The list of people who work/have worked at the Department of Atmospheric
Physics is listed
here.
Updated on June 9, 2008.
If you have any additional information or find any errors please mail to
andres@to.ee.
Diaries of meteorological observations in the archives of the observatory start from 1st January 1808. Such names as Th. Clausen and Carl Laurenti are mentioned, look at the Virtual Museum of Tartu Observatory.
First lasting meteorological observations in Tartu were set by
J.J.F.W. Parrot in 1821-1834.
Continuous observations were initiated by L.F. Kämtz who came to
Tartu in 1841.
At the same time with Kämtz, meteorological observations were made by
J.H. Mädler.
The directors of Metobs were
A.J. von Oettingen, from 1865 to 1875 and from 1891 to 1893,
J.K. Weihrauch, from 1875 to 1891,
B.B. Golitsõn 1893,
B.I. Sreznevski, from 1894 to 1918,
Alfred Lothar Wegener in 1918 during the German occupation,
G.K. Koch, from 1918 to 1925.
1904
Metobs purchased an actinometer (Hvolson type) and the actinometric
observations started under the direction of B.I. Sreznevski.
1911
The Callendar solar radiation recorder was installed. The instrument was
used to record the solar radiation from 1911 to 1915 and for some time
in 1926.
Kaarel Kirde defended his doctoral thesis in Hamburg in 1921, in 1925 he became the docent of geophysics and meteorology at Tartu University and the professor in 1930. He was the director of Metobs until 1944.
1924
J. Letzmann defended the doctoral thesis on the kinematics of
whirlwinds.
1931
Metobs purchased the Ångström compensation pyrheliometer. The instrument
was used for the measurements of direct solar radiation on cloudless
days in the Metobs house at Liivi 4, Tartu up to the Second World War.
The instrument was destroyed in September 1944.
1936
Aarne Kärsna defended his doctoral thesis "The system of unimodal
distribution curves of Lexis series with the examples in climatology'
under the supervision of K. Kirde.
1941 Metobs is reorganised into Tartu Geophysical Observatory of the Hydrometeorological Service of ESSR. K. Kirde became the director of the Geophysical Observatory and the professor of geophysics of Tartu University.
1944
K. Kirde departed to Germany. In 1941 A. Kärsna was deported to Siberia,
J. Letzmann left in 1939. The work in Metobs was continued by younger
staff H. Liidemaa and H. Mürk.
1950
The Institute of Physics, Mathematics and Mechanics was concentrated to
Tartu. Aksel Kipper became a new director of the institute. The sector
of physics and geophysics was lead by H. Liidemaa, its staff increased
up to 15 persons. Supported by H. Liidemaa, E. Medvedjev founded
an actinometric station, which was opened on 1 January 1950.
1951
Juhan Ross became the head
of actinometric station. The actinometric station was transferred out of
Tartu, to Räni. The scheduled observations were initiated, they lasted
until 1960.
1953
In the development plan of the geophysical observatory of IPA the
following research topics were fixed: Estonian climate (especially
microclimate), actinometry, agroclimate, theoretical studies in
meteorology and actinometry.
J. Ross started his measurements of radiation in plant canopies on a
field of rye.
1956
H. Tooming began the studies of radiation in vegetation by
measurements in a maize field.
1957
An All-Union actinometric conference was held in Tartu.
Juhan Ross defended his candidate dissertation entitled 'Measurement
problems of the shortwave radiation of ground surface'.
Valdur Tiit initiated the observations of noctilucent clouds,
Herbert Niilisk was also related to the activity. The
observations began in summer in Tallinn (Ch. Villmann et al.) and
Tartu (Ü. Veltmann, T. Kala). Both the actinometric and
noctilucent cloud measurements formed a part of the program of
international geophysical year.
1958
16 October 1958 - the actinometric station was reorganised into the
laboratory of atmospheric physics, J. Ross was named the head of the
laboratory.
From 12 to 14 December an All-Union scientific meeting on
noctilucent clouds was held in Tartu.
1961
Heino Tooming defended his candidate thesis 'Reflection and
absorption of solar radiation in plant canopies'.
Olev Avaste defended the candidate thesis entitled 'The shortwave
radiation field of cloudless sky', supervisor K.S. Shifrin.
