Image Footprints Research Articles

MONITORING SEABIRDS AND MARINE MAMMALS BY GEOREFERENCED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Abstract. The assessment of anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment is challenged by the accessibility, accuracy and validity of biogeographical information. Offshore wind farm projects require large-scale ecological surveys before, during and after construction, in order to assess potential effects on the distribution and abundance of protected species. The robustness of site-specific population estimates depends largely on the extent and design of spatial coverage and the accuracy of the applied census technique. Standard environmental assessment studies in Germany have so far included aerial visual surveys to evaluate potential impacts of offshore wind farms on seabirds and marine mammals. However, low flight altitudes, necessary for the visual classification of species, disturb sensitive bird species and also hold significant safety risks for the observers. Thus, aerial surveys based on high-resolution digital imagery, which can be carried out at higher (safer) flight altitudes (beyond the rotor-swept zone of the wind turbines) have become a mandatory requirement, technically solving the problem of distant-related observation bias. A purpose-assembled imagery system including medium-format cameras in conjunction with a dedicated geo-positioning platform delivers series of orthogonal digital images that meet the current technical requirements of authorities for surveying marine wildlife at a comparatively low cost. At a flight altitude of 425 m, a focal length of 110 mm, implemented forward motion compensation (FMC) and exposure times ranging between 1/1600 and 1/1000 s, the twin-camera system generates high quality 16 bit RGB images with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 2 cm and an image footprint of 155 x 410 m. The image files are readily transferrable to a GIS environment for further editing, taking overlapping image areas and areas affected by glare into account. The imagery can be routinely screened by the human eye guided by purpose-programmed software to distinguish biological from non-biological signals. Each detected seabird or marine mammal signal is identified to species level or assigned to a species group and automatically saved into a geo-database for subsequent quality assurance, geo-statistical analyses and data export to third-party users. The relative size of a detected object can be accurately measured which provides key information for species-identification. During the development and testing of this system until 2015, more than 40 surveys have produced around 500.000 digital aerial images, of which some were taken in specially protected areas (SPA) of the Baltic Sea and thus include a wide range of relevant species. Here, we present the technical principles of this comparatively new survey approach and discuss the key methodological challenges related to optimizing survey design and workflow in view of the pending regulatory requirements for effective environmental impact assessments.

MONITORING SEABIRDS AND MARINE MAMMALS BY GEOREFERENCED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

The assessment of anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment is challenged by the accessibility, accuracy and validity of biogeographical information. Offshore wind farm projects require large-scale ecological surveys before, during and after construction, in order to assess potential effects on the distribution and abundance of protected species. The robustness of site-specific population estimates depends largely on the extent and design of spatial coverage and the accuracy of the applied census technique. Standard environmental assessment studies in Germany have so far included aerial visual surveys to evaluate potential impacts of offshore wind farms on seabirds and marine mammals. However, low flight altitudes, necessary for the visual classification of species, disturb sensitive bird species and also hold significant safety risks for the observers. Thus, aerial surveys based on high-resolution digital imagery, which can be carried out at higher (safer) flight altitudes (beyond the rotor-swept zone of the wind turbines) have become a mandatory requirement, technically solving the problem of distant-related observation bias. A purpose-assembled imagery system including medium-format cameras in conjunction with a dedicated geo-positioning platform delivers series of orthogonal digital images that meet the current technical requirements of authorities for surveying marine wildlife at a comparatively low cost. At a flight altitude of 425 m, a focal length of 110 mm, implemented forward motion compensation (FMC) and exposure times ranging between 1/1600 and 1/1000 s, the twin-camera system generates high quality 16 bit RGB images with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 2 cm and an image footprint of 155 x 410 m. The image files are readily transferrable to a GIS environment for further editing, taking overlapping image areas and areas affected by glare into account. The imagery can be routinely screened by the human eye guided by purpose-programmed software to distinguish biological from non-biological signals. Each detected seabird or marine mammal signal is identified to species level or assigned to a species group and automatically saved into a geo-database for subsequent quality assurance, geo-statistical analyses and data export to third-party users. The relative size of a detected object can be accurately measured which provides key information for species-identification. During the development and testing of this system until 2015, more than 40 surveys have produced around 500.000 digital aerial images, of which some were taken in specially protected areas (SPA) of the Baltic Sea and thus include a wide range of relevant species. Here, we present the technical principles of this comparatively new survey approach and discuss the key methodological challenges related to optimizing survey design and workflow in view of the pending regulatory requirements for effective environmental impact assessments.

