Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyPhysics and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets, and of outer space.
Encyclopedia
Gases in Earth’s atmosphere (like nitrogen, oxygen and ozone) filter out harmful UV radiation.
Sulphur dioxide enters the atmosphere as a result of volcanic eruptions, biomass burning,... It can lead to acid rain.
Venus clouds (containing sulphuric acid) have been observed in the Ultraviolet UV and Infrared IR.
Since methane on Earth is linked to microorganisms, methane measurements on Mars might lead to traces of past life.
A multidisciplinary science based on observations of the atmospherical environment (terrestrial and extraterrestrial).
Questions about the internal and external core of planet Venus remain open: temperature, liquid, solid state analyses.
A combination of instruments to study the atmosphere, plasma environment and surface of Venus in great detail.
The Venusian cloud layer makes one complete tour of the planet in 4.2 days, with wind speeds of 540km/h.
Next to water vapour and CO2, what other gases are to be found in Earth's troposphere?
The rotational period of Venus on its own axis is very slow. With a retrograde rotation, the planet orbits the Sun in 224.7 days.
Method in which electrical components are mounted directly onto the surface of a printed circuit board (PCB).
Two regions in the atmosphere of Venus show completely different thermal properties.
The escaping gas of a comet creates a sort of atmosphere around the nucleus which is picked up by solar radiation to form plasma tail.
First European mission to Earth's nearest planetary neighbour, Venus. Scientific objectives.
Air quality is the composition of the atmosphere in our immediate environment and climate is the average "weather" over a long term period.
Short-lived gases are mainly relevant to air quality and the longer-lived gases more to climate, but there is a very strong link between the two phenomena.
The visible phenomenon due to the flight of a meteoroid, a particle of debris in the Solar System, through the atmosphere is called a meteor.
Human activities like energy use and agriculture are responsible for the emissions of various chemical compounds in the atmosphere.
Short fact note on the temperature, diameter, pressure, mountains, gravitation, natural satellites and the elements that give Mars' atmosphere its red colour.
From reporting a halo and dark spots to CO2 and other constituents discovered with instrumental techniques.
The upper layer -partly ionised- starts at about 80 km altitude and reaches up to more than 1000 km
Ozone destruction, leading to the ozone hole, becomes faster as temperature falls and the area gets isolated.
Since our natural protection against UV was threatened, the use of ozone destructing chemical substances is regulated in international agreements.
Blue, green, red. Twisting, diffuse or curtain-like… Auroras occur when the Earth’s magnetosphere traps or diverts the charged particles from the Sun.
An inner part of the magnetosphere, doughnut-shaped region of charged particles (plasma) centred around the planet's equator.
Nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere has both natural and anthropogenic sources, with humans causing the vast majority.
The heart of a comet is a solid body, a dirty snowball of ice and rock, which is called the nucleus. Near the Sun ices on its surface begin to evaporate.
Atmospheres of planets glow constantly during both day and night as sunlight interacts with atoms and molecules.
The upper ionised layer of Earth's atmosphere affects the quality of satellite and traditional radio communication.
Auroral activity occurs in oval-shaped regions centered at the two geomagnetic poles.
The colour of polar lights (or auroras) teaches us something about the chemical elements in our atmosphere.
Similar to a boat that moves through water, the solar wind flow is affected by the presence of the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field contains a space filled with particles from terrestrial origin.
Insight in the behaviour of the Sun in relation to power failure, satellite break down and astronaut exposure to radiation.
When energetic particles from the Sun disrupt the normal flux of the solar wind and threaten space missions.
Sunspots look darker because they are cooler and appear according to a periodic variation of about 11 years.
Elevated ozone levels can be harmful for health and vegetation. Tropospheric ozone is not directly emitted, but produced by chemical reactions.
One speaks of fast solar wind with speeds of 800km/s and slow slower wind with speeds of around 400km/s.
The Sun continuously emits radiation. Energy escapes from the Sun at the speed of light in the form of a wave. There are several types of radiation.
Nuclear fusion reactions in the Sun transform hydrogen into helium releasing large amounts of energy.
The region of our galaxy, the Milky Way, in which matter comes mainly from the Sun.
The solar wind is a plasma, a stream of charged particles (ions and electrons) which are continuously escaping from the Sun into the interplanetary medium.
The radiation belts (also known as the van Allen belts) are toroidal regions encircling the Earth, in which very energetic particles are found.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest. It is a giant planet, whose mass is 318 times that of Earth.
Night shining clouds or polar mesospheric clouds at an altitude of around 80 km become more and more visible.
Layers containing artificial satellites, space stations, spacecrafts, astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit.
Transitional zone between space and the completely different atmospheric layers closer to the ground.
The number of molecules of gases that you will find in one cubic meter decreases as you go up from the surface to 100 km altitude.
His professional life in space science reached a "high point" during the space mission Atlas-1.
To take a product, process, or material and test it in order to prove that it will withstand the environment of space flight.
