2025-09-05, 11:00–12:00 (Europe/Amsterdam), Expert Room 2
Radiative Transfer Theory provides a robust framework for understanding how matter interacts with light, enabling us to interpret radiometric observations of planetary atmospheres. This theory allows us to explore photochemical processes and calculate heating rates in atmospheres, both of which are crucial for studying atmospheric chemistry and modeling the climate.
Solving the Maxwell equations of electrodynamics and the Schrödinger equation of quantum mechanics can be quite complex, especially when dealing with intricate objects like planets. Instead, we focus on the Radiative Transfer Theory, which allows us to study radiometric observations of stellar objects and the Earth's atmosphere effectively. This theory combines aspects of both fundamental physics theories.
In this lecture, we will explore this powerful theory, starting with the foundational radiative transfer equation and its applications to remote sensing of celestial objects and the Earth's atmosphere.
Other links:
https://owncloud2.sron.nl/index.php/s/gCxJuHn3MqcwqMD pw: RRT25
Jochen Landgraf is a senior scientist at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and a guest professor at the Institute for Environmental Physics, University Heidelberg. At SRON he is head of a research group focusing on atmospheric remote sensing of trace gases from TANGO, TROPOMI, S5, and GOSAT observations. His group developed the algorithm and SW for the operational CO and CH4 data processing of the Sentinel-5P and Sentinel 5 mission. In several studies, his team demonstrated higher-level data applications of S5P CO and CH4 data. He is a member of the S4/S5 and CO2M mission advisory group and has led and contributed to many projects, including several for ESA and EUMETSAT. His scientific focus is on atmospheric radiative transfer and measurement inversion techniques but also includes new measurement concepts and instrument specifications.