| title: | INVESTIGATION OF COLUMNAR CONTENT OF WATER VAPOR AND AEROSOLS |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF5857 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| subject: |
1.4. Astronomy |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | TU Faculty of Physics and Chemistry |
| head of project: | Hanno Ohvril |
| duration: | 01.01.2004 - 31.12.2007 |
| description: | Two different components of clean and dry air, water vapor and aerosol particles, influence radiative transfer and thermodynamics of the atmosphere, energy balance and light regime of the underlying surface, retrieval of information from satellite data. In atmospheric optical and dynamic models both components act as input values. Interest in atmospheric humidity is highlighted with respect to current hypotheses about climate warming and with respect to hydrologic cycles and reserves of fresh water as a diminishing natural resource. Aerosol particles and water vapor also influence atmospheric clarity and visibility. Spatial and temporal changes of columnar water vapor and aerosol content will be investigated in this project. Columnar water vapor content, understood as the total amount of precipitable water in the zenith direction, will be calculated from vertical profiles of aerological soundings. Columnar aerosol content will be characterized with aerosol optical transmittance and aerosol optical thickness, Ångström coefficients, size distribution of aerosol particles. Cooperation with Finnish, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian colleagues will allow comparison of these parameters with other climatic regions. Implementation of the project would provide a complete assessment of average and extremal values of columnar water vapor and aerosol content, their seasonal and multiannual trends and geographical variability. Proposed parameterization formulas would allow calculation of columnar water vapor and aerosol content according to basic meteorological and actinometric quantities. University of Tartu, Tartu Observatory and Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute are the main participants of the project. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Universities of Granada, Moscow and Uppsala, Crimean Observatory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA) would act as our foreign partners. |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Ain Kallis | EMHI | peaspetsialist | |
| 2. | Ingrid Niklus | EMHI | juhataja | |
| 3. | Hanno Ohvril | TU Faculty of Physics and Chemistry | Assoc. Prof. | |
| 4. | Oleg Okulov | University of Tartu | teadur | |
| 5. | Viivi Russak | TO | teadur | |
| 6. | Hilda Teral | University of Tartu | lektor | |