IGF



Laser techniques in studies of aerosol and clouds (1103-5`TLWBA)

Academic year: 2017/2018
Semester: summer

LECTURE DESCRIPTION

This academic course aims at familiarizing students with the laser techniques which are applied for studies of atmosphere. It is assumed that after attending the course students will be able to navigate through the current English literature in the field. They will acquaint themselves with the basis of the laser techniques, their advantages and limitations, and will be able to utilize at least one of these techniques in practice.

The aim of the course is to introduce, also in practice, modern laser techniques used in studies of atmospheric aerosols and clouds.

A detailed program of lectures will be given at the first meeting, however, I will cover at least 8 of following techniques:

Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS)

Cavity Ring-Down spectroscopy (CRD)

Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF)

Light Induced Atomic Desorption (LIAD)

Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probing (FSSP)

Cloud Particle Imager (CPI)

Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS)

High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL)

DIferential Absorption Lidar (DIAL)

Elastic versus Raman lidar

Linear versus Circular Polarization lidar

Doppler and n-band Radars

The course was initially adressed to graduate students specializing in field of atmospheric physics / geophysics. However, over the years it proved to be popular among students from other disciplines. It is also a popular choice for ERASMUS students.

Having a basic knowledge of the atmospheric physics will be an asset to students, although it is not necessary to understand the lectures. The course will be given in English, thus intermediate-level language knowledge is required.

The estimated student workload is following:

- participation in class: 20 h (10 essential lectures during)

- practical training: 10h (one-to-one sessions)

- preparation for classes 10h

- written report of practical work performed by the student: 10 h

- preparation for the exam: 20 h

The list of references will be given during the lectures.

Final assessment will be based on the written report of work conducted by the student's during the practical training (50% of the final grade) and on the evaluation of the exam (50% of the final grade).

 

COURSES MATERIALS
Lectures / Leader Lecture type