From 16 to 19 May 1961 the Seventh All-Union meeting on noctilucent
clouds organised by IPA was held in Tallinn.
1962
Helgi Niilisk defended her candidate thesis 'Atmospheric thermal
radiation', supervised by Prof. K. Ya. Kondratyev.
Herbert Niilisk elaborated an instrument to measure the spectral
irradiance and a photometric rod for measuring sunflecks in vegetation.
1963
On 29 April 1963 the main building of the observatory in Tõravere was
inaugurated.
Charles Willmann defended the candidate thesis 'Physical nature of
noctilucent clouds'.
Charles Willmann was named the vice-director of the institute.
The building of the new actinometric station in Tõravere started.
An extensive field campaign of phytoactinometry was organised in Jõgeva.
Among the participants, in addition to the groups from Tartu, were
groups from Moscow (Institute of Geography, Institute of Plant
Physiology) and Leningrad (Main Geophysical Observatory).
J. Ross formulated the radiative transfer equation for plant canopies.
H. Moldau elaborated the spectrogoniometer for measuring the scattering
phase function of plant leaves.
1964
A new international center for the data analysis of noctilucent clouds
was opened in Tõravere.
The field campaign of phytoactinometry took place in Moldova. Among the
participants were 6 associates from IPA and 11 students of Tartu
University.
A. Laisk designed the device for measuring the leaf inclination and
orientation.
1965
The actinometric station was moved from Tartu to Tõravere.
From 10 May 1965 to 25 August 1965 the field campaign was held in
Tadjikistan with 21 participants from Estonia. Groups of phytometric
measurements in corn and cotton, actinometry, spectral actinometry,
statistical actinometry and photosynthesis participated.
Ülo Mullamaa defended the candidate thesis 'The atlas of optical
properties of waving sea surface', supervisor Prof. G.V. Rosenberg.
Jüri Reemann defended his candidate thesis 'The instrumental
integration of radiation in actinometry', supervisor J. Ross.
Herbert Niilisk defended the candidate thesis 'The spectral
radiation regime of some crops in the region of photosynthetically
active radiation', supervisor L.B. Krasilschikov.
Ilmar Undla defended the candidate thesis 'The regularities in
the variability of sums of solar radiation', supervisor M.I. Budyko.
Agu Laisk defended his candidate thesis 'Experimental study of
shortwave radiation in plant canopies', supervisor B.I. Styro.
A. Laisk elaborated an optical instrument to measure the fraction of
gaps in plant canopies that was later named by Dr. E. Lemon as 'mouse'.
J. Ross and T. Nilson published the concept of the G-function.
1966
A working group of noctilucent clouds lead by Ch. Willmann was
established.
Madis Sulev defended his candidate thesis 'The instrumentation
and methods for measurements of ground surface radiation balance',
supervisor J.D. Janishevski.
Viivi Põldmaa-Russak
defended the candidate thesis 'The twilight method in atmospheric remote
sensing', supervisors J.D. Janishevski and Prof. G.V. Rosenberg.
Heino Moldau defended his candidate thesis 'Scattering properties
of plant leaves', supervisor I.A. Shulgin.
Herbert Niilisk was named the vice-director of IPA.
From 15 to 18 March 1966 an international symposium 'Noctilucent clouds
as indicators of processes in the higher atmosphere' was held.
H. Tooming formulated his principle of maximum productivity of plant
stands.
J. Ross published his work on quantitative growth functions of plants.
1967
Agu Laisk designed the statistical analyser and measured the statistical
distribution of radiation fluxes in some crops.
Juhan Ross and Tiit Nilson found the exact solution of the radiative
transfer problem for the plant canopy with horizontal Lambertian leaves.
1968
Uno Veismann defended the candidate thesis 'A photometer based on
twin telescopes to measure the brightness of stars', supervisor N.F.
Kuprevitch.
Tiit Nilson
defended his candidate thesis 'Mathematical modeling of radiation regime
of plant stands', supervisor J. Ross.
1969
Vello Ross defended his candidate thesis 'The phytometric studies
of geometrical structure and growth of some agricultural crops',
supervisor J. Ross.
The IBP/PP technical meeting was held in Trebon, Czechoslovakia and the
second part in Moscow. H. Tooming was the only representative from IPA
who was able to participate in the first part in Trebon, although J.