THE NEED OF NESTED GRIDS FOR AERIAL AND SATELLITE IMAGES AND DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS

Abstract. Usual workflows for production, archiving, dissemination and use of Earth observation images (both aerial and from remote sensing satellites) pose big interoperability problems, as for example: non-alignment of pixels at the different levels of the pyramids that makes it impossible to overlay, compare and mosaic different orthoimages, without resampling them and the need to apply multiple resamplings and compression-decompression cycles. These problems cause great inefficiencies in production, dissemination through web services and processing in “Big Data” environments. Most of them can be avoided, or at least greatly reduced, with the use of a common “nested grid” for mutiresolution production, archiving, dissemination and exploitation of orthoimagery, digital elevation models and other raster data. “Nested grids” are space allocation schemas that organize image footprints, pixel sizes and pixel positions at all pyramid levels, in order to achieve coherent and consistent multiresolution coverage of a whole working area. A “nested grid” must be complemented by an appropriate “tiling schema”, ideally based on the “quad-tree” concept. In the last years a “de facto standard” grid and Tiling Schema has emerged and has been adopted by virtually all major geospatial data providers. It has also been adopted by OGC in its “WMTS Simple Profile” standard. In this paper we explain how the adequate use of this tiling schema as common nested grid for orthoimagery, DEMs and other types of raster data constitutes the most practical solution to most of the interoperability problems of these types of data.

THE NEED OF NESTED GRIDS FOR AERIAL AND SATELLITE IMAGES AND DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS

Usual workflows for production, archiving, dissemination and use of Earth observation images (both aerial and from remote sensing satellites) pose big interoperability problems, as for example: non-alignment of pixels at the different levels of the pyramids that makes it impossible to overlay, compare and mosaic different orthoimages, without resampling them and the need to apply multiple resamplings and compression-decompression cycles. These problems cause great inefficiencies in production, dissemination through web services and processing in “Big Data” environments. Most of them can be avoided, or at least greatly reduced, with the use of a common “nested grid” for mutiresolution production, archiving, dissemination and exploitation of orthoimagery, digital elevation models and other raster data. “Nested grids” are space allocation schemas that organize image footprints, pixel sizes and pixel positions at all pyramid levels, in order to achieve coherent and consistent multiresolution coverage of a whole working area. A “nested grid” must be complemented by an appropriate “tiling schema”, ideally based on the “quad-tree” concept. In the last years a “de facto standard” grid and Tiling Schema has emerged and has been adopted by virtually all major geospatial data providers. It has also been adopted by OGC in its “WMTS Simple Profile” standard. In this paper we explain how the adequate use of this tiling schema as common nested grid for orthoimagery, DEMs and other types of raster data constitutes the most practical solution to most of the interoperability problems of these types of data.

Automated Archiving of Archaeological Aerial Images

The main purpose of any aerial photo archive is to allow quick access to images based on content and location. Therefore, next to a description of technical parameters and depicted content, georeferencing of every image is of vital importance. This can be done either by identifying the main photographed object (georeferencing of the image content) or by mapping the center point and/or the outline of the image footprint. The paper proposes a new image archiving workflow. The new pipeline is based on the parameters that are logged by a commercial, but cost-effective GNSS/IMU solution and processed with in-house-developed software. Together, these components allow one to automatically geolocate and rectify the (oblique) aerial images (by a simple planar rectification using the exterior orientation parameters) and to retrieve their footprints with reasonable accuracy, which is automatically stored as a vector file. The data of three test flights were used to determine the accuracy of the device, which turned out to be better than 1° for roll and pitch (mean between 0.0 and 0.21 with a standard deviation of 0.17–0.46) and better than 2.5° for yaw angles (mean between 0.0 and −0.14 with a standard deviation of 0.58–0.94). This turned out to be sufficient to enable a fast and almost automatic GIS-based archiving of all of the imagery.

