Research
The research groups - Oceans
Université Catholique
de Louvain
Institut d’Astronomie et de Géophysique G. Lemaître
(UCL-ASTR)
Promotor: Dr. Goosse Hugues
Presentation
Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics Georges
Lemaître (UCL-ASTR) is part of the Physics Department of
the Université Catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium). Over the last 30 years, it has gained a worldwide reputation
for the study of climate, climatic changes, and mesoscale meteorology.
Its research activities are well integrated in Belgian, European,
and international research programmes.
The institute is most widely known for its contributions to the
astronomical theory of paleoclimates (computation of the long-term
insolation variations resulting from changes in the Earth’s
orbital parameters). In complement, UCL-ASTR has built a so-called "Earth
system model of intermediate complexity", including simplified
representations of ocean, atmosphere, vegetation and ice-sheets.
Forced by the long-term changes in insolation and greenhouse-gas
concentrations, the model generated continental ice-volume variations
over the last glacial-interglacial cycles that are in general
agreement with the low-frequency part of paleoclimatic records.
This model has also been utilised to investigate the time-dependent
response of climate to natural and anthropogenic forcings over
the last and next millennia.
UCL-ASTR has a great deal of expertise in the domain of mesoscale
meteorology. It initiated the development of the regional atmospheric
model MAR, which was mainly build for process studies over the
polar regions (Antarctic and Greenland). This model was supplemented
by surface snow and vegetation components, and used for various
climatic studies such as precipitation in the Alps, Western Europe
climate evolution and Western Africa Monsoon. UCL-ASTR also contributes
to the development of the non-hydrostatic TVM (Topographic Vorticity-mode
Mesoscale) model which is mainly used for studying local scale
atmospheric circulations and urban environments.
The institute is also active in three-dimensional global climate
modelling; it has developed and coupled together a global oceanic
general circulation model (OGCM) and a comprehensive thermodynamic–dynamic
sea-ice model. This ice–ocean model has been coupled to
the atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) of the Laboratoire
de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD; Paris) and to the
atmospheric quasi-geostrophic model of the Koninklijk Nederlands
Meteorologisch Instituut (KNMI; De Bilt). The first of these
3-D coupled models is currently used to investigate the climate
response to anthropogenic forcings over the next century, whereas
the latter is employed to study the decadal-to-centennial climate
variability and the past evolution of climate.
Activities
- Rapport Greenpeace: Impacts des changements climatiques en Belgique
- Effet de serre et changements climatiques.
- Une animation sur l'effet de serre pour les écoles primaires (Brochure).
- Rapports GIEC/IPCC summaries.
- La climatologie en quelques mots ...
Main field of activity
- Interannual variability of the ocean and sea ice cover
- Human impacts on climate
- Modelling the mass balance of the Greenland Ice sheet
- Past climate variations in polar regions during the last few millennia
List of projects
- BELCANTO II -Assessing the sensitivity of the Southern Ocean’s biological pump to climate change
- BELCANTO III - Integrated Study of Southern Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Interactions in the Anthropocene
- MILMO - Modelling the evolution of climate and sea level over the third millenium; coupling the Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheet models with a global AOGCM of intermediate complexity
- An integrated approach to assess carbon dynamics in the Southern Ocean
- Formation of the Terra Nova Bay polynya and climatic implications
Research Group Team
- Promoter: Prof. Dr. Thierry Fichefet
Academic Staff: Berger André, Camelbeeck Thierry, Defraigne Pascale, Dehant Véronique, Deleersnijder Eric, Ducarme Bernard, Goosse Hugues, Grootsch Arlette, Lemaire Joseph (Em. Prof.), Pierrard Viviane, Schayes Guy (Em. Prof.), Van Ruymbeke Michel, van Ypersele Jean-Pascal, Warnant René - Post doctorate researchers: Arzel Olivier
- PhD researchers: Lefebvre Wouter, Vancoppenolle Martin, Fettweis Xavier, Driesshaert Emmanuelle