders, are stimulated to use
the pollutants as a source of nutrients and energy
(enhanced biodegradation). Generally, this is achieved
by optimizing the environmental conditions in terms
of oxygen, nutrients, and moisture, and controlling
the temperature and pH. For instance, the technology
known as bioventing aims to stimulate pollutant bio-
degradation in unsaturated soils by increasing the
soil oxygen content. This is achieved by forcing air
through the soil by either extraction (vacuum) or in-
jection methods. Specific strains of degraders can also
be introduced to the soil to enhance the degradation
process in a technology known as bioaugmentation.
Typically for this application, microorganisms from
the site under remediation are collected and those
that preferentially feed on the contaminants at the
site are isolated, cultured, and reintroduced to the
site as a means of rapidly increasing the population
of degraders. Remediation trials have also been con-
ducted using nonindigenous strains of degraders
introduced to a polluted site. However, so far there is
no conclusive evidence to indicate that the use of
non-native microorganisms has been beneficial in the
situations tested.
One of the advantages of biodegradation technolo-
gies is that they can typically be implemented at a low
cost. However the process may require more time
than other available treatments. The degradation
rate is controlled by both environmental conditions
and by the nature of the pollutant. For example,
biological treatment of polyaromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) is selective, and the less-degradable PAHs (of
high molecular weight) may remain unchanged. Fur-
thermore, some compounds may be broken down
into more toxic by-products during the bioremedia-
tion process (e.g., trichloroethylene (TCE) to vinyl
chloride). Therefore, continuous monitoring and add-
itional precautions have to be implemented in these
cases. Although not all organic compounds are amen-
able to biodegradation, bioremediation techniques
have been used successfully to treat soils polluted by
REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS 383
petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, wood
preservatives, and other organic chemicals.
Composting and Biopiles, and Slurry-Phase
Biological Treatment (Ex Situ)
Applicable to organic pollutants, in this suite of tech-
nologies, the soil is excavated and mixed with appro-
priate amendments in order to stimulate microbial
degradation of the pollutants. During composting,
the microbial activity induces an increase in tempera-
ture that allows a faster degradation rate and can also
be effective in reducing pathogen numbers. Piles of the
material to be remediated can be aerated with blowers
or vacuum pumps (aerated static-pile composting),
or through periodic mixing with mobile equipment
(windrow composting). Alternatively, the compost is
placed in a reactor vessel where it is mixed and aerated
(mechanically agitated in-vessel composting).
In the slurry-phase biological treatment, the excav-
ated soil is mixed with water and various additives.
The slurry is stirred to keep solids suspended and
microorganisms in contact with the soil contaminants.
Limitation to this technology can be due to the large
area needed for composting, the necessity to control
release of VOCs, and the presence of toxic metals,
which may impair microbial activity. However, this
type of biological treatment has been used success-
fully to remediate soil contaminated by explosives
and PAHs.
Phytoremediation (In Situ)
Applicable to both inorganic pollutants, including
radionuclides, and organic pollutants, phytoremedia-
tion refers to a group of technologies that use green
or higher terrestrial plants for treating chemically or
radioactively polluted soils. There are five funda-
mental processes by which plants can be used to re-
mediate soil contaminated with organic or inorganic
pollutants. These processes result in the plant-based
containment or removal of the soil pollutant. Phyto-
immobilization processes prevent the movement
and transport of dissolved contaminants by using
plants to decrease the mobility of pollutants in soils.
Phytostabilization as defined here is the use of pollu-
tant-tolerant plants to mechanically stabilize polluted
soils to prevent bulk erosion and airborne transport
of pollutants to other environments. In addition,
leaching of pollutants may be reduced due to higher
evapotranspiration rates relative to bare soils. Phyto-
volatilization relies on the joint effect of plants and
microbes which, acting in concert, are able to convert
some metals and organic pollutants to volatile or
more available forms. Examples include removal of
Se or volatile organic pollutants from soils. In a
384 REMEDIATION OF POLLUTED SOILS
different approach, plant biochemistry has been
modified by the insertion of bacterial genes that
make the transformed plants able to volatilize Hg.
Phytoextraction can be used to remediate both metal-
lic and organic constituents from soil by direct uptake
into plants and translocation to aboveground bio-
mass. Two phytoextraction approaches are being de-
veloped, both aiming to extract toxic metals from
soil. The first makes use of hyperaccumulator plants
with exceptional metal-accumulating capacity (nat-
ural phytoextraction). The second uses high-biomass
crops that are induced to take up large amounts of
metals by enhancing the mobility of metals in soil
with chemical treatments (chemically assisted phy-
toextraction). This latter method has recently been
criticized because enhancing mobilization of toxic
metals, to increase plant uptake, is also likely to
increase the risk of leaching to groundwater. Phyto-
degradation refers to enhanced degradation of or-
ganic pollutants in soil induced by the action of
rhizosphere microorganisms and by plant-derived
enzymes. Furthermore, some organic compounds,
depending on their chemical and physical character-
istics, can be taken up by plants and partially or
totally degraded by plant enzymes or endophytic
microorganisms. Phytodegradation is also defined as
plant-assisted biodegradation, because plant roots
supply nutrients to microorganisms, which enhances
their biological activities.