Ross, A. Laisk and T. Nilson were also among the invited speakers.
T. Nilson derived the plant canopy gap fraction formulas considering the
clumping and regularity effects in the spatial dispersion of foliage.
Margaret Anderson presented the 'Cosmos' fish-eye lens to the group of
phytoactinometry.
1970
Sirje Keevallik defended her candidate thesis 'Radiative transfer
in statistically inhomogeneous turbid media', supervisor J. Ross.
Väino Unt was named the vice-director of IPA.
1971
Juhan Ross defended his doctoral thesis 'Plant canopy optical properties
in relation to its geometrical structure and photosynthesis.'
Lauri Luud was named the vice-director of IPA.
Measurement campaigns of plant and canopy structure and radiation
transmission into the plant canopies were done during the years
1970-1973 in the agricultural fields at Kuremaa and forests site of
Voore (Institute of Zoology and Botany). Participants V. Ross, T.
Nilson, A. Aho, A. Koppel, O. Kull, J. Saks, E. Pastak, S. Vaher. Among
other instruments the inclined point quadrat instrument, A. Laisk's
mouse and hemispheric canopy photography were used.
1972
Olev Avaste defended his doctoral thesis 'Shortwave radiation field in
the Earth atmosphere.'
Heino Tooming defended his doctoral thesis 'Radiation regime and
productivity of plant cover.'
Vello Oja defended his candidate thesis 'Experimental
investigation of leaf photosynthesis by means of CO2 balance.'
1974
The working group of noctilucent clouds was reorganised into the
laboratory of spatial research lead by Ch. Villmann.
Väino Unt became the director of IAAP.
Ülo Mullamaa defended his doctoral thesis 'The optics of
stochastically inhomogeneous structures.'
Ain Kallis defended
his candidate thesis 'The effect of solar radiation on the
productivity, growth and efficiency of vegetation on different
latitudes,' supervisor H. Tooming.
Olavi Kärner defended
his candidate thesis 'Investigation of temporal variability of
cloudiness and global radiation,' supervisors K.S. Shifrin and O.
Avaste.
The sea expedition TROPEX-74 on the Russian vessel 'Academician
Korolev' to study the structure of cloud fields on tropical seas.
Participants from IAAP: Ü. Mullamaa, H. Niilisk, A. Kuusk, M.Tiisler
and O. Kurm. Duration 8 months and route: Vladivostok - Rabaul -
Panama - Havanna - Dakar - Las Palmas - Havanna - Panama - Rabaul -
Vladivostok.
T. Nilson participated in the international seminar 'Heat and mass
transfer in the biosphere. Transfer processes in the plant
environment' held in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia.
1975
Agu Laisk defended his doctoral thesis 'The kinetics of photosynthesis
and photorespiration of leaves'.
Märt Rahi defended his candidate thesis 'Study of leaf water
supply in relation to photosynthesis and respiration'.
Gidrometeoizdat in Leningrad issued Juhan Ross' monograph 'The
radiation regime and architecture of plant canopies'.
J. Reemann elaborated his infrared thermometer for the aircraft
measurements.
Airborne measurements of directional distribution and spatial
variability of reflectance of agricultural fields and forests started
under the supervision of J. Ross. The main instruments used were the
four-channel radiometer TSFM-4M (M. Sulev) and infrared thermometer
(J. Reemann). The aircraft and helicopter measurement campaigns lasted
to the end of 1980-s. The instrumentation was elaborated by M. Sulev,
J. Reemann, A. Aho, A. Kuusk. J. Ojaste together with the Special
designing bureau of Estonian Academy of Sciences. In the measurements
T. Nilson, K. Ross, J. Anton, A. Aho, M. Kirikal, V. Aplei, J. Kõdar,
A. Kuusk, A. Savikhin, E. Meikas, U. Peterson, P. Pajusalu
participated.
1977
The workgroup lead by Ch. Villmann together with four cosmonauts was
awarded the Soviet Estonian science prize for the results in the
investigations of noctilucent clouds.
Hanno Ohvril defended his candidate degree with the thesis 'The
correlation analysis between the field of cumulus clouds and radiation
field', supervisor Ü. Mullamaa.