Orbit Determination of the Dawn Spacecraft with Radiometric and Image Data

The orbit of the Dawn spacecraft around asteroid 4 Vesta has been reconstructed using radiometric measurements and image control points. Image control points are introduced as a new measurement type because they constrain the orbit in the along- and crosstrack directions, whereas radiometric measurements provide a stronger constraint in the radial direction. Image control points are available whenever two image footprints on the surface overlap. The measurement uncertainty of images is limited by pixel scale that, in the case of the Dawn mission at Vesta, is between 20 and . The obtained image constraint residual root mean square is approximately the pixel scale for all mission phases. Radiometric residual root mean square spanned from 0.07 to for Doppler and from 0.7 to 1.5 m for range measurements. Radiometric and image constraint residual root-mean-square values are comparable to those reported by the Dawn Science Team using independent software and processing methodology. Improvements as a result of including image control points are largest in the along- and crosstrack directions during the survey phase of the mission. Agreement between the current orbit reconstruction and the trajectory archived by the Dawn Gravity Science Team improves from several kilometers with radiometric measurements to hundreds of meters when image control points are included.

FINDING GAS-RICH DWARF GALAXIES BETRAYED BY THEIR ULTRAVIOLET EMISSION

We present ultraviolet (UV) follow-up of a sample of potential dwarf galaxy candidates selected for their neutral hydrogen (HI) properties, taking advantage of the low UV background seen by the GALEX satellite and its large and publicly available imaging footprint. The HI clouds, which are drawn from published GALFA-HI and ALFALFA HI survey compact cloud catalogs, are selected to be galaxy candidates based on their spatial compactness and non-association with known high-velocity cloud complexes or Galactic HI emission. Based on a comparison of their UV characteristics to those of known dwarf galaxies, half (48%) of the compact HI clouds have at least one potential stellar counterpart with UV properties similar to those of nearby dwarf galaxies. If galaxies, the star formation rates, HI masses, and star formation efficiencies of these systems follow the trends seen for much larger galaxies. The presence of UV emission is an efficient method to identify the best targets for spectroscopic follow-up, which is necessary to prove that the stars are associated with the compact HI. Further, searches of this nature help to refine the salient HI properties of likely dwarfs (even beyond the Local Group). In particular, HI compact clouds considered to be velocity outliers relative to their neighbor HI clouds have the most significant detection rate of single, appropriate UV counterparts. Correcting for the sky coverage of the two all-Arecibo sky surveys yielding the compact HI clouds, these results may imply the presence of potentially hundreds of new tiny galaxies across the entire sky.

OBSERVING STRATEGY FOR THE SDSS-IV/MaNGA IFU GALAXY SURVEY

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an integral-field spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). MaNGA's 17 pluggable optical fiber-bundle integral field units (IFUs) will observe a sample of 10,000 nearby galaxies distributed throughout the SDSS imaging footprint (focusing particularly on the North Galactic Cap). In each pointing these IFUs are deployed across a 3° field; they yield spectral coverage 3600−10300 A at a typical resolution R ~ 2000, and sample the sky with 2'' diameter fiber apertures with a total bundle fill factor of 56%. Observing over such a large field and range of wavelengths is particularly challenging for obtaining uniform and integral spatial coverage and resolution at all wavelengths and across each entire fiber array. Data quality is affected by the IFU construction technique, chromatic and field differential refraction, the adopted dithering strategy, and many other effects. We use numerical simulations to constrain the hardware design and observing strategy for the survey with the aim of ensuring consistent data quality that meets the survey science requirements while permitting maximum observational flexibility. We find that MaNGA science goals are best achieved with IFUs composed of a regular hexagonal grid of optical fibers with rms displacement of 5 μm or less from their nominal packing position; this goal is met by the MaNGA hardware, which achieves 3 μm rms fiber placement. We further show that MaNGA observations are best obtained in sets of three 15 minute exposures dithered along the vertices of a 1.44 arcsec equilateral triangle; these sets form the minimum observational unit, and are repeated as needed to achieve a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 5 A-1 per fiber in the r-band continuum at a surface brightness of 23 AB arcsec-2. In order to ensure uniform coverage and delivered image quality, we require that the exposures in a given set be obtained within a 60 minute interval of each other in hour angle, and that all exposures be obtained at airmass ≲ 1.2 (i.e., within 1–3 hr of transit depending on the declination of a given field).

