Teacher(s)

Fussen Didier;

Language

English

Prerequisites

Elements of spectroscopy, optics, signal processing and inverse problems (linear algebra) are useful but not indispensable.

Main themes

The Earth's geophysical system and the radiative transfer ; remote sensing from space ; data processing in space applications ; climatic  variables and climatologies.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	To understand the general context of the geophysical frame and of the methods used in the assessment of ground and atmospheric climatic changes, with a focus on spatial techniques and applications. One aims to understand what is accessible to remote sounding from past and present experiences and to show the fundamentals of data processing.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

1. Summary about the geophysical system and radiative transfer
   1. vertical structure of the atmosphere
   2. general atmospheric circulation, composition and chemistry
   3. solar irradiance and Earth's radiative budget
   4. light-matter interaction and multiple scattering: albedo, aerosols and clouds
2. Observation methods
   1. observation geometry from space; emission and absorption, nadir and limb

i.     low altitude  and sun-synchroneous orbits
ii.     geographical coverage and spatial  resolution

1. spectrometers and imagers from UV up to millimetric waves

i.     UV-Vis-near infrared
 ii.     infrared
 iii.     micro-waves

1. satellite altimetry

   i.     ocean
   ii.     ice
  iii.     climate

1. 30 years of space remote sensing: successes and future

    i.     SAGE-ORA
   ii.     ENVISAT-GOMOS
  iii.     CRYOSAT
   Iv.     forthcoming missions et programs

1. ground-based networks and space measurement validation
2. Remote sensing data processing
   1. application domain: ranges and space-time resolution
   2. atmospheric corrections

i.     refraction and atmospheric turbulence
ii.     aerosols and spectral interferences
iii.     differential spectroscopy

1. inverse methods in geophysics

 i.     forward model
 ii.     gain matrix, averaging kernel and linear problems
iii.     regularization techniques
 iv.     error budget

1. Climatic variables: measurements and climatologies
   1. state of the art for the essential climatic variables

i.     ESA essential climatic variables: present status
ii.     temporal global characterization: cycles and trends
iii.     climatic variable matrix and detectability
             b.  open questions in remote sensing

Teaching methods

Lecture

Evaluation methods

Presentation (prepared) about remote sensing questions from a topics list

Bibliography

Aeronomy Of The Middle Atmosphere: Chemistry And Physics Of The Stratosphere And Mesosphere by G. Brasseur and S. Solomon

Inverse methods for atmospheric sounding by Clive Rodgers

Différents traités généralistes (voir http://www.uclouvain.be/322260.html)

Faculty or entity

PHYS