Invisible Dust

Planetary and Atmospheric Research Scientist

Dr Hugh Mortimer will collaborate with the artists and curator to further his research into aerosols critical to the quality of people’s health and our understanding of climate change.

Mortimer directs his own research and has developed his own miniaturized spectrometer for the use in Earth based observation. This is to be used specifically for space based and in-situ monitoring of atmospheric trace gases. Mortimer is also part of a team responsible for the calibration of a future Climate Change monitoring instrument; the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) based on the satellite Sentinel 3. This is to be launched in 2012.

The above image is a 12 micron night-time image acquired on 7th September 1991; the area covered is 512 x 512 square km.

Obtained from the  ATSR (Along Track Scanning Radiometer) instruments produce infrared images of the Earth at a spatial resolution of one kilometre. The data from these instruments is useful for scientific studies of the land surface, atmosphere, clouds, oceans, and the cryosphere.

The first ATSR instrument, ATSR-1, was launched on board the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) in July 1991, as part of their Earth Observation Programme.

London and many other English cities can be seen as bright thermal `footprints’ in this night-time image of England, France and the English Channel. In the false-colour representation used here, temperature increases through blue and yellow to orange over a temperature range of 278-288K.

The River Seine is the most prominent feature on the French landscape, but Paris is just beyond the lower extent of this image. The temperature gradients seen in the North Sea are characteristic of that region ranging from 290K in coastal waters to about 280K mid-channel.

The clouds in the image are about as warm as the land and are thus indistinguishable by their colour. However they are immediately apparent to those familar with the local geography or indeed no Channel Tunnel would be required!

(This is a 12 micron night-time image acquired on 7th September 1991; the area covered is 512 x 512 square km.)

Peter Brimblecombe is a Professor in Atmospheric Chemistry at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia and was appointed senior editor of Atmospheric Environment in 1990. Working with contemporary artists and writers will give a new depth to Brimblecombe’s research, which has previously examined historical cultural treatment of air pollution in paintings, film and literature.

Brimblecombe has been involved with projects ranging from a recent European Community (EC) project NOAH’s ARK looking at climate change and heritage damage, work on the effects the environment, and artistic expression in literature, painting and cinema. Brimblecombe has worked within European Commission, EC cultural heritage projects in FP4 FP5 and FP6. He has advised the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the House of Lords on heritage science. He has had many projects funded by UK research funding bodies (e.g. NERC, EPSRC, Leverhulme Trust) and most recently the AHRC has funded a project “preparing historic collections for climate change”. He is also involved in the EC Network of Excellence ACCENT, where he is active within the teaching and communication module and is an external assessor for EPISCON, the European PhD in Conservation of Art. He is frequently involved with radio and television and radio and has produced a “scientific” colouring book for children called The Colour of Time.

Peter Brimblecombe