Algorithms for Automatic Separation and Indexing of Image Footprints in Satellite Bundle Block Adjustment

This paper brings out the algorithms for automatic sorting and sequencing of images and grouping them into independent blocks from a heterogeneous database of images or sub-scenes. Method for finding the neighbors of a given image from a data base of images is also presented. These algorithms are also useful in the context of finding out the overlap area between the neighbors, automatic tie point detection and also for making mosaics over large areas. These algorithms are a part of in-house developed package for bundle block adjustment of satellite images.

Effective System for Automatic Bundle Block Adjustment and Ortho Image Generation from Multi Sensor Satellite Imagery

Abstract. Block Adjustment is a technique for large area mapping for images obtained from different remote sensingsatellites.The challenge in this process is to handle huge number of satellite imageries from different sources with different resolution and accuracies at the system level. This paper explains a system with various tools and techniques to effectively handle the end-to-end chain in large area mapping and production with good level of automation and the provisions for intuitive analysis of final results in 3D and 2D environment. In addition, the interface for using open source ortho and DEM references viz., ETM, SRTM etc. and displaying ESRI shapes for the image foot-prints are explained. Rigorous theory, mathematical modelling, workflow automation and sophisticated software engineering tools are included to ensure high photogrammetric accuracy and productivity. Major building blocks like Georeferencing, Geo-capturing and Geo-Modelling tools included in the block adjustment solution are explained in this paper. To provide optimal bundle block adjustment solution with high precision results, the system has been optimized in many stages to exploit the full utilization of hardware resources. The robustness of the system is ensured by handling failure in automatic procedure and saving the process state in every stage for subsequent restoration from the point of interruption. The results obtained from various stages of the system are presented in the paper.

A DEEP PROPER MOTION CATALOG WITHIN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY FOOTPRINT

A new proper motion catalog is presented, combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with second epoch observations in the r band within a portion of the SDSS imaging footprint. The new observations were obtained with the 90prime camera on the Steward Observatory Bok 90 inch telescope, and the Array Camera on the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 1.3 meter telescope. The catalog covers 1098 square degrees to r = 22.0, an additional 1521 square degrees to r = 20.9, plus a further 488 square degrees of lesser quality data. Statistical errors in the proper motions range from 5 mas/year at the bright end to 15 mas/year at the faint end, for a typical epoch difference of 6 years. Systematic errors are estimated to be roughly 1 mas/year for the Array Camera data, and as much as 2 - 4 mas/year for the 90prime data (though typically less). The catalog also includes a second epoch of r band photometry.

Aerial Surveys Using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS): Comparison of Different Methods for Estimating the Surface Area of Sampling Strips

Conservation of natural ecosystems requires regular monitoring of biodiversity, including the estimation of wildlife density. Recently, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become more available for numerous civilian applications. The use of small drones for wildlife surveys as a surrogate for manned aerial surveys is becoming increasingly attractive and has already been implemented with some success. This raises the question of how to process UAS imagery in order to determine the surface area of sampling strips within an acceptable confidence level. For the purpose of wildlife surveys, the estimation of sampling strip surface area needs to be both accurate and quick, and easy to implement. As GPS and an inertial measurement units are commonly integrated within unmanned aircraft platforms, two methods of direct georeferencing were compared here. On the one hand, we used the image footprint projection (IFP) method, which utilizes collinearity equations on each image individually. On the other hand, the Structure from Motion (SfM) technique was used for block orientation and georeferencing. These two methods were compared on eight sampling strips. An absolute orientation of the strip was determined by indirect georeferencing using ground control points. This absolute orientation was considered as the reference and was used for validating the other two methods. The IFP method was demonstrated to be the most accurate and the easiest to implement. It was also found to be less demanding in terms of image quality and overlap. However, even though a flat landscape is the type most widely encountered in wildlife surveys in Africa, we recommend estimating IFP sensitivity at an accentuation of the relief.

