Aerosols (tiny particles in suspension in the atmosphere) are important components of the climate system. They interact with radiation and clouds and therefore exert a strong influence on the surface energy budget. Their properties, sources and climate impacts are particularly uncertain in the polar regions.

In the Arctic and Southern Ocean, local sources are generally the main providers of aerosols. In the sea-ice-covered regions, where direct sea-spray emissions are limited, several processes can release climate-relevant aerosols, including open leads, melt ponds, or the sublimation of blowing snow. Local observations of aerosols or emission fluxes over these types of surface are difficult and therefore very scarce. Satellite-borne teledetection can help bridge this gap.
The ATLID LIDAR of the EarthCARE mission provides high-resolution and vertically resolved satellite detection of aerosols, able to detect aerosols near emission sources at the surface. Sea-ice concentration fields can also be measured at high-resolution via spaceborne teledetection. By combining these two types of satellite products, an analysis of aerosols above different surfaces in the pack ice could provide valuable information on the potential contribution of liquid water areas (leads, melt ponds) and frozen areas (snow on sea ice) to the central Arctic and coastal Antarctica aerosol budgets.

The goal of the internship is to cross aerosol and sea-ice data to statistically derive the differences between aerosol populations over pack-ice and liquid water areas. We will also explore the sensitivity of the results to the sea-ice data used, including different satellite and/or model products. By nature this topic is quite exploratory as this has not been attempted before but could be a significant contribution to our understanding of polar aerosol sources.

Pré-requis : the ideal candidate should have knowledge of atmospheric physics, and a solid background in data analysis, including of large datasets. Some experience of remote sensing is appreciated.