Introduction to the Special Issue on Microwave Remote Sensing. Part I

This Special Issue of the Italian Journal of Remote Sensing and the one will follow collect most presentations given at the Workshop on Microwave Remote Sensing (TLRMW ‘09) which took place in Rome on October 23-24 2008 at the Faculty of Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome. Two initiatives fused within the Workshop TLRMW ‘09. One is that on Microwave Remote Sensing organized by AIT (Associazione Italiana di Telerilevamento), CeTeM (Centro di Telerilevamento a Microonde), and the other is the one yearly organized by the MECSA Consortium. The Workshop, managed with the cooperation of the Department of Electronic Engineering and the Central Italy Chapter of IEEE-GRS, has the goal to present the national activity in the field of radio-propagation and remote sensing, focusing on both research and technological issues. The convergence of these two initiatives has determined a considerable success of the Workshop. In this context, we would like to thank the sponsors (ASI, CETEMPS Università dell’Aquila, ESA, IEEE Italy Section, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing South Italy Chapter, Selex Sistemi Integrati S.p.A., Telespazio S. p. A., Thales Alenia Space - Italia S.p.A., URSI - Italy Commission F) which have added value to the workshop activity and outcomes. The numbers of the Workshop confirm these impressions: 48 papers were presented within the 2 days; 95 were the participants; 33 were the participating students. The topics of the presentations have dealt with various aspects of radio-propagation and microwave interaction models, processing and inversion techniques, national and international missions (e.g., COSMO-SkyMed and ROSA) and their applications in the domain of atmosphere, sea and land. There have also been contributions to the exploration of the solar system, remote sensing systems from ground, and new technologies.