Investigation of mesospheric temperature variability from SCIAMACHY data

Within this PhD research, data from the SCIAMACHY/ENVISAT satellite instrument will be derived and applied to investigate the temperature variability and the atmospheric energy budget in the mesosphere (~50-100 km).
Scientific background:
Anthropogenic emissions are of great concern in climate change. At the same time, large uncertainties in climate models persist due to our incomplete understanding of natural processes in the Earth's atmosphere. The mesosphere (50 km to 100 km) belongs to the less well studied regions of the atmosphere. Many processes therein were discovered only recently and are still not well understood neither reproduced in chemistry-climate models. Recently, a true inter-hemisphere coupling has been found which connects the winter stratosphere at around 20 km altitude in one hemisphere to the summer mesopause around 80 km in the other hemisphere. Wind, temperature, and waves drive this interaction. Other recent results suggest that disturbances can propagate from the mesosphere down to the troposphere where they influence surface pressure and temperature, i.e., the weather patterns. Various processes contribute to the mesosphere dynamics and its energy budget. Studying them in more detail is essential to better understand the middle atmosphere dynamics and to better represent the dynamical coupling from the mesosphere to the surface in chemistry-climate models.
Project description:
Within the framework of this PhD project, the candidate will investigate how the mesosphere temperature responses to different external forcing using data from the SCIAMACHY satellite instrument. These forcings include wave activity and sudden stratospheric warmings, solar activity, and at polar latitudes also
geomagnetic activity. She or he will develop a retrieval algorithm for the O2 volume emission rate and the mesosphere temperature and validate them against other temperature data products. From this, the whole ten years of Envisat data from 2002 to 2012 will be retrieved, validated, and analysed with respect to the response to the different forcing factors.

Weitere Informationen

Unternehmen

Helmholtz Gemeinschaft

Bereich/Abteilung

Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric trace gases and remote sensing (IMK-ASF)

Abschlussart

Bachelorarbeit

Branche

Forschung und Entwicklung

Schlagwörter

Matlab idl Python Fortran C++ C Climate Research Atmosphere dynamics Anthropogenic emissions Meteorology Physics

Anforderungen

• A degree (Diploma/Master) in Physics or Meteorology or an equivalent background with above-average final mark.
• Profound computer skills and knowledge of at least one of these programming languages: (C, C++, Fortran, Python, idl or matlab).
• A sound interest in atmospheric and climate research.
• Good English skills and willigness to present results in international conferences and journals.

Zusatzinformationen

Promotionsstelle

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

Vertragsdauer: befristet for 3 years
Eintrittstermin: as soon as possible
Bewerbung bis: 15.11.2014
Ansprechpartner/in für fachliche Fragen: Fachliche Auskünfte erteilt Ihnen gerne Dr. Miriam Sinnhuber (Email: miriam.sinnhuber@kit.edu)