IPSL - Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace
The Institute brings together 8 laboratories(CEREA, GEOPS, LATMOS, LISA, LMD, LOCEAN, LSCE and METIS) and two associated teams ( LERMA and the ENS geosciences department) whose research focuses on the global environment. Its main objectives are to facilitate the coordination of research and training, to develop innovative programs and to provide common services in all the activities of the member research units, with particular emphasis on natural climate sciences.
In terms of research, the IPSL helps to foster inter-laboratory collaboration by funding research projects organized into 8 major themes focused on major societal issues, including the study of atmospheric composition and air quality as part of the COMPOSAIR theme.
On the research side, the COMPOSAIR theme focuses on understanding the life cycle of chemical compounds that impact health, ecosystems and climate, such as ozone and aerosols, as well as precursor compounds like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. These compounds are reactive and their transformations (photochemistry, aqueous chemistry, formation of secondary aerosols, etc.) are strongly influenced by environmental conditions. Approaches include in-situ observation, remote sensing and modeling. Fields of study range from the street scale to the continental scale.
On the teaching side, IPSL works to develop links between research and teaching by offering a coherent training program for M1 and M2 students, and by funding theses. To this end, it coordinates the IPSL-Climate Graduate School.
IPSL has offices in the OVSQ buildings (Observatoire de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) and on the Jussieu campus in Paris (Sorbonne University).
For more information on how to get to our various sites, please consult this page.
Research activities rely on extensive measurement resources:
- The Site Instrumental de Recherche par Télédétection Atmosphérique (SIRTA), an INSU-approved observation service integrated into the ACTRIS national and European research infrastructure, provides a wide range of meteorological, physical and chemical measurements on clouds and aerosols (in-situ sensors, radars, radiometers, lidars, etc.). With regard to air quality, SIRTA hosts in-situ measurements of reactive gases (NOx, VOC and O3) and particles (mass, chemical composition and physical properties).
- The QUALAIR observation platform provides integrated measurements of meteorological parameters and chemical species concentrations (O3, NOx, CO, CO2, CH4, hydrocarbons, aerosols, etc.) on the Paris urban atmospheric boundary layer, using spectrometers (UV, visible, TF) and lidars;
- A LISA instrumental site at Université Paris Est Créteil, comprising the OASIS observatory (Service d'Observation OSU EFLUVE) for ground-based remote sensing of chemical species (O3, CO, NH3, etc.) and an in situ air quality station measuring concentrations of gaseous (NOx, O3, SO2, NH3) and particulate (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10) pollutants.
- Laboratory or field-deployable instruments (analyzers for surface or airborne measurements), for example from the PEGASUS platform, as well as the CESAM simulation chamber for better characterization of single-phase or multi-phase chemical reactions in the laboratory.
The data from these instrumental platforms serve as constraints for models developed at IPSL, representing the transport of pollutants and atmospheric chemistry on different scales: on a global scale with the LMDz-INCA model, on a regional scale with the POLYPHEMUS platform and the CHIMERE model (a national tool accredited by INSU and used daily to forecast air quality in France), and on a local scale with Gaussian models and the MUNICH street network model.
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