T. Nilson published the theoretical treatment of gap fraction and its
statistics in non-homogeneous plant canopies. Among others, the new
types of gap fraction formulas for forest canopies were derived, and
possibilities to quantitatively describe the crown-level hot-spot
phenomenon and estimation of leaf area index by means of inversion of
the measured gap fraction data were given.
1978
V. Põldmaa, H. Ohvril, A. Kurvits and Ü. Kährik took part in the sea
expedition on the vessel 'Academician Vernadski' on the Atlantic
ocean.
1979
The laboratory of space radiometry was formed lead by Uno Veismann.
Andres Kuusk defended
his candidate thesis 'The structure of cloud fields and radiation
regime of the ground surface', supervisor Ü. Mullamaa.
An extensive field campaign in Tamme at lake Võrtsjärv with the
participants from IAAP, Institute of Zoology and Botany and geography
department of Tartu University. Measurements of surface irradiance and
reflectance, soil temperature and water regimes and of surface energy
balance was carried out.
A joint field campaign between the University of Helsinki, Karelian
Forest Institute and IAAP was held in Karelia. Relations between the
radiation regime and stand structure in a pine forest were studied.
From IAAP J. Ross, T. Nilson, A. Aho and K. Ross participated.
1980
Teofilus Tõnnisson defended his candidate thesis 'The energetic
graduation of remote sensing radiometers of the near infrared region',
supervisor U. Veismann.
Rein Rõõm defended his candidate thesis 'Radiative transfer in
planetary atmospheres considering anisotropic scattering', supervisor
O. Avaste.
11th All-Union Symposium in Actinometry was organised by IAAP in
Tallinn. 24 presentations were given by the researchers from IAAP.
J. Ross and V.A. Kanevski suggested the Monte-Carlo method to study
the radiation field of a spruce tree. A. Kuusk elaborated a
theoretical treatment to describe the hot-spot phenomenon of the plant
canopy modelled as a plate medium.
A. Aho and M. Sulev elaborated the four-channel hand-held radiometer
to measure the reflectance factors of plant canopies and soil. Since
then the instrument has been in use in the reflectance and
transmittance measurements in the agricultural fields and forests
during an extended period.
1981
A joint project named 'Eco-physiology of trees and exchange of mass
and energy in the forests of taiga zone' between the Soviet Academy of
Sciences and Finnish Academy was carried out during1981-1985 (project
no 12). The participants from the Soviet side were the Forest
Institute of the Karelian Branch of Soviet Academy of Sciences and
IAAP, from the Finnish side the Forest faculty of the University of
Helsinki. From IAAP the project sub-leader was Juhan Ross and
secretary Tiit Nilson. Field measurements and workshops were carried
out in Finland and Karelia.
From 1986-1990 the project was continued under a new name
'Bio-production processes of pine forests'.
Dr. W. Junk Publishers issued the English version of the book by J.
Ross 'The Radiation Regime and Architecture of Plant Stands'.
Matti Pehk defended his candidate thesis 'Determination of
energetic characteristics of normal K- and M-giant stars in the
infrared spectral region', supervisor L. Luud.
1982
The chair of geophysics was opened at Tartu University, Olev Avaste
was elected the head of the chair.
Ülo Mullamaa defended his doctoral thesis 'The radiation field
modulated by natural inhomogeneous structures'.
A. Laisk and V. Oja were awarded a state premium based on the
investigations of kinetics of carbon metabolism.
1983
Aleksandr Marshak defended his candidate thesis 'On the speed of
convergence of the solution of radiative transfer equation with the
discrete ordinate method', supervisor G. Vainikko.
From 1983-1987 measurements of the seasonal course of reflectance of cereal crops by means of the Aho-Sulev four-channel field radiometer were carried out in Tamme (Lenin state farm) and Erika, near Tartu (T. Nilson, J. Anton, V. Aplei, K. Ross, J. Kõdar, N. Danziger).
1984
From 17 to 20 August 1984 an international seminar on noctilucent
clouds was held in Tallinn.
From 21 to 28 August 1984 the 9th International Cloud Conference was
held in Tallinn.
1985
Tõnu Viik was named the director of IAAP.
The new laboratory of biophysics was formed lead by Agu Laisk.
