DC1 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of quantifying the previously unaccounted impacts of dust on human population; modelling of pollution reduction measures through assessment of natural backgrounds; and the creation of a novel state-of-the-art aeolian dust source code in public repository. The candidate will perform regional model simulations of dust transport over Europe and the East Med/Middle East; improve the WRF-CHEM model performance by incorporating source regions, and improving mobilisation, transport and removal algorithms; optimise the model configuration and parameterisations through evaluation of skill against in situ and remote sensing measurements; quantify natural background levels of PM, and contribution of dust in PM, in the context of the EEA/JRC Forum for Air quality Modelling (FAIRMODE), and relevant EU and WHO directives on thresholds and exceedances; and create dynamical pollution and exposure maps to guide impact assessment and policy makers.
The doctoral candidate will be based at CyI in Nicosia, Cyprus and will be supervised by Prof. Theo Christoudias (CyI) and Prof. Andrea Pozzer (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry). The project will include planned secondments at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain), the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Germany), and the World Meteorological Organisation (Switzerland).
DC2 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of developing a methodology to retrieve combined shape/size/orientation from field observations, collect new UAV-based datasets on dust particle shape, aspect ratio, internal structure and orientation, and fill the gaps in our understanding and global observational capability, with the formulation of recommendations.
The candidate will review the uncertainties in understanding dust particle shape, aspect ratio and orientation in the free troposphere, and their impact on dust transport and radiative effects; review and advance learnings from the new airborne observations with UAVs, with the dual-FOV COBALD backscatter sonde and the collection of airborne dust samples for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); enhance the existing datasets through a dedicated campaign using CyI scientific infrastructure (USRL); analyse the collected samples with state-of-the art electron microscopy; develop the optimal methods to exploit the collected datasets to derive information on dust particle shape, aspect ratio and orientation; and report on findings and on their impact on dust predictions and remote sensing.
This project leads to a double degree delivered by CyI and the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUDa) and the doctoral candidate will be based at both institutions (first year at CyI, Nicosia, Cyprus; second year at TUDa, Darmstadt, Germany; and third year at CyI again). The project will be supervised by Prof. Franco Marenco (CyI) and Prof. Konrad Kandler (TUDa). Frank G. Wienhold (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich) will also contribute to the supervision.
DC3 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of improving the methods for dust quantification from remote sensing and for establishing a global 4D distribution of dust in the atmosphere. The candidate will perform ground-based lidar estimates of the pure-dust atmospheric component, with consideration of key assumptions and dependencies on microphysical parameters to determine the concentration, the cloud concentration nuclei, and the ice nuclei; evaluate the pure dust estimates using available datasets from different regions, in particular from airborne in-situ campaigns co-located with lidar; re-evaluate the LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure (LIVAS); extend the LIVAS database to the novel spaceborne missions EarthCARE; and globally assess the pure-dust product.
The doctoral candidate will be based at CyI in Nicosia, Cyprus and will be supervised by Prof. Franco Marenco (CyI) and Dr. Vassilis Amiridis (National Observatory of Athens). The project will include a planned secondment of more than 6 months at the National Observatory of Athens (Greece) during the second year of the PhD.
DC4 — Full Project Description
In-situ observations of dust show that super-coarse (diameter > 10 microns) and giant (diameter > 63 microns) are prevalent in dusty regions of the planet and have a significant impact on the climate through radiative, cloud microphysics and biogeochemical interactions. However, recent work shows that models are unable to represent transport of these super-coarse dust particles without significant adjustments to particle sedimentation velocity, for which there is currently no viable physical explanation.
In this studentship the student will perform lab experiments with a particle settling tank to improve our understanding of how non-spherical dust particles of various shapes and sizes fall through the atmosphere. The student will create a bank of ‘atmospheric analogues’ of dust particles made from a 3D printer of realistic sizes and shapes, from simple to complex. These will be informed by the creation of a database of dust size and shape properties, using data from airborne campaigns and also from stereogram analysis from filter samples.
The student will then perform laboratory experiments with the analogues in a glycerine tank, where the fluid density and particle size are adjusted to retain dynamic similarity to the atmosphere at realistic Reynolds numbers for the atmosphere. The results will be assessed for the impact of dust shape and size on settling velocity and fall orientation. These results are expected to provide information for dust transport models on realistic adjustments to settling velocity which may occur as a result of dust non-sphericity, impacting dust lifetime in models.
