Study Programmes 2015-2016
CLIM0007-2  
Greenhouse gases - Measures and instruments to mitigate climate change
Duration :
30h Th, 3d FW
Number of credits :
Master in geography : climatology (120 ECTS)3
Lecturer :
Emmanuel Mahieu
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
The course is divided into a series of modules addressing the following topics :
CONTEXT
  • Main greenhouse gases (GHG) and their absorptions in the infrared spectrum
  • GHG atmospheric chemistry, sources, sinks and contribution to radiative forcing
  • Global emissions, long-term time series of the GHG; past and present evolutions
  • Tropospheric and stratospheric ozone, production, catalytic cycles involved and trends, including projections
MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES FOR ATMOSPHERIC GHGs
  • Measurement platforms: ground-based, air-borne and satellites
  • In situ and remote-sensing techniques (brief introduction to molecular spectroscopy)
  • Performance and complementarity of the various techniques and instrumentations
  • Atmospheric watch and international networks involved
  • Retrieval of the vertical distribution of a GHG from high-resolution infrared spectra
INTERNATIONAL TOOLS
  • The Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol
  • The Rio Convention and the Kyoto Protocol
  • Need for additional measures and evolution scenarios
  • Implementation of international measures at the Belgian regional level
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
  • Review the main anthropogenic and natural GHGs, report about their respective contributions to radiative forcing, describe their past and present atmospheric burden
  • Describe the aims and measures adopted by the international Protocols to limit GHG emissions
  • Examine and evaluate a timeseries
  • Discuss about the specificities and complementarities of the various platforms and techniques used for the measurement of GHGs in the Earth's atmosphere
  • Using supporting documents, describe the atmospheric budget of a GHG (sources and sinks), a catalytic cycle, an atmospheric reaction pathway
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Basis concepts in physics and chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Series of 2-3hour lectures.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Face-to-face lectures
Recommended or required readings :
The students will be encouraged to read sections of international assessments (IPCC, WMO,...) as well as scientific papers bringing additional relevant information with respect to the course contents.
The written notes will consist in the lecture slides presented and discussed during the successive lectures
Assessment methods and criteria :
Based on an oral exam.
Work placement(s) :
N/A
Organizational remarks :
The lectures will be organized during the 1st quadrimester, from week 1 to week 11 of the academic year
Contacts :
Emmanuel Mahieu
Département d'Astrophysique, de Géophysique et d'Océanographie
Groupe InfraRouge de Physique Atmosphérique et Solaire (GIRPAS)
Building B5a, room 0/6
mailto:emmanuel.mahieu@ulg.ac.be(emmanuel.mahieu@ulg.ac.be )
http://girpas.astro.ulg.ac.be
T. +32 4 366 97 86
Secr. +32 4 366 97 70 (Tu & Th afternoon)
Items online :
Lecture slides
The written notes will consist in the lecture slides presented and discussed during the successive lectures