Development and application of algorithms dedicated to the retrieval of gases concentrations (mainly water vapor) from measurements of GOME-2, Sentinel 4, 5-P, 5.

Visiting Scientist within the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center PACE ProjectAlexander von Humboldt Fellow--Adaptation of heritage algorithms to the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI)Synergy exploitation of polarimetry for coherent aerosol-cloud interaction retrieval

Earth Observation Scientist - Downstream applicationsAether (Air-Breathing Electric Thruster) Very-Low Orbit (VLO) SatellitesHorizon 2020, SEP-210573414, SITAEL - Angel Corporation

DLR Cloud Verification Algorithm for UVN on board Sentinel-4I personally wrote the research proposal aiming for the verification and quality assessment of the operational breadboarding algorithm for cloud data, closely working with partners institutions in the L2 Working Group, lead by DLR Oberpfaffenhofen. The task required (1) radiative transfer calculations in the NIR spectral range for the upfront alignment of the molecular atmospheric radiance calibration in the non-absorbing continuum and in the in-band absorbing window of molecular oxygen. (2) More than 200 tsd. spectra have been retrieved as function of different surface bidirectional reflection functions and geostationary daily and seasonal observational geometry. Additionally, (3) I advanced the interpretation of UVN/S4 measurements embedding inelastic scattering processes (rotational Raman scattering) into polarized radiative transfer at the nominal UVN spectral resolution specifications.

DFG Transregional Collaborative Project TR172 AC3(ArctiC Amplification: Climate relevant Atmospheric and surfaCe processes and feedback mechanisms), subproject B01: Top-Of-Atmosphere reflectance and cloud properties.I actively wrote the research proposal for Phase I (2015-2019) and Phase II (2019 - 2023)and supervised a doctoral student during Phase I. The deliverables of Phase I were the generation of 23 years record of spectral Top-Of-Atmosphere reflectances (from the UV throughout the NIR) from GOME, SCIAMACHY and GOME-A/B and MERIS sensors. The work required (1) intra-sensor vicarious calibration above bright surfaces, with strong directional reflective functions, and (2) the development of new cloud algorithms dealing with complex geophysical scenarios above the Arctic region. (3) Radiative transfer calculations have been performed in the optical wavelength range for the characterization of different ice crystal size and shape in arctic clouds and snowy surfaces.

ESA Living Planet Fellowship: "Statistics of Aerosol and Cloud Interactions (STARCLINT)"The aim of the project is the development of new statistical inferences on cloud adjustments to aerosol particles. It requires the ingestion, colocation, validation of heterogeneous long-term cloud, aerosol and sea surface temperature data records from multispectral imagers (AATSR / ESA, MODIS / NASA, AVHRR / NOAA) and hyperspectral sensors (ESA: SCIAMACHY and GOME-2) with ground-based instrumentation (sunphotometer, lidar, ceilometer).

ESA Aerosol Climate Change Initiative : scientific development of an algorithm for the determination of the altitude of aerosol layers from SCIAMACHY measurementsI have been part of the ESA CCI aerosol working group - led by DLR Oberpfaffenhofen with partners BIRA (Belgium), NILU (Norway), LMD and LISA (France), KNMI (Netherlands), and I developed an algorithm for the inference of aerosol layer height from SCIAMACHY measurements. Specifically, I have (1) tested the radiation transfer in the NIR spectral range with different in-layer particulate extinction profiles. Given the low optical thickness of the target quantity to be retrieved, (2) fine- tuning of radiative transfer calculations together with a description of surface reflectivity above vegetated and barren soil and (3) additional verification of cloud masking with a technique exploiting broadband optical measurements were required.

DLR Globale Wolkenfeldstudie unter Verwendung der Sentinel-Daten (A study of the Global Cloud Field using Sentinel data) - GLOS projectI actively participated in proposal writing, I assisted the scientific development of new retrieval algorithms in the field of aerosol and cloud remote sensing and I coordinated the all project until the final reporting to DLR. Specifically, the scientific task comprised: (1) the conceptual design of a new model parameterization of clouds contaminated by aerosol particles; (2) radiative transfer calculations of complex atmospheric scenarios for multispectral measurements by MODIS (NASA) and AATSR (ESA); (3) the retrieval of clouds and aerosol properties with various bulk optical scattering models (polluted and ice clouds); (4) validation of the retrieved quantities against ground-based data from ARM (US-DoE) and AERONET (NASA) sites.

DLR Level-2 Working Group for TROPOMI on Sentinel-5pI personally lead and coordinated the inter-comparison and alignment of the following radiative transfer models among partner institutions: SCIATRAN (IUP-Bremen), DISAMAR (KNMI)and VLIDORT (DLR). The task comprised (1) the beforehand convergence of the molecular radiance, of the scattering radiance as function of different cloud scenarios between the mentioned radiative transfer models; (2) the generation, dissemination of a test dataset of more than 150 tsd. synthetic measurements of cloud and aerosol scenarios in and around the oxygen A-band; (3) the recollection, comparison and verification of retrievals from test data of cloud properties from partners; (4) the validation of TROPOMI proxy retrievals from GOME-2A measurements; (5) writing the final science verification report for the sections about cloud optical thickness, height and aerosol optical thickness and height operational products.

DFG Dust remote sensing and deposition using satellite instruments (joint project with MARUM, Oceanography Institute, University of Bremen)For this project I personally (1) wrote the proposal for fundraising; (2) I supervised a doctoral student during the 3-years duration of the project with the task of harmonizing aerosol satellite product from geostationary SEVIRI (Meteosat) with polar active lidar aerosol profile CALIOP (CALIPSO) and air masses trajectories from Hypslit model, and ultimately assess aerosol deposition onto the ocean layer.

ESA SCIAMACHY long term validation (SCILOV-10) project.I personally (1) assessed the quality of 10 years of the DLR/ESA operational cloud products from SCIAMACHY measurements with my own generated record at IUP Bremen with the algorithm developed during my doctoral thesis; (2) validated both cloud data record against ground-based instrumentation, finding optimal colocation and radiation closure; (3) write the final reporting section.

ESA A surface reflectance DAtabase for ESA’s earth observation Missions (ADAM).I supported the lead scientist in the quality assessment of cloud properties varying the bidirectional reflection distribution functions (BRDF) of disparate surface types. Specifically, (1) I tested the appropriateness of a Lambertian surface treatment versus different BRDFs generating with a radiative transfer model SCIATRAN test data and (2) retrieving the corresponding cloud properties. (3) Final radiative closure with additional radiative transfer simulation and validation with ground-based data.

Analisys of climatological data series and orographic conformation and modeling atmospheric transport phenomena

Designing, assembling and testing of networks among medium concerns

Development of C libraries for interoperability among DBMS