Heino Moldau defended his doctoral thesis 'Auto-regulation of plant
production process during water deficit'.
Juri Knjazikhin defended his candidate thesis 'Discrete
ordinate method and the linear algebraic model', supervisor G.
Vainikko.
The laboratory of spatial radiometry introduced a certified measuring
and calibrating set 'Specter'.
T. Nilson and A. Kuusk published their first approximate analytical
canopy reflectance model.
A. Kuusk published his canopy hot-spot model.
1986
U. Peterson started the measurements of seasonal and successional
reflectance on clearcut communities by means of the Aho-Sulev
four-channel field spectro-radiometer.
1987
First foreign scientists (Thomas Herbert from Miami University, USA;
Le Van Lieu from Vietnam) were allowed to work at IAAP in Tõravere for
extensive time periods.
1988
Space research and spatial radiometry laboratories were joined into
the space research laboratory lead by Uno Veismann.
Juhan Ross was elected an academician of All Union Agricultural
Academy.
1989
Juhan Ross was given the honour doctor degree of University of
Joensuu, Finland.
Tiit Nilson worked 3 months at the University of Joensuu.
Rein Rõõm was named the vice-director of IAAP.
1990
The international field campaign TARTEX-90 was held in Tõravere, the
surface energy balance components and boundary layer turbulence
characteristics were measured. Among the participants there were
scientists from IAAP, Main Meteorological observatory of German
Democratic Republic, Atmospheric Institute of Chech and Slovak
Republic, Atmospheric Physics Institute from Moscow.
T. Nilson published his first forest reflectance model.
1991
Andres Kuusk defended his doctoral thesis 'Opposition effect in the
reflection from plant canopies'.
Tiit Nilson defended his doctoral thesis 'Radiative transfer in
nonhomogeneous plant canopies'.
Helgi Arst defended her doctoral thesis 'Radiation characteristics of
the atmosphere and sea as the information sources of natural
environment'.
As main research topics optical monitoring of ground surface
(development of vegetation reflectance models, use of satellite
information, successional changes in forest reflectance), studies of
atmospheric aerosol from the satellites by means of the teleradiometer
FAZA, studies of global cloudiness and of Estonian radiation climate.
Springer issued the monograph edited by R.B. Myneni and J. Ross
'Photon-Vegetation Interactions. Applications in Optical Remote
Sensing and Plant Ecology.' Among others the contributions by J. Ross,
A. Kuusk, T. Nilson, A. Marshak and Y. Knyazikhin were included.
T. Nilson worked 1.5 months in Universities of Wisconsin and Miami and
in NASA Goddard and Ames, USA.
A. Kuusk worked a month at the New York State University in Binghamton
(USA).
1992
On 25 March 1992 Charles Willmann passed away.
The group of biophysics was transferred to Tartu University, Agu Laisk
was elected the professor of plant physiology.
Joint chairs of Tartu University and IAAP of biogeophysics and dynamic
meteorology were formed, T. Nilson and R. Rõõm were elected the
professors of the respective joint chairs.
Viivi Russak defended her PhD thesis 'The solar radiation at
Tõravere'.
Urmas Peterson defended his MS thesis 'The seasonal and
successional dynamics of reflectance in forest clear-cut communities
in Estonia'.
From 3 to 8 August 1992 the international radiation symposium IRS'92
was organised in Tallinn.
1993
Juhan Ross was elected an academician of the Estonian Academy of
Sciences.
The actinometric station in Tõravere was included into the list of
candidates to the world BRNS (Basic Radiation Network Stations).
Urmas Peterson defended his PhD thesis 'The reflectance factor
dynamics of Estonian forest communities'.
The measurements of atmospheric ozone layer thickness were initiated
in Tõravere.
J. Ross and M. Sulev measured the scattering phase function of
coniferous shoots by means of a specially designed laboratory
goniometer.
An energy forest was planted in Tõravere as a result of a joint
Swedish-Estonian project.
U. Peterson and T. Nilson published the paper on the successional
reflectance trajectories in northern temperate forests.
1994
From 28 February to 2 March 1994 an international conference 'Energy
forest - growing and exploitation' was held as organised by IAAP and
Institute of Zoology and Botany, Tartu.
