Prof.dr.ir.Herman Russchenberg  Chair Remote Sensing of the Environment  Delft University of Technology   atmospheric remote sensing e-mail address

I am fascinated by the observation-and-interpretation process. Most observations we do - whether scientific or social- are indirect: one never measures the meaning directly, but needs assumptions and models before the interpretation can be made. This is also true for remote sensing. The direct measurement is often expressed in terms of energy or power, but what one wants to know is: how much rain is falling?, or how do aerosols change clouds? This requires a good understanding of the underlying physics, the observation technology and of signal processing. It truly needs a multi-disciplinary approach.

Science and education go hand in hand. Teaching sharpens the scientist's mind, and at the same time educates students within the practice of scientific enterprise. To a large extent science and technology are autonomous enterprises, but the actors- scientists and engineers- share a special responsibility: they should serve mankind. Technical and exact sciences are in many respects the motors that drive the modern society and high quality educational programs are crucial for maintaining the high standard of living, today and in the future. Educational programs should reflect the interaction between science and technology on the one hand, and societal needs on the others. An educational program should put content in context:

it has to unveil the societal relevance of technology;

it has to be open to new developments in the society;

it has to challenge the students to think beyond the boundaries of their scientific disciplines;

it has to make the students enthusiastic and proud.

Professional interests

Climate change: the role of clouds and aerosols in the climate system

Remote sensing of the atmosphere

Forecasting society-disruptive weather

Education in relation to research

Why is the climate changing?
The best understood source for global warming is the increasing level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The least understood factor is the effect of aerosols. Aerosols are fine dust particles in the atmosphere that serve as catalysers formation of water droplets. An increase of the aerosol concentration, by human activities for instance, leads to a larger number of cloud particles and longer cloud lifetime; the resulting cloud reflects more solar radiation. This may cool the atmosphere in contrast to greenhouse warming. It is largely unknown what clouds will do in a changng climate: will they counteract global warming, or reinforce it?

How can we measure clouds?
It is difficult to measure physical properties of clouds. Not only do they drift at large heights, but also the cloud droplets are very small - in the order of 10 micrometer. The only way is remote sensing. Radars, lidars and radiometers are the key instruments. A radar and lidar transmit an electromagnetic signal towards the clouds and measure the reflections. A radar operates at a wavelength between 3 mm and 20 cm, whereas a lidar uses a laser beam as the source, usually in the infrared. A radiometer is a passive device, and only measures atmospheric radiation emanating from the atmosphere. But why do we need these different instruments? Is one instrument not enough? No. Sometimes the cloud droplets are too small to be seen by radar, and sometimes the clouds are too thick for lidar signals to penetrate to the cloud top. Only the combination of instruments - sensor synergy - will give a full picture. Central to our work is Cesar Observatory.

Research activities
Experimental remote sensing

Sensor synergy (radar, lidar, radiometry) to measure cloud properties relevant for climate studies

Radar retrieval of rainfall parameters: doppler-polarimetric and dual-frequency techniques.

Space-based retrieval of cloud parameters

Radar Doppler-polarimetry for atmospheric dynamics.

Radar Doppler-polarimetry for mixed-phase clouds studies.

Electromagnetic scattering

Coherent scattering of radar waves by clouds

Electro-magnetic scattering by the melting layer in precipitation.

Scattering by rain

Multiple scattering of lidar waves by water clouds.

The radar discrepancy: scattering by semi-discrete clouds.

Signal processing

Processing concepts for the TU Delft atmospheric radar systems

Doppler-polarimetric target enhancement

Clutter suppression

System studies and design

Radar calibration

Scientific user strategies of the transportable atmosphere radar TARA

Development of the IRCTR Drizzle radar IDRA

Educational activities

oral lectures;

working groups;

development of courses and course material;

laboratory exercises;

coordination of education activities;

organization of special events (excursions, student symposia, guest lectures);

quality control of the education program;

supervision of graduate students.

Leadership
Science
Since 1995 I am heading the Remote Sensing Sector of the International Research Institute for Telecommunication and Radar IRCTR and member of the IRCTR management team. In this capacity I am supervising a research and technical team - with an average size of 10 persons - and am responsible for all managerial tasks related to it:

Project acquisition and management;

Quality assurance;

Recruitment of post-docs, PhD students and guest scientists;

Initiating and stimulating (inter)national cooperation;

Definition of the research program;

Communication with scientific partners and stakeholders.

On a national scale I am leading the research program Monitoring and profiling with the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research, which is part of the BSIK-program 'Climate changes spatial planning'. Seven institutes are involved in this program: KNMI, RIVM, Wageningen University, ECN, TNO, ESA-ESTEC and TU Delft. I have supervised 7 PhD candidates. TU Delft is positioning itself in large research initiatives, dedicated to specific themes. I am one of the leaders of the program 'Environment', involving all TU Departments, and as such in a position to define the research agenda, in particular for the field of environmental monitoring.

Education
From November 2007 to August 2011 I was Director of Education of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics en Computer Science. The department hosts 1700 students; 160 staff members are involved in the education programs. I was responsible for the quality of all bachelor education programs the Department offers:

Applied Mathematics

Electrical Engineering

Technical Informatics

and the related Master programs of each study. The responsibilities encompass:

Quality and organization of the programs;

Quality of the education staff;

External communication with other educational institutes;

Recruitment of freshmen;

Financial matters;

Definition of education policy at the Department as well as University level.

I was chairing the team of individual Program Managers and am a member of the Management Team of the department.

Full CV on request.