Detail Project and Funding

Abstract: The project is related to research and development activities in support to the development of the ESA Earth-Explorer-9 FORUM satellite mission. In particular, the following activities are developed:
– Coordination of the national community for studies about radiative effects of water vapour and clouds on the climate system by means of spectral measurements of the radiation emitted by the Earth in the far infrared.
– Development and validation of a shared algorithm for the simultaneous retrieval of atmospheric parameters and optical and microphysical properties of clouds.
– Design and adaptation of a prototype of a Fourier transform spectrometer for applications on-board of stratospheric balloons.

The Scientific Results:
1) The two-stream delta-Eddington approximation to simulate the far infrared Earth spectrum for the simultaneous atmospheric and cloud retrieval
2) Campagna di misura su pallone per Progetto HEMERA
3) Analysis of Water Vapor Absorption in the Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Regions Using Surface Radiometric Measurements From Extremely Dry Locations
4) Observations of the downwelling far-infrared atmospheric emission at the Zugspitze observatory
5) Comparison of mid-latitude single- and mixed-phase cloud optical depth from co-located infrared spectrometer and backscatter lidar measurements
6) Synergistic retrieval and complete data fusion methods applied to simulated FORUM and IASI-NG measurements
7) Sensitivity studies toward the retrieval of ice crystal habit distributions inside cirrus clouds from upwelling far infrared spectral radiance observations
8) FORUM Unique Far-Infrared Satellite Observations to Better Understand How Earth Radiates Energy to Space