For the design, the manufacturing and the usage of atmosphere measuring devices one needs electronics, mechanics, software, computing and technical skills.
1992 mission with experiments for understanding the interaction between the sun and the Earth's atmosphere. Belgian astronaut Dirk Frimout flew along.
Comets, composed of a rocky nucleus, the coma, a dust tail and a plasma tail, can inform us about the early history of the Sun and the planets.
Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs dangerous UV radiation to protect us, while ozone in the troposphere is poisonous substance.
This natural phenomenon makes Earth suitable for life, but the rapidley increasing amount of greenhouse gases is worrisome for the future.
The ash and the gas sulphur dioxide (SO2) emitted by volcanic eruptions are a major hazard to aircraft.
The troposphere region contains the air we breathe and is like the stage for meteorology and climate.
Large cities, as well as the main industrial regions stand out as severely polluted and are consequently clearly identifiable on air pollution maps.
For most measurements of atmospheric ingredients, the same technique is used: the DOAS method.
The substances that determine the composition of the atmosphere in our immediate vicinity and/or the average "weather" over a long-term period occupy only 1% of the volume of the atmosphere.
Scientist use meteors to learn more about the ionosphere, comets, the formation of the solar system and space travel.
The three most active meteor showers: Perseids (in August), Geminids (in December) and Quadrantids (in January).
Meteoroids, when pieces of asteroids break off. Meteors burn up in the atmosphere.
In radio detection of meteors, reflected radio waves provide information about the trajectory, speed and mass of shooting stars.
The dust that is released from the comet nucleus is pushed behind the comet to form a diffuse tail.
From ground to space: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere
Venus' atmospheric composition in percentages show 96,5% of CO2 and less than 3,5% of N2.
Ultraviolet rays (UV) are energetic but invisible. Although Earth's atmosphere is acting as a protector shield against the major part of the harmful UV, the dangerous UV-B reaches the surface.
The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries.
The Earth is protected against corpuscular radiation by its magnetic field. This protective bubble around the Earth is the magnetosphere.
The environmental conditions in Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere due to the Sun and the solar wind.
Venus’ atmosphere has a thick cloud layer that covers the planet, extending from 30 to 90km.
Venus missions show us thousands of volcanoes, well preserved by the atmosphere of Venus.
Photons from the Sun can fragment an atmospheric particle.
A photon from the Sun can eject electrons from atmospheric particles.
Satellite for the study of the chemical composition of the atmosphere in interaction with the surface of Mars.
Venus was a prime target for space missions and probes in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.
Radar research showed a young flat surface with mountains, plains, high plateaus, volcanoes, crest and impact craters.
The science payload of ExoMars TGO consists of four instruments measuring atmospheric gases on Mars.
Sulphuric acid rain showers on Venus never reach the surface of the planet due to evaporation.
Seasonal changes on planet Venus are very small due to small axial inclination.
The ExoMars mission is in a Mars orbit since 2016. Scientific goals include questions about methane and trace gases in the atmosphere.
The rotational period relative to so called fixed stars and not to the Sun.
The interval of time separating two passages of the Sun over the meridian, due to Earth’s rotation.
Venus displays phases like those of the Moon. Galileo observed the phases of Venus and endangered Ptolemy’s system centered on the Earth.
What type of water is found and what is the amount of water present in the atmosphere of Mars?
Due to a weak greenhouse effect the average temperature is about -63°C with huge differences between day and night.
The two planets are very similar, but a detailed comparison shows the differences.
The atmosphere of Mars does not have a protective ozone layer and contains 30 times less water vapour than Earth's atmosphere.
A 3D printer builds a three-dimensional object from a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model, usually by successively adding material layer by layer, which is why it is also called additive manufacturing.
Board with with circuits that connect electronic components together. Used in computers and other electronic devices.
The ability of electrical equipment and systems to function acceptably in their electromagnetic environment, by limiting unintentional electromagnetic energy.
A filter that selects different optical wavelengths in an incoming light beam by applying a radio-frequency signal.
Which phenomenon causes the sky on our planet to turn blue? And why at sunset red or orange?
The planet Venus used to have lots of water, that has been completely evaporated. CO2 remains in the atmosphere of Venus.
The very high surface temperature of 474 °C hardly varies from the sunlit side to the night side.
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation can cause significant damage to living organisms: sunburn, eye cataracts, accelerated skin aging, skin cancer,...
Small droplets, injected in the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, play an important role in the physico chemistry of the stratosphere.
The presence of ozone in the stratosphere causes temperature in the stratosphere to rise with altitude.
Earth's magnetic field, our protection against solar radiation, varies from one place to another and in time as well.
When temperatures fall below -80° C stratospheric particles turn into microscopic ice crystals that play an important role in ozone destruction.
Plasma is electrically charged (ionized) gas, a mixture of electrons and positive charged ions.
Extra terrestrial atmospheres can provide us with precious information about our own atmosphere, its history, its future.
The absence of plate tectonics and the very little volcanic activity are important to understand why Mars has a far smaller greenhouse effect than Earth.