Alexander Braun

Alexander Braun is a Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering and cross-appointed to the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy at Queen’s University. He recieved his PhD from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, and held positions in Germany, Canada and the US. His main research focus is on the exploitation and optimization of geophysical and geodetic surveys for improved target understanding in Earth System science. He participates in calibration and validation activities and science teams for various satellite missions, including ERS-2, EnviSat, ICESat, GOCE, CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3. Throughout his career, he has contributed to audio-visual arts projects at the interface of art and science.

Lecture: Taking the pulse of our planet, from space

Our planet is comprised of several Earth systems including solid Earth, biosphere, oceans, hydrosphere, atmosphere and cryosphere. All of those systems continuously change in time and space. Understanding the dynamics of these systems requires monitoring of the subsystems on multiple scales, including the global scale. No terrestrial or airborne platform is capable of monitoring our planet on this scale, hence, Earth observation satellites were developed, launched into orbit, and operate since the 1970s. Today, about 700 operational Earth observation satellites are in orbit measuring critical parameters such as sea level, sea ice thickness, desertification, lightning, land subsidence, forest fires as well as many climate change indicators. While some satellites take optical images of our planet, this lecture will focus on non-optical remote sensing tools. Today, remote sensing data represent a crucial component towards understanding our planet’s systems, dynamics and health. It allows us to look into the future of our planet, as long as we accept scientific observations as fact.