Research
Climate Observations
In the Climate Observations division we study the global and regional
atmospheric composition using satellite observations of trace gases, aerosols
and clouds. The observations contribute to monitoring and research of Climate,
Ozone, and Air Quality. The main satellite instruments used in our division are
OMI, GOME, GOME2, SCIAMACHY and SEVIRI. We develop calibration and retrieval
algorithms for these instruments, and process and distribute the satellite data
to users, e.g. via TEMIS, in collaboration with international partners. To
validate the satellite observations and to provide local monitoring we also
operate several ground-based instruments, like the Brewer, the ozone sonde and
the NO2 sonde. Our division has the Principal Investigatorship for the
Dutch-Finnish instrument OMI, launched in 2004 on NASA's EOS-Aura satellite,
and for the Dutch-ESA instrument TROPOMI, to be launched in 2014/15 on ESA's
Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite.
A thirty year time series of the ozone hole (left) and a global air
pollution map of NO2 (right).
News
2012-05-04: Retrieval of the aerosol direct radiative effect over clouds from space-borne spectrometry.
Aerosols play an important role in the Earth's radiation balance, by scattering and absorbing solar radiation. More importantly, aerosols can change cloud dynamics as cloud condensation nuclei and by absorbing solar radiation, thereby heating the atmosphere. This will influence the atmospheric column stability and cloud forming processes. In this paper the absorption of solar radiation by aerosols is quantified using satellite spectrometry, for aerosol layers that are present over clouds.
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2012-02-28: The Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide Measuring Instruments (CINDI)
From June to July 2009 more than thirty different in-situ and remote sensing instruments from all over the world participated in the Cabauw
Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI). The campaign took place at KNMI's Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) in the Netherlands. Its main objectives were to determine the accuracy of state-of-the-art ground-based measurement techniques for the detection of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (both in-situ and remote sensing), and to investigate their usability in satellite data validation.
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2012-02-20: Smoke cloud reveals process of nuclear winter
Soot in clouds of smoke can absorb much sunlight due to their ‘darkness’ and generate so much heat that smoke clouds can rise up to 20 km within a few days. Scientists from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute have revealed the existence of this process by analyzing measurements of the large smoke cloud that emerged after the severe bush fires in Australia on 7 February 2009. This self-lifting effect of smoke clouds is comparable to the process in dust and smoke clouds that emerge after nuclear attacks and on which nuclear winter scenario’s are based.
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