The student will be based at the University of Reading, and will undertake a 5-month secondment to TUDa (Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany) to develop design inputs of 3D dust analogues using stereogrammetry. Additional secondments include 3 weeks at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece (Dr Mallios) for knowledge exchange of the results to model simulations, and 2 weeks at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany (Dr Klose) for application of results to climate modelling.
DC5 — Full Project Description
Mineral dust is considered an atmospheric contaminant in aviation, due to its ability to erode and degrade components of aircraft engines over time, and also engine sensitivity to dust chemical composition. Increased air traffic through the Middle East region and greater susceptibility of engine parts to damage mean that dust hazards to aviation are becoming more significant.
In this project, the student will firstly quantify the magnitude and variability of aircraft engine dust ingestion in the Middle East, using ground-based remote sensing measurements from a ceilometer. Ceilometers use lasers to detect backscatter from atmospheric particles and thus can provide detailed information about the vertical structure of dust in the atmosphere. The impact of extreme versus weaker ground dust events on airport closures and aircraft engine dust dose will be evaluated, as will the impact of dust vertical variability. The student will use these results to compare with a wide range of dust data sources, such as satellite-lidar (e.g. CALIOP, LIVAS, EarthCARE) and to evaluate the accuracy of model dust forecasts (e.g. CAMS, UK Met Office Limited Area Model). Using this ensemble of models, the student will calculate the probability of high-impact dust events and generate geographical risk maps to communicate information of dust hazard risk in the Middle East region to the aviation industry. Finally, using newly available data from the EMIT satellite project combined with model data, the student will quantify the contribution and variability from different dust minerals to assess the importance of dust composition.
The student will be based at the University of Reading, and will be co-supervised by Rory Clarkson at Rolls-Royce, Derby, UK, and will undertake regular secondments at Rolls-Royce for 1 week every 4 months to receive supervision, experience industry perspectives and communicate methods and results. This will include opportunities to visit aircraft affected by operations in dusty environments. In addition, other secondments include 2 weeks at Khalifa University, UAE (Dr Francis) for expertise in UAE ceilometer observations, 1 month at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece, with Dr Amiridis (expert in LIVAS data), 1 week at the UK Met Office, Exeter, UK with Dr Brooks (expertise in NWP modelling of dust), and 2 months at the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre, Madrid, Spain with Dr Perez for analysis of composition-resolved model data.
DC6 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of developing new parameterizations for Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) and Circumsolar Normal Irradiance (CSNI) under extreme atmospheric dust conditions, for assessment of power generation impact. The candidate will make use of radiative transfer codes and dust properties obtained from remote sensing methods (e.g. AERONET), to model the DNI and CSNI. On the other hand, the candidate is expected to develop a prototype pyrheliometer with variable field of view (FOV) for quantification of CSNI. Results will be validated at PMOD/WRC and against Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) data. The work includes the evaluation of transposition models for Global Tilted Irradiance (GTI) and the proposal of enhanced parametrizations for CSNI and GTI.
Finally, the candidate will assess the impact of extreme dust events on solar energy generation, including a financial risk analysis for selected regions in the Mediterranean and Middle East. The doctoral candidate will be based at UÉ in Évora, Portugal and will be supervised by Prof. Paulo Canhoto (UÉ) and Dr. Stelios Kazadzis (PMOD/WRC). Prof. Maria João Costa (UÉ) will also contribute to the supervision. Planned secondments include 7 months at the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos / World Radiation Center (Switzerland) at the start of year two, 1 month at CIEMAT – Plataforma Solar de Almería (Spain) at the start of year three, and 2 weeks at Ernst & Young (Cyprus) mid year three.
DC7 — Full Project Description
This is a double degree between the University of Évora (Portugal) and the University of Reading (UK). The student will be enrolled in the University of Reading’s Department of Meteorology PhD programme in “Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate” as well as the PhD programme in “Earth and Space Sciences” at the University of Évora.
Through the interaction of mineral dust particles with both shortwave and longwave radiation, dust causes a radiative effect on climate. This can be both positive (a warming effect) or negative (cooling effect) at the top-of-atmosphere, and can heat or cool the atmospheric column, depending on the dust (and surface) properties. The presence and quantity of super-coarse and giant dust particles can also influence this effect. Recent work shows that super-coarse dust particles cause a net climate warming, and that radiative closure cannot be achieved without their inclusion. This project will focus on the radiative balance over the Sahara using data from field campaigns, in order to explore these sensitivities and the extent to which super-coarse and giant dust influences warming/cooling of the planet.