Figure 2 Range of relative remediation costs for different technologies, expressed as a percentage of the cost for capping. Costs are
calculated on the basis of the 1 ha area, 0.25 m soil depth, and soil density of 1.2 g cm 3.
This group of technologies have a series of limi-
tations as follows: the depth of the treatment zone
is limited by the depth of the root system, high
concentrations of the pollutants may be toxic to
plants, the process may be seasonal, it is not effective
for strongly sorbed contaminants, and may require
long times to complete. On the other hand, these
technologies are low-cost, environmentally friendly,
and thought to be well accepted by the public.
Selection of Remediation Technologies
and Future Directions
Once a need for soil remediation is recognized, the
best available technology is selected according to
the nature, toxicity, and origin of the contaminant,
the present and potential hazard related to the
degree of contamination, the chemical and physical
characteristics of the soil, the land use, the time
available for remediation, the community acceptance,
and a cost-benefit analysis. These different criteria
vary widely in the technologies described above. For
instance, the average cost of remediation with dif-
ferent technologies can differ by a factor of greater
than 25 (Figure 2). The development of low-cost,
low-input technologies, driven in industrialized
countries by economic benefits, is also essential to
tackle remediation of polluted soils in developing
countries.

Some of the technologies described in this article are
well established, whereas others are still being de-
veloped. Due to ever-increasing public concern for the
risks posed by soil pollution, it is expected that a larger
number of technologies will be available in the future.
For example, rapid progress in the field of molecular
biology will allow a better understanding of the mech-
anisms involved in bio- and phytoremediation. This
knowledge is of fundamental importance in order to
optimize these processes. A new field of investigation
may also be opened by recent concerns related to the
possibility of pathogen-contaminated soils.
See also: Hydrocarbons; Pollutants: Biodegradation;
Effects on Microorganisms; Salt-Affected Soils, Rec-
lamation
REMOTE SENSING
Contents
Organic Matter
Soil Moisture
Organic Matter
D K Morris, Stennis Space Center, MS, USA
C J Johannsen, S M Brouder, and G C Steinhardt,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
Remote sensing is the collection and interpretation of
data obtained from an object at a remote vantage
point without making physical contact with the
object or subject. Electromagnetic energy, as shown
in Figure 1, may be recorded by a variety of remote-
sensing methods. The most common include color
and color infrared photography, aerial and satellite
imaging, and radar sensing.
Aerial photography records energy in the ultra-
violet part of the spectrum (which is not used for
agricultural analysis because it is absorbed by the
atmosphere), the part visible to humans, and a por-
tion of the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum. Optical
sensors record energy in a digital format from the
visible, reflective infrared, and thermal infrared spec-
tra from both aerial and satellite platforms within the
REMOTE SENSING/Organic Matter 385
Further Reading
Adriano DC, Bollag JM, Frankenberger WT, and Sims RC
(eds) (1999) Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils.
SSSA Monographs. Madison, WI: Soil Science Society
of America.
Smith LA, Means JL, Means A et al. (eds) (1995) Remedial
Options for Metals-Contaminated Sites. Battelle
Memorial Institute. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
Huang PM and Iskandar IK (eds) (1999) Soils and Ground-
water Pollution and Remediation: Asia, Africa and
Oceania. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
Riser-Roberts E (1998) Remediation of Petroleum Con-
taminated Soils: Biological, Physical, and Chemical
Processes. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers.
Wise DL, Tarantolo DJ, Inyang HI, and Cichon EJ (eds)
(2000) Remedial of Hazardous Waste Contaminated
Soils. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Earth’s atmosphere. Microwave wavelengths are an-
other form of energy important to remote sensing.
Microwave energy is received on Earth and the re-
sponses recorded by a digital instrument. This is
known as ‘passive energy,’ compared with energy
from portions of the spectrum that are measured
directly and thus called ‘active energy.’
For more than three decades, remote sensing has
been envisioned as a useful source of data for inven-
torying and monitoring the Earth’s surface for many
purposes. One can apply the use of remote sensing to
disciplines in agriculture, hydrology, forestry, ocean-
ography, weather, land use, environmental concerns,
security purposes, and military operations.
In the 1950s it was demonstrated that infrared
aerial photography could be used to detect vegetation
stress. This led to a host of applications and, by the
1960s, the US Weather Bureau was launching satel-
lites to observe cloud patterns around the globe.
Weather satellites today are used to monitor not
only clouds, but also changes in precipitation patterns
by radar, lightning strikes through brightness sensors,
and vegetation density changes. They also contribute
to predictions of where and when hurricanes are
expected to strike land areas.