Lara Noppen

Background

• BA in chemistry, ULB (2016-2019)
• MA in chemistry, ULB (2019-2021)
• Master thesis: Imagerie infrarouge de l'ammoniac atmosphérique lors de survols de sites industriels et agricoles en Allemagne, ULB (2021)
• PhD student in Sciences, ULB (2021-present)

PhD project

Hyperspectral imaging of ammonia and other trace gases in the atmospheric boundary layer, for a better understanding of current and future satellite missions.

Gaseous ammonia (NH3) emitted by agriculture and industry harms the environment, affecting in particular air quality and biodiversity. Its concentrations are on the rise in Europe and most other parts of the developed world, underlining the need for stricter legislation supported by effective monitoring means. Monitoring is currently achieved in part with the exploitation of observations from hyperspectral infrared satellites. However, their horizontal resolution (above 10×10 km²) is much too coarse for an adequate mapping of highly variable compounds such as NH3, whose largest emissions originate from point sources. Several airborne measurement campaigns (NITROCAM) are currently taking place in support to, and as a demonstration for Nitrosat, a newly proposed satellite mission, dedicated for the sounding of NH3 (and NO2) in our atmosphere at a resolution of 500×500 m². Closely involved with campaign planning and follow-up of all ongoing and future NITROCAM campaigns the PhD project aims: (i) to contribute to our general knowledge of atmospheric NH3, its point sources and transport, (ii) to advance the field of hyperspectral-hyperspatial remote sensing via the development of new methods and algorithms (iii) to aid in the interpretation of current satellite measurements of NH3 and constrain the requirements for future sounders, by exploiting the campaign data and via theoretical simulations (iv) to demonstrate the capability of hyperspectral-hyperspatial observations to measure other compounds and to perform case studies on fire direction, constraining emissions from fires and providing insight into emission ratios and plume chemistry.

Publications

See here.

Contact

Spectroscopy, Quantum Chemistry and Atmospheric Remote Sensing (SQUARES)(https://squares.ulb.be//),
Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP160/09
50 Av. F.D. Roosevelt, B-1050 Belgium
E-mail