Polar regions and global change: The role of remote sensing

The fashionable notion of the Arctic as a weather kitchen, which existed during the 1930s, has since been forgotten. It is true, however, that the role of polar regions as sinks of energy for the climatic system, areas of specific cloud-radiation interaction as well as unique interaction between photochemistry, polar stratospheric clouds (PSC), dynamics, solar activity (the Antarctic ozone hole), etc. has been broadly recognized. It is equally true that polar regions are highly sensitive in ecological respects, including the impact of greenhouse gases and the early warning of global climate change at high latitudes. This is why the environmental monitoring of polar regions is of particular importance and where satellite remote sensing can undoubtedly play a decisive role. The following areas of remote sensing application are discussed in the paper: (1) cloud cover properties (including PSCs) as well as interaction between extended cloudiness and radiation; (2) Arctic haze phenomenon; (3) Antarctic ozone hole; (4) polar ice cover dynamics; (5) high-latitude biosphere dynamics. A special value of combined in situ and satellite observations, such as those during the Soviet-American Bering Sea Experiment is emphasized