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
2012-12-11: A new pole hole
In winter 2011, an ozone hole appeared over the Arctic for the first time.
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2012-10-05: Monitoring volcanic ash aerosol height from GOME-2 Oxygen A band measurements
Large volcanic ash plumes can have a serious impact on aviation. The height of the ash layer is an relevant parameter in the derivation of aerosol mass concentration which can be harmful for aircraft engines in case of high concentration. Recently Wang et al. (2012) demonstrate that it is possible to derive aerosol height from Oxygen A band measurement for absorbing aerosols such as volcanic ash plumes, biomass burning aerosols and desert dust aerosols.
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2012-09-05: Using daily satellite observations to estimate emissions of short-lived air pollutants
Emission inventories of air pollutants are crucial information for policy makers and form important input data for air quality models. Using satellite observations for emission estimates has important advantages over bottom-up emission inventories: they are spatially consistent, have high temporal resolution, and enable updates shortly after the satellite data become available. We present a new algorithm specifically
designed to use daily satellite observations of column concentrations for fast updates of emission estimates of short-lived atmospheric constituents on a mesoscopic scale (about 25 x 25 km2) .
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