Daniel Gerber

• Dr. Phil. Nat.
• Researcher at Science and Technology Facilities Council

Antenna-pattern measurements obtained from a double-metal supra-terahertz-frequency (supra-THz) quantum cascade laser (QCL) are presented. The QCL is mounted within a mechanically micro-machined waveguide cavity containing dual diagonal feedhorns. Operating in continuous-wave mode at 3.5 THz, and at an ambient temperature of ∼60 K, QCL emission has...

We present the ESA Earth Explorer candidate mission LOCUS. LOCUS is under evaluation for Phase-0 Study in the current 10th ESA Earth Explorer Call (EE10). It is a UK mission proposal for an upper atmospheric research satellite that uses disruptive receiver technology to make novel atmospheric measurements. At the core of the LOCUS instrument is a...

We report on ongoing technology activities on the Elegant Breadboard for the LOCUS telescope and its 1.15THz receiver. LOCUS is a Low-Earth orbit small satellite (150kg category) with the objective of linking observations of climate, the upper atmosphere and space weather by performing simultaneous high spectral resolution measurements of molecular...

Synergistic exploitation of redundant and complementary information from independent observations of the same target remains a major issue in atmospheric remote sounding and increasing attention is devoted to investigate optimized or innovative methods for the combination of two or more measured data sets. This paper focuses on the synergy between...

Synergistic exploitation of redundant and complementary information from independent observations of the same target remains a major issue in atmospheric remote-sounding and increasing attention is devoted to investigate optimised or innovative methods for the combination of two or more measured data sets. This paper is focusing on the synergy betw...

The LOw Cost Upper atmosphere Sounder (LOCUS) mission has a core objective of probing the Earths meso-sphere and low thermosphere (MLT) region using THz receivers combined with an infrared (IR) filter radiometer. This will give the first comprehensive data on the energy balance and chemical processes in the MLT from direct detection, including the...

The LOw-Cost Upper-atmosphere Sounder (LOCUS) is a mission concept with the aim of observing the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region of the Earth’s atmosphere from a small space-borne platform in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The LOCUS payload consists of a compact terahertz radiometer operating between 0.8–4.7 THz providing global distribution...

The three-dimensional quantification of small-scale processes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is one of the challenges of current atmospheric research and requires the development of new measurement strategies. This work presents the first results from the newly developed Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmospher...

The three-dimensional quantification of small scale processes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is one of the challenges of current atmospheric research and requires the development of new measurement strategies. This work presents first results from the newly developed Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (G...

The relevance of the UTLS (Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere) region and the impact of limb emission measurements at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths for investigation of chemical, dynamical and radiative processes occurring at these altitudes constitute a major focus of the atmospheric research activities supported by the European...

We present the results of an instrument concept study for a low cost terahertz sounder of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Recent advances in the development of Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) technology to be used for Local Oscillators (LOs) mean that it has now become viable for the first time to build compact, low weight heterodyne recei...

MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receivers for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation in Atmospheric Limb Sounding) is a limb viewing instrument working in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectral regions (from 294 to 349 GHz). The scientific rationale of MARSCHALS is the study of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere region. In March 2010 MARS...

An overview of the results obtained by the MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receivers for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation in Atmospheric Limb Sounding) instrument during Premier-Ex (March 2010, Kiruna, Sweden) and ESSenCe 2011 (December 2011, Kiruna, Sweden) aircraft Arctic campaigns is presented. The two campaigns were part of the activities con...

MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receivers for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation in Atmospheric Limb Sounding) is a limb viewing instrument working in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectral regions (from 294 to 349 GHz). The scientific rationale of 5 MARSCHALS is the study of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere region. In March 2010 MA...

First-light atmospheric observations from a 340 GHz sideband-separating receiver employing a Sub-Harmonically Pumped Image-Rejection Mixer (SHIRM) are presented. The water vapor emission line at 325.15 GHz is used to demonstrate a high level of sideband separation thus confirming the suitability of such a receiver topology for single sideband obser...

The candidate Earth Explorer 7 core mission PREMIER (PRocess Exploration through Measurements of Infrared and millimetre-wave Emitted Radiation) focuses on the exploitation of the complementary measurement capabilities of infrared and mm-wave limb sounders to investigate transport processes and interactions between chemistry and climate in the mid/...

This document is the Final Report of the project ”Premier Analysis of Campaign Data” (PACD) for the ESAESTEC Contract N. 4000101374/NL/10/CT aimed at processing Level 1 (L1) data acquired by the MARSCHALS instruemnt onboard the M-55 Geophysica high-altitude research aircraft during the Test Campaign in November 2009 at mid-latitude (TC9 campaign Ob...

The MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receiver for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation of Atmospheric Limb-Sounding) project has the general objectives of demonstrating the measurement capabilities of a limb viewing instrument working in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectral regions (from 294 to 349 GHz) for the study of the Upper Troposphere – L...

The MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receiver for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation of Atmospheric Limb-Sounding) project has the general objectives of demonstrating the measurement capabilities of a limb viewing instrument working in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectral regions for the study of the Upper Troposphere – Lower Stratosphere (UTL...

MARSCHALS is the airborne simulator of a proposed future satellite instrument to measure millimetre-wave limb emission from O3, H2O, CO and other trace gases in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. To achieve comparatively high vertical resolution and pointing stability, MARSCHALS scans the atmospheric limb in 1km vertical steps using a 23...

Poster Presentation

Water vapour has been measured from the International Scientific Station Jungfraujoch (ISSJ, 47° N, 7° E, 3580m above sea level) during the winters of 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 by microwave radiometry and Raman lidar. The abundance of atmospheric water vapour between the planetary boundary layer and the upper stratosphere varies over more than three...

Microwave Remote Sensing of Water Vapor in the Atmosphere Water vapor in the atmosphere plays a crucial role in climate and in atmospheric processes. Due to its long Chemical lifetime it can be used as a tracer for inves-tigations of dynamical processes in the middle atmosphere. Microwave radiometry is one of the few remote sensing methods which is...

The isotopic composition of the atmosphere gives a record of the fractionating processes that an air parcel endured. In the case of water, tropospheric water vapour is expected to have a smaller amount of the heavy isotopes 18O and Deuterium than standard surface sea water since the lower vapour pressure of the heavy isotopes leads to a fractionati...

Poster presentation

Poster Presentation