In year 1, the student will be based at the University of Reading, UK, and will analyse measurements already collected by a research aircraft over the Sahara. This will comprise airborne spectral shortwave and longwave measurements, which they will combine with lidar observations, in-situ size distributions (including super-coarse and giant particles) and shape assumptions for different case studies involving dust, generating optical properties. They will develop skills in running radiative transfer models.
In years 2–3, the student will be based at the University of Évora, Portugal. They will format the observational data for application in the radiative transfer model(s), in order to confront the radiative observations with model simulations. They will test assumptions needed for radiative closure in shortwave and longwave by confronting radiative transfer computations with observations, including dust vertical distribution, size distribution, refractive index and shape, as well as generating atmospheric heating rates.
The work will be supervised by Prof. Maria João Costa (UÉ) and Dr. Claire Ryder (UoR), with additional support from Dr. Vanda Salgueiro (UÉ). The student will undertake a 2-week secondment in year 1 to the Cyprus Institute, to take advantage of Dr. Marenco’s airborne lidar expertise.
DC8 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of evaluating the impact of different dust conditions simulating reality on lung epithelial layer function, with a focus on its relation to the concentration and physical and chemical features of the dust. The candidate will prepare and characterize the dust samples in terms of particle size and composition and will expose the lung epithelial cells in air-lift culture to controlled dust conditions, simulating real atmospheric aerosol concentrations.
The candidate will also assess the integrity of the epithelial barrier by TEER (Trans-epithelial Electrical Resistances) measurements and histomorphology evaluation, as well as evaluate the epithelial cell activation and inflammation biomarkers (proinflammatory cytokines IL-18, IL-6, IL-8, TNF alpha and fibrotic chemokines, e.g. TGF beta;) and epithelial responses (mucus production; Reactive Oxygen Species – ROS).
The doctoral candidate will be based at UÉ in Évora, Portugal and will be supervised by Prof. Célia Antunes (UÉ) and Dr. Inga Wessels (ZAUM). Prof. Daniele Bortoli (UÉ) will also contribute to the supervision. The project will include a planned secondment at the Center of Allergy and Environment – Technical University of Munich (Germany) (7 months in the beginning of the second year).
DC9 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of improving the understanding of gaps between theory, modelling and observations regarding the dust transport processes, by developing new mathematical formulations and implementing new parameterizations for transport models. The candidate will review formulations for the physical processes that influence dust particle transport (phoretic forces and thermodynamic interactions, particle shape); review parameterizations for mineral dust transport modelling; develop improved formulations for settling process; enhance understanding of the lifetime of dust particles in the atmosphere; improve the WRF-CHEM model by incorporating the newly developed parameterizations; and review the impact of these parameterizations on climate projections.
The doctoral candidate will be based at NOA in Athens, Greece and will be supervised by Dr. Sotirios Mallios (NOA), and Prof. Demetri Bouris (NTUA). The project will include planned secondments at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain), and the University of Reading (UK).
DC10 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of generating a new scattering database for dust particles, using realistic representations of dust size, shape and refractive index, from in-situ measurements. The candidate will:
- Review scattering databases of dust particles.
- Review in-situ datasets for microphysical properties (size, shape and mineralogy, grouped by location and air mass origin).
- Derive the refractive index of dust particles in shortwave and longwave, based on their mineralogy.
- Review available scattering codes for calculating the optical properties of dust particles.
- Improve available scattering codes to provide faster and more accurate scattering calculations.
- Compute the scattering of dust particles using realistic properties, using for larger dust particles fast scattering approximations in order to cover the full range of dust sizes.
- Utilise mathematical and data science methods to harmonise the scattering calculations from different codes and methods into a unified, complete scattering database for dust covering the whole space of dust microphysical parameters, and including wavelengths from UV to IR, to be used in dust radiative transfer studies.
The doctoral candidate will be based at IAASARS/NOA in Athens, Greece, and will be supervised by Dr. Alexandra Tsekeri (NOA), Dr. Vassilis Amiridis (NOA), Prof. Charikleia Meleti (AUTH), and Prof. Franco Marenco (CyI). The project will include planned secondments at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain), the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), and the University of Reading (UK).