SEARCHING FOR COMETS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: THE ORBIT OF 17P/HOLMES FROM THE BEHAVIOR OF PHOTOGRAPHERS

We performed an image search for "Comet Holmes," using the Yahoo Web search engine, on 2010 April 1. Thousands of images were returned. We astrometrically calibrated---and therefore vetted---the images using the Astrometry.net system. The calibrated image pointings form a set of data points to which we can fit a test-particle orbit in the Solar System, marginalizing over image dates and detecting outliers. The approach is Bayesian and the model is, in essence, a model of how comet astrophotographers point their instruments. In this work, we do not measure the position of the comet within each image, but rather use the celestial position of the whole image to infer the orbit. We find very strong probabilistic constraints on the orbit, although slightly off the JPL ephemeris, probably due to limitations of our model. Hyperparameters of the model constrain the reliability of date meta-data and where in the image astrophotographers place the comet; we find that ~70 percent of the meta-data are correct and that the comet typically appears in the central third of the image footprint. This project demonstrates that discoveries and measurements can be made using data of extreme heterogeneity and unknown provenance. As the size and diversity of astronomical data sets continues to grow, approaches like ours will become more essential. This project also demonstrates that the Web is an enormous repository of astronomical information; and that if an object has been given a name and photographed thousands of times by observers who post their images on the Web, we can (re-)discover it and infer its dynamical properties.

Towards a nanomechanical basis for temporary adhesion in barnacle cyprids ( Semibalanus balanoides )

Cypris larvae of barnacles are able to use a rapidly reversible temporary adhesion mechanism for exploring immersed surfaces. Despite decades of research interest, the means by which cyprids maintain attachment with surfaces prior to permanent settlement remain poorly understood. Here, we present novel observations on the morphology of 'footprints' of a putative adhesive secretion deposited by cyprids during surface exploration. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to image footprints at high resolution and to acquire measurements of interaction forces. R-CH3- and R-NH2-terminated glass surfaces were used for comparison of footprint morphology, and it was noted that on R-NH2 each footprint comprised three times the volume of material deposited for footprints on R-CH3. Direct scaling of adhesion forces derived from AFM measurements did not adequately predict the real attachment tenacity of cyprids, and it is suggested that a mixture of 'wet' and 'dry' adhesive mechanisms may be at work in cyprid adhesion. High-resolution images of cyprid footprints are presented that correlate well with the known morphology of the attachment structures.

Cross-sensor change detection over a forested landscape: Options to enable continuity of medium spatial resolution measures

Landsat data have been widely used for change detection studies of forest ecosystems. Technical issues related to the longevity and quality of the Landsat-5 and -7 instruments prompted this investigation into how data from other sensors may be integrated with the existing Landsat image archive. Change maps indicating the location and extent of stand replacing disturbances occurring between 1999 and 2004 were developed using a rank-order change detection approach. The near-infrared (NIR) band from an image representing initial stand conditions (T1: Landsat-7 ETM+), and the NIR band of images acquired on subsequent dates and with different sensors (T2: ASTER, SPOT-4, and Landsat-5 TM) were selected, essentially acting as three different T2 images. Pair-wise comparisons between the T1 image and each of the T2 images required the pixel values to be sorted, ranked, and differenced; a threshold was then applied to the difference values to identify the stand replacing disturbances. The rank-order change detection approach precluded the need for an additional image normalization process. When compared to a manually interpreted map of change events, the output from the ASTER, SPOT-4, and Landsat-5 TM data were all equally effective in identifying all of the stand replacing disturbances that occurred between 1999 and the year of T2 image acquisition, and errors of commission were minimal. Important logistical limitations to cross-sensor change do exist however and include the lack of spatially or temporally extensive image archives for sensors other than Landsat, incompatible image footprints, and data cost and policy. This rank-order change detection approach is suitable for applications involving multi-temporal datasets where problems may exist due to image normalization, cross-sensor radiometric calibration, or unavailability of a desired sensor type.

Image-based tree modeling

In this paper, we propose an approach for generating 3D models of natural-looking trees from images that has the additional benefit of requiring little user intervention. While our approach is primarily image-based, we do not model each leaf directly from images due to the large leaf count, small image footprint, and widespread occlusions. Instead, we populate the tree with leaf replicas from segmented source images to reconstruct the overall tree shape. In addition, we use the shape patterns of visible branches to predict those of obscured branches. We demonstrate our approach on a variety of trees.

