Projects / Programmes
Remote sensing of atmospheric properties
January 1, 2020
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 1.02.04 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Physics |
Meteorology and oceanography |
| 1.06.05 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Geology |
Geophysics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| T181 |
Technological sciences |
Remote sensing |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 1.03 |
Natural Sciences |
Physical sciences |
| 1.05 |
Natural Sciences |
Earth and related Environmental sciences |
atmospheric remote sensing, atmospheric structures, aerosols, arimass motion, Bora episodes, micro- and mezoscale atmospheric modeling
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
June 28, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
925 |
46,617 |
42,190 |
45.61 |
| Scopus |
930 |
56,643 |
52,129 |
56.05 |
Researchers (12)
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
1540 |
University of Nova Gorica |
Nova Gorica |
5920884000 |
0 |
Abstract
The atmosphere, our planet’s envelope of gasses and suspended microscopic particles, the so called aerosols, is crucial for sustaining life on Earth. Its innermost part, the troposphere, contains approximately 80% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols and is the most relevant for our daily life through climate, weather and air pollution.
The primary aim of the program “Remote sensing of atmospheric properties” are studies of physical processes in the atmosphere using remote sensing and in-situ measurements as well as modeling of atmospheric phenomena. In contrast to classical tools like meteorological balloons, remote sensing techniques offer scanning capabilities and thus two- and three- dimensional imaging. Our research activities include the investigation of aerosol sources, propagation, influence on the atmospheric optical properties, the dynamics of atmospheric structures and the impact of atmospheric conditions on astrophysical observations. In the case of the atmospheric boundary layer, which directly interacts with the surface of the earth and which has the most significant effect on us, its properties are being investigated through the use of various types of ground-based lidars and space-based radio signals. Lidars and dual frequency GPS stations can provide information on various atmospheric properties, such as temperature, humidity, total water content, wind speed and direction, aerosol loading and type of the suspended particles. As water vapor is the Earth's most important and abundant greenhouse gas and the aerosols were found to have a considerable impact on climate, weather and human health, such measurements are of great importance both for the scientific community as well as in a broader context.
Direct program goals include detailed investigations of tropospheric and ionospheric properties and processes, in particular aerosol transport, correlations between water vapor and aerosol content, remote identification of aerosol types, and Bora wind. These goals will be reached using the existing infrastructure and research equipment upgraded with new acquisitions funded by the Infrastructure program of the University of Nova Gorica and other projects. Research activities are being pursued at the University of Nova Gorica Ajdovščina site, at our atmospheric observatory at Otlica and in collaboration with the Pierre Auger and the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatories, where we contribute to the construction of the CTA Raman lidar.
Significance for science
The main goal of the research program is to investigate the atmosphere using remote sensing techniques, with the aim to improve the understanding of a wide variety of underlying processes (from the fields of aerodynamics, heat transfer, meteorology, climatology, propagation of waves in random media and space weather) in a media which, due to its inaccessibility to in-situ measurements, remains relatively poorly understood. The program in this way represents a direct and relevant contribution to the advancement of science.
In addition to the direct contributions to the atmospheric sciences, it will also greatly contribute to research and development in the rapidly growing field of remote sensing by providing novel detection and analysis techniques as well as the actual detection devices. The activities take place at the Center for Atmospheric Research of the University of Nova Gorica, which is at present the only Slovenian institution that has achieved international recognition in this field.
The program is strongly integrated in the global research endeavor in atmospheric sciences, as well as in instrumentation, with informal and project-based links to competent partners from the USA (The University of Iowa), China (Ocean University of China, Xi'an University of Technology) and EU countries (in particular Universita di Bologna, Italy; DLR, Germany; Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain), including Slovenia (Slovenian Environmental Agency, J. Stefan Institute). Furthermore, the research program and the relevance of its findings is very important for successful use of the atmosphere as cosmic ray detection media in astroparticle physics experiments, such as the Pierre Auger Collaboration (more than 50 institutions from 18 countries) and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, (more than 200 institutions from 31 countries) in which we are formally involved.
Significance for the country
Direct impact of the program on the economy and society arises through the possibility of a transfer of knowledge and state-of-the-art technologies to Slovenia for commercial use and public service, a task which we have been actively pursuing since the establishment of the Center for Atmospheric Research at the University of Nova Gorica. As an example, a direct spin-off of the basic research activities at the Pierre Auger Observatory, where the programme leader participates (characterization of the atmosphere as the main detector media using Lidar technology, timing of the ground detector array using GPS signals) was the construction (together with Slovenian Environmental Agency) of the first lidar observatory site in Slovenia at Otlica in 2005, which among others successfully tracked and characterized Icelandic volcanic ash in 2010 Eyjafjallajo¨kull eruption. We developed a two-wavelength polarization Raman lidar system (with US and Chinese collaboration partners from The University of Iowa, Ocean University of China and Xi'an University of Technology) for remote profiling of aerosol properties and water vapor concentrations in the atmosphere. In collaboration with Slovenian companies Optotek and Fotona we have also developed a mobile lidar for aerosol tracking and identification. In collaboration with the University of Bath in the UK and the EISCAT collaboration in Sweden we investigated the impact of ionospheric perturbations on GPS and the possibilities of their mitigation in the times of solar maximum. All these devices provide not only scientific results but also results with a broader impact on society. At the present we are collaborating with Slovenian company Aerosol d.o.o. (part of Magee Scientific) in the research of propagation and source identification of anthropogenic air pollutants, such as black and brown carbon aerosols originating from internal combustion and biomass burning, and thus transferring new scientific results into business environments. These activities will be expanded and intensified in the future.
As an indirect impact of the proposed program on society we highlight the active and competitive participation of Slovenian researchers and students in these leading-edge global research activities; success of this and other such projects will help ensure the recognition of Slovenia as a high technology oriented country, which would further stimulate and promote international scientific, economical and financial cooperation.
