Remote investigations of atmospheric catastrophes

The generation and evolution of atmospheric catastrophes (tropical cyclones) represents a very serious and still unresolved problem for mankind. The existing physical hypotheses and theoretical approaches which form the basis for a number of space programs on the investigation of physical conditions for the genesis and evolution of tropical cyclones are critically analyzed. The most significant stages of the history of development of the scientific aspects and concepts about tropical cyclones, which are reflected in the pages of the Investigation of the Earth from the Space journal, are observed. The significance and role of remote (optical, infrared, and microwave) sensing in the evolution of scientific views are analyzed. The fundamental contribution which Russian researchers and, first of all, specialists of the Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as Russian developers of space missions and remote instrumentation, have made to the present-day understanding of the problem and to the formation of the present-day image of microwave remote sensing (RS) of the excited atmosphere is emphasized.