Integrating in situ and multiscale passive microwave data for estimation of subgrid scale snow water equivalent distribution and variability

New multiscale research datasets were acquired in central Saskatchewan, Canada during February 2003 to quantify the effect of spatially heterogeneous land cover and snowpack properties on passive microwave snow water equivalent (SWE) retrievals. Microwave brightness temperature data at various spatial resolutions were acquired from tower and airborne microwave radiometers, complemented by spaceborne Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data for a 25/spl times/25 km study area centered on the Old Jack Pine tower in the Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites (BERMS). To best address scaling issues, the airborne data were acquired over an intensively spaced grid of north-south and east-west oriented flight lines. A coincident ground sampling program characterized in situ snow cover for all representative land cover types found in the study area. A suite of micrometeorological data from seven sites within the study area was acquired to aid interpretation of the passive microwave brightness temperatures. The in situ data were used to determine variability in SWE, snow depth, and density within and between forest stands and land cover types within the 25/spl times/25 km SSM/I grid cell. Statistically significant subgrid scale SWE variability in this mixed forest environment was controlled by variations in snow depth, not density. Spaceborne passive microwave SWE retrievals derived using the Meteorological Service of Canada land cover sensitive algorithm suite were near the center of the normally distributed in situ measurements, providing a reasonable estimate of the mean grid cell SWE. A realistic level of SWE variability was captured by the high-resolution airborne data, showing that passive microwave retrievals are capable of capturing stand-to-stand SWE variability if the imaging footprint is sufficiently small.

Raman spectroscopic analysis of cyanobacterial gypsum halotrophs and relevance for sulfate deposits on Mars

The Raman spectra of cyanobacterial species, Gloecapsa and Nostoc, in clear gypsum crystals from the Haughton Crater, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic, site of a meteorite impact during the Miocene some 23 Mya, have been recorded using several visible and near-infrared excitation wavelengths. The best spectra were obtained using a green wavelength at 514.5 nm and a confocal microscope with an image footprint of about 2 micro in diameter and 2 micro theoretical depth. Raman biosignatures for beta-carotene and scytonemin were obtained for one type of colony and parietin and beta-carotene for another; chlorophyll was detected in both types of colony. The different combination of these radiation protectant biomolecules suggests that the two cyanobacterial colonies, namely Nostoc and Gloecapsa, are adopting different survival strategies in the system. Confocal spectroscopic probing of the gypsum crystals exhibited sufficient discrimination for the identification of the biomolecules through the gypsum crystal, in simulation of the detection of extant or extinct halotrophs. This supports the viability of Raman spectroscopic techniques for incorporation as part of the instrumentation suite of a robotic lander for planetary surface exploration for the detection of organisms inside sulfate crystals from previous hydrothermal activity on Mars.

Anthraquinone Photonuclease Structure Determines Its Mode of Binding to DNA and the Cleavage Chemistry Observed

The development of chemical agents that cleave the backbone of DNA has been spurred by a desire to isolate functional DNA sequences1 and to develop agents that image (footprint) molecules bound to DNA.2 Synthetic nucleases are structurally diverse compounds that operate by three general mechanisms: hydrolysis of the sugar phosphate bond,3 chemical modification of a DNA base,1a,b,4 or hydrogen abstraction from a deoxyribose unit.5 We recently described a set of anthraquinone derivatives that act as photonucleases.6

The Oxford dictionary of new words: a popular guide to words in the news

What does mirror-shades group mean? (Is it a solar power array, a school of science fiction, a slang word for corporate raiders?) Who first coined the word factoid? When and where does the triple witching hour occur? On what kid's show was the cry Cowabunga first heard? In The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, Sara Tulloch examines over two thousand new words and phrases that have become part of our daily lives in the last decade, in 750 articles that provide pronunciation, definition, etymology, informal history, and sample sentences. Drawing words from politics, the environmental movement, computers and technology, business, sports, entertainment, and many other areas, Tulloch goes beyond the usual informative but narrow dictionary entry to offer readers a rich history of the recent changes not only in our language but in our culture as well. Just skimming the headwords is like fast-forwarding through the eighties: bailout, cocooning, deniability, the disappeared, glasnost, lambada, safe sex, spin doctor, fun run, insider trading, genetic fingerprinting, thirtysomething, designer water, liposuction, Cablevision, gentrification, intifada, and DINK (Double Income, No Kids). And the histories that Tulloch provides are so interesting that even if you know the meaning of a word you will find the article fascinating. Here then is a resource that is both useful and intriguing, the first place to turn when faced with such new words and phrases as acyclovir, magnetic resonance imaging, Alar or computer footprint, as well as a browser's delight, a goldmine of language for word lovers everywhere.