T. Nilson, A. Kuusk and U. Peterson measured radiation variables in
Mediterranean oak forests near Montpellier, France. The Aho-Sulev
4-channel field radiometer KFM-4 was supplied with a data logger
CR-10.
A new set of instruments was elaborated for the radiation measurements
in the energy forest.
Regular measurements of ozone layer started.
Meelis Mölder became a doctoral student at Uppsala University.
From November 1994 to March 1995 A. Kuusk worked at the Goddard Space
flight Center, USA.
A. Kuusk published his multispectral canopy reflectance model MSRM.
1996
T. Nilson, J. Anniste ja M. Lang linked the forest reflectance model
to forestry databases.
J. Ross, T. Nilson and A. Kuusk participated in a remote sensing
conference in Beijing. A. Kuusk worked two weeks with the Institute of
Geography in Beijing.
1997
During 1997-2002 the group of vegetation remote sensing (lead by T.
Nilson) participated in the Swedish remote sensing project named RESE
(Remote Sensing for the Environment) financed by the Swedish MISTRA
fund.
1998
The joint chairs of Tartu University and TO ceased to exist. The
atmospheric physics department (lead by Rein Rõõm) contained the
following groups
- ground surface energetics
- remote sensing of vegetation
- dynamical meteorology
- climatology and actinometrical monitoring.
The measurements of erythemal UV (ultraviolet) radiation were
initiated in Tõravere.
A plant canopy analyser LAI-2000 and CCD-camera ST-8 were purchased.
Based on the latter, A. Kuusk elaborated a 2-band hemispheric-view
radiometer for the detailed study of the radiation field within plant
canopies.
A new certified etalon lamp was purchased by laboratory of radiometry.
The atlas of satellite images of Estonia 'Estonia as seen from the
space' by U. Peterson, R. Aunap and J. Eilart was issued.
From the state budget the research projects are financed:
- Radiation regime of the atmosphere and ground surface and optical
monitoring of Estonian environment (principal investigator J. Ross);
- Climate forming factors and dynamic weather forecast for Estonia
((principal investigator R. Rõõm).
U. Peterson started his analysis of Estonian land-use and land-use
change by means of satellite images.
Non-hydrostatic HIRLAM version was elaborated in the workgroup of
dynamical meteorology.
A. Kuusk published his work on the determination of vegetation
parameters on large areas from a Landsat TM image by means of
inversion of a reflectance model.
1999
Laurits Leedjärv became the director of TO.
Beginning from January, the actinometric station belongs to BSRN.
A. Kuusk became a member of the editorial board of the journal
"Agricultural and Forest Meteorology" and the field editor of the
journal "Agronomie". J. Ross has been a member of the editorial board
of "Agricultural and Forest Meteorology" for several years already.
Measurements of high angular resolution radiation field by means of an
imaging radiometer based on the CCD-camera ST-8 started.
2000
Tiit Nilson was named a principal investigator of the research project
'Radiation regime of the atmosphere and ground surface and optical
monitoring of Estonian environment'.
Matti Mõttus defended the MS thesis 'Statistical description of
direct solar radiation in willow coppice', supervisors J. Ross and T.
Nilson.
International evaluation of remote sensing and surface energetics
workgroups, both the groups were given 'good' by the ecology expert
teams from UK and Finland.
A. Kuusk, M. Lang and U. Peterson measured radiation regime in
experimental forests in Flakaliden (Sweden) and production forests in
Ruokolahti (Finland).
On the forest test site of the international VALERI project in
Järvselja measurements with the plant canopy analysers LAI-2000 were
made together with the colleagues from Toulouse M. Leroy and C.
Lelong. Similar measurements were repeated in years 2001-2005.
2001
The workgroup of dynamic meteorology was transferred to the
Environmental institute of Tartu University. Rein Rõõm was elected the
professor of meteorology.
Scientific centers of excellence were formed in Estonia. The workgroup
of vegetation remote sensing was included into the Center of
Excellence of Basic and applied ecology (leader Prof. Olevi Kull,
Institute of botany and ecology, Tartu University).
Mait Lang defended his MS thesis "Forest reflectance model as
an interface between satellite images and forestry databases",
supervisor T. Nilson.
The measurements of leaf area and canopy cover were carried out on the
VALERI test site in Järvselja.
Understorey vegetation reflectance spectra in the range 400-2500 nm
were measured by means of a GER-2600 spectrometer borrowed from
Stockholm University. The spectral library is available on the web
site
http://scorpion.aai.ee/bgf/ger2600/
A part of the willow coppice in Tõravere was replaced by alder
plantation.
2002
On 21 June 2002 Juhan Ross died.
The structure of atmospheric physics department was changed, T. Nilson
was named the leader of the department. Two groups were formed
- Vegetation remote sensing lead by T. Nilson
- Atmospheric sensing lead by U. Veismann.
New target financed project 'Optical remote sensing of environment in
Estonia and Baltic region' was started, principal investigator T.
Nilson.
Sirje Keevallik left to the Institute of Sea Systems at the Tallinn
Technical University.
A NASA sunphotometer CIMEL-318, belonging to the AERONET system was
installed in Tõravere (O. Kärner being the principal investigator and
M. Sulev taking care of the technical performance of the instrument).
2003
The 'Handbook of Estonian solar radiation climate' was issued compiled
by Viivi Russak and Ain Kallis, edited by Heino Tooming.
On 11 April 2003 the seminar 'Ch. Villmann 80' was held in Tõravere.
On 3 June 2003 the first Estonian remote sensing seminar with 50
participants was held in Tõravere, organized by Tiit Nilson.
The working group of atmospheric sensing purchased a fiber optical
spectrometer AvaSpec-256, working in the interval 240-440 nm.
T. Nilson, A. Kuusk, M. Lang and T. Lükk published in Ambio a summary
paper on forest reflectance modeling based on the research made within
the Swedish RESE project.
2004
Matti Mõttus defended his
PhD thesis 'Shortwave radiation field in willow coppice' supervisors
J. Ross and T. Nilson.
After her post-doc period in Uppsala, Anu Reinart joined the
vegetation remote sensing group. Remote sensing of inner water bodies and of
coastal seas were her main research topics.
On 25 September 2004 our long term co-worker Rutt Koppel passed away.
Oleg Okulov joined the vegetation remote sensing group as a post-doc for two
years.
With the funding help by Center of excellence of basic and applied
ecology, a spectrometer FieldSpec Pro (350-1050 nm) was purchased.
Tiit Nilson and Andres Kuusk gave the lecture course 'Physical models
in remote sensing' for master and doctoral students in Tikkurila,
Finland. The course was organized by the Finnish forest research
institute.
A. Kuusk and T. Nilson participated with their forest reflectance
model FRT in the international comparison of reflectance models.
2005
Andres Kuusk took the department leader position and the principal
investigator post of the target financed project 'Optical remote
sensing of environment in Estonia and Baltic region'.
The fourth book in the Universe-series 'The Universe in light and
rain' compiled by Uno Veismann and Rein Veskimäe was issued. The
authors were from Tartu Observatory, environmental and geography
institutes of Tartu University, Estonian Meteorological and
Hydrological Institute, Estonian Sea Institute, etc.
On 10 July 2005 the European Space Agency experimental satellite Proba
measured with the imaging spectrometer CHRIS the VALERI program test
site in Järvselja. The region of 14x14 km was measured in 18 bands
(from 438 to 1035 nm) with the 17-m pixel size from 3 different view
directions.
Two canopy reflectance models (two-layer homogeneous and forest
reflectance model) participated in the 3rd phase of the international
comparison of radiative transfer models.
Matti Mõttus took a post-doc position at the University of Helsinki.
On 11 October 2005 the second Estonian remote sensing seminar was held
in Tõravere, organized by A. Reinart.
2006
Kersti Püssa defended her PhD theses "Forest edges on medium
resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper images', supervisors J. Liira
(Tartu university) and U. Peterson.
The infrared camera ThermaCAM SC-3000 was purchased together with the
Center of excellence of basic and applied ecology.
Reflectance spectra of forests at Järvselja test site were measured
with an airborne 256-channel spectrometer designed by J. Kuusk.
2008
Tiit Nilson was given the honour doctor degree of University of
Helsinki, Finland.
Contributed:
Kalju Eerme
Ain Kallis
Andres Kuusk
Tiit Nilson
Viivi Russak
Madis Sulev