Contact LISA: Agnès Perrin

PI: Jana Mendrock (Lulea University of Technology, Sweden)

 

Various European research institutes have developed advanced electromagnetic propagation models adapted to Earth or to various planetary atmospheres. Most of the time, these models are designed for a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum and for a specific atmosphere. Indeed, the main objective of these existing models is to be used with sophisticated inversion algorithms for an accurate retrieval of atmospheric parameters from observation data collected by orbiting remote sensing instruments. Hence they demand an accuracy that requires high sophistication and makes them bulky, slow and difficult to use.

Some of these models are available to the ESA Agency and are used internally when detailed investigations are required. However, for all tasks that require a relatively quick assessment of the propagation figures there is a need for having in-house tools that can provide - with moderate to good accuracy - a quick estimation of the main microwave propagation parameters. These tools can then be used for sensitivity analysis and for conducting preliminary investigations on the potential of innovative remote sensing techniques.

The objective of the study is to build up a model simulating the propagation of microwaves (submm to decametric) through planetary atmospheres as well as the physical quantities related to the microwave emission and attenuation processes.

 

Partners: Lulea University of Technology (Sweden); Chalmers University (Sweden); Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany)