Admission requirements
Basic knowledge of atmospheric physics and radiative transfer.
Basic programming skills.
Description
Planetary science is now in its “Golden Age”. Dozens of spacecrafts developed and operated by ESA, NASA and other space agencies have delivered a wealth of valuable data about Solar System planets and exoplanets. Data analysis, theoretical studies and numerical modelling, aiming at understanding of the conditions and processes on the planets in the Solar System and beyond, especially those relevant to habitability, are in high demand. Future more sophisticated and challenging planetary missions are being planned and developed by space agencies.
This course will provide an overview of the methods and instrumentation currently used in planetary research supported by representative examples from recent Solar System missions. The course will deliver a broad picture of conditions and processes on the Solar System planets in their complexity and diversity. The students will also get a preliminary understanding of how concepts of planetary missions payload are designed, including setting up science objectives and requirements, defining priorities and complementarities. The course will provide a “bridge” to exoplanet investigations where appropriate.
The detailed outline of the course is:
Remote sensing methods and instrumentation
Methods and instruments for in-situ investigations
Grand Tour of planetary surfaces
Grand Tour of planetary atmospheres
Science payload concepts: from objectives to requirements
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
Understand the areas of applicability of various remote sensing and in-situ methods in planetary physics, their main features, advantages, limitations and main results
Acquire a broad picture of main features and conditions on the planets in the Solar System
Discuss and explain major open questions in the planetary physics
Understand and discuss the logics and the way science payload concepts for ESA planetary missions are being designed
Discuss and follow current literature in the field of planetary physics
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
The course will consist of eight 1.5 hour lectures and four tutorials. Two lectures and one tutorial session will be given per week. Topics of the course will be presented during the lectures. The tutorial sessions will be devoted to hands-on work on notional concepts of planetary missions and their payloads, access to experimental data in the ESA Planetary Science Archive, as well as presentation and discussion of relevant papers.
Assessment method
Written exam (50%), project (a concept of a payload suite) (30%), presentation of papers, discussions, and hands-on work during tutorials (20%).
Reading list
De Pater, I. and J.J. Lissauer. Planetary sciences, 2001.
Houghton, Taylor, Rodgers. Remote sounding of the atmospheres, 1984.
S.W. Squires et al., Overview of the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover Mission to Meridiani Planum: Eagle Crater to Purgatory Ripple, Journal Geophysical Research, VOL. 111, E12S12, doi:10.1029/2006JE002771, 2006
Ph. Blondel and J.W. Mason (editors). Solar System Update. Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, 2006.
ESA document. Definition Study Report (Red Book) for the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission
ESA document. Assessment Study Report (Yellow Book) for the EnVision mission.
Papers selected during the classes
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Lecturer: Dr. D.V Titov Ph.D.
Remarks
Soft skills
Oral and writing communication (presenting, speaking, listening, writing)
Critical thinking (asking questions, making assumptions, setting priorities and making trade-offs)
Creative thinking (resourcefulness, curiosity, thinking out of the box)
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.