DC11 — Full Project Description
Coarse and super-coarse dust dominate the mass of dust in the atmosphere and are strongly underestimated in the current generation of climate models, representing one of the major uncertainties in the assessment of dust effects upon climate. This project will focus on better understanding and quantifying the abundance of coarse and super-coarse dust particles and their effects upon climate.
The doctoral candidate will work with climate models to better represent coarse and super-coarse dust by improving the description of the dust emitted Particle Size Distribution (PSD), sedimentation, and turbulent transport. The new developments will be constrained through a variety of field campaign observations. Tailored sensitivity tests will be conducted to quantify the relative abundance of coarse and super-coarse dust and the importance of the associated processes. Ultimately, this will result in a better estimate of the dust radiative forcing.
The doctoral candidate will be based at BSC in Barcelona, Spain and will be supervised by Prof. Carlos Pérez García-Pando (BSC) and Dr. María Gonçalves Ageitos (BSC/UPC). The project will include three planned secondments of 1 month each:
- At the University of Reading (URED) with Dr. Claire Ryder — to bring in additional observational constraints for representing super-coarse dust fractions.
- At the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) with Dr. Vassilis Amiridis — to transfer knowledge on modelling super-coarse spherical and non-spherical dust particles in climate models.
- At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with Dr. Martina Klose — to transfer knowledge on turbulence effects upon particle sedimentation.
DC12 — Full Project Description
Soil dust aerosols are mixtures of different minerals, whose relative abundances, particle size distribution (PSD), shape, surface topography and mixing state influence their effect upon climate. However, most current models typically assume that dust aerosols have a globally uniform composition, neglecting the known regional variations in the mineralogy of the sources, and those which include composition variations use poorly constrained soils mineralogical atlases.
This project has the objective of improving our knowledge on the effect of dust mineralogical composition in climate, a research field which still holds great uncertainty. The doctoral candidate will work with a model to represent spatially resolved mineralogy of dust sources based on novel EMIT satellite data. The model results will be evaluated against in-situ, remote and satellite observations. These new model developments will allow assessing the climate response to dust radiative effects at high resolution, with special emphasis in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The doctoral candidate will be based at BSC in Barcelona, Spain and will be supervised by Dr. María Gonçalves Ageitos (BSC/UPC) and Prof. Carlos Pérez García-Pando (BSC). The project will include three planned secondments of 1 month each: (i) National Observatory of Athens (NOA) with Dr. Vassilis Amiridis — exploring links between mineralogy and improved dust transport representation; (ii) Technical University of Darmstadt (TUDa) with Dr. Konrad Kandler — adding observational constraints on dust mineralogy; (iii) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with Dr. Martina Klose — improving high-resolution emission processes and linking them to dust mineralogy.
DC13 — Full Project Description
The selected candidate has the central objective of characterising dust events in the Mediterranean and Western Africa for their composition and potential differences. Multi-year sample series are available for this purpose. The successful candidate will analyse samples by advanced electron microscopy. After an identification of major dust events in the last decade, identified events will be related to source regions using the state-of-the-art atmospheric models run by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).
Special focus will be put on characterization of variability in dust composition, size and shape for the dust events and, thus, source regions. An impact of variability on dust optical properties will be finally estimated.
The doctoral candidate will be based at the Institute for Applied Geosciences, TUDa, Germany and will be supervised by Prof. Konrad Kandler (TUDa) and Prof. Carlos Pérez García-Pando (BSC). The project will include two month secondments at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain) and the Cyprus Institute (Nicosia, Cyprus).
DC14 — Full Project Description
This project aims to estimate the impact of turbulence on vertical dust transport, considering both irregular and coherent turbulent structures. Toward this aim, the doctoral candidate will conduct idealised large-eddy simulations (LES) with the ICON-ART model to statistically quantify vertical motions under different atmospheric stability conditions and in selected scenarios of organised turbulence, e.g. vortex roles; investigate size-dependent dust transport using a Eulerian model representation, with particle sizes ranging from fine to giant; and explore coupling with a Lagrangian particle model.
Finally, the candidate will use data from the J-WADI comprehensive field campaign and from existing storm-resolving global model simulations to investigate micro- and meso-scale turbulent structures and link them with the statistical investigation using LES.
The doctoral candidate will be based at KIT in Karlsruhe, Germany, and will be supervised by Dr. Martina Klose (KIT) and Dr. Carlos Pérez García-Pando (Barcelona Supercomputing Center). The project will include two planned secondments: the first one of 1–2 months at the National Observatory of Athens (Greece) at the beginning of the second year of the project and the second one of 2–3 months at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain, at the end of the second project year.
DC15 — Full Project Description
Spectral measurements of solar irradiance will be exploited to provide information on aerosol microphysical properties for different dust sources (Sahara, Middle East, Central China). Total-column properties, vertical profiles, aerosol inversion models (GRASP) and other sources of dust mineralogy will provide additional information.
Existing measurements (Tenerife, Spain – Saharan dust), Cyprus (Middle East and Saharan) and Mt. Walliguan (Central China), and also measurements to be conducted during the project, will be used. Measurements in other relevant locations, based on available aerosol networks (AERONET) will be also exploited.
Expected potential results: Improved knowledge of dust aerosol optical properties associated with different dust sources; spectral signatures (UV, Visible, IR) of dust effects on solar radiation; assessment of uncertainties on the global Earth-atmosphere radiative effect; impacts of solar exposure (erythemal, vitamin D, DNA damage, photosynthetically active radiation); and contributions to satellite validation. The project also targets analysis of dust spatiotemporal changes and their effects on spectral solar irradiance.
The project includes 2–6 week visits to: the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain) for dust modelling and mineralogy training; GRASP SAS Lille (France) for hands-on experience with the GRASP algorithm; and the Eratosthenes Center of Excellence (Cyprus) for participation in field experiments related to aerosol and solar measurements.
DC16 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of improving our knowledge of dust physico-chemical fingerprints from local (city emission) vs. regional (desert) dust; propose to EU Air Quality Networks a new technology to better respond to the new (more stringent) EU Air Quality Directive; and engage the scientific community (e.g. from European Research Infrastructures) to further utilize this new technology and enhance long-term atmospheric monitoring of dust to better assess their impacts.
The candidate will test and validate a novel cost-effective scientific instrument (AEROTAPE) to perform high time resolution, quality-controlled measurement of dust micro-physical properties. They will leverage field campaigns and long-term observations planned in Dust-DN to create new synergies between in-situ and remote sensing monitoring systems; deploy the technology across the Mediterranean and the Middle East to better identify the influence of source regions (Sahara & Arabian deserts) on atmospheric dust properties; deploy the technology in contrasted EU Air Quality Monitoring Networks to better apportion local (e.g. road resuspended dust) vs. regional (long-range transported) fractions of dust; and build a new database of PM dust within cities to address the health impact of chronic exposure to local dust.
The doctoral candidate will be based at CyI in Nicosia, Cyprus and will be supervised by Prof. Jean Sciare (CyI) and Dr. Diana Francis (Khalifa University). The project will include planned secondments at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), the National Observatory of Athens (Greece), and Khalifa University (United Arab Emirates).
DC17 — Full Project Description
This project has the objective of improving knowledge on atmospheric dust mineralogy and impacts; delivering mineralogical-aware retrievals of dust INP profiling for Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction (ACI) studies; engaging the scientific community (e.g. from the European Research Infrastructure, ACTRIS) to utilise the new retrievals towards delivering innovative products of high applicability to communities working on ACI (size distribution, absorption); enhancing long-term atmospheric monitoring of dust to better assess its impact on weather and climate.
The candidate will develop retrieval algorithms for atmospheric dust mineralogy, using ground-based remote sensing (i.e., lidars, sunphotometers), to be validated against electron scanning microscopy (ESM) techniques applied on collocated samples collected from airborne platforms. They will apply the retrievals on datasets collected in Mediterranean campaigns; identify the source contribution and ageing/mixing of the sampled air masses by comparing with modelled dust mineralogical profiles using EMIT satellite data on soil mineralogy at source.
The candidate will also develop immersion and deposition ice nucleation parameterizations based on lidar dust mineralogical retrievals and thermodynamic quantities, and study the relation of INP profiles to ice crystal concentration profiles derived by collocated cloud radars.
The doctoral candidate will be based at IAASARS/NOA in Athens, Greece, and will be supervised by Dr. Vassilis Amiridis (NOA), Dr. Eleni Marinou (NOA) and Prof. Charikleia Meleti (AUTH). The project will include planned secondments at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain) and the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany).