The Cyprus Institute

Franco Marenco is an expert in aerosols and remote sensing, with more than 30 years of experience. He started in the field with an undergraduate project in the laboratory led by Prof. Giorgio Fiocco at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy) on "Lidar observations of the stratosphere and the mesosphere from Thule, Greenland". Since then, he has taken an experimental approach to his studies on the  structure and composition of the atmosphere, and has promoted where possible the synergetic use of remote sensing, in situ measurements, and model predictions. In 2006, Prof. Marenco received a PhD in Physics from the University of Genova, Italy, with a thesis on "Research on atmospheric aerosols in a remote and an urban area of North-Western Italy"

 

At the Cyprus Institute, Franco’s general research interest is on the transboundary transport of atmospheric constituents. He has extensive experience with lidar remote sensing, together with additional skills in the field of airborne observations and satellite remote sensing. He has contributed to research projects at a number of universities and institutes, in Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands, and from 2009 to 2023 he was employed at the Met Office in the United Kingdom, where he was able to link his research interests to meteorology and hazard management in an operational context.

 

From 2009 to 2015, he took part in several airborne campaign with the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft, targeting the volcanic emissions of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, mineral dust in the Sahara and over the Eastern Atlantic, aerosol-cloud interactions, the radiative budget, etc. From 2015 to 2021, Franco has been the manager of Satellite Imagery at the Met Office, which has permitted him not only to broaden his scientific horizons, but also to further develop his leadership skills. In May 2021, he has joined CARE-C, with a view of developing a ground-based remote sensing facility to be exploited in synergy with “remote in-situ” sampling from the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL), thus growing additional scientific capabilities that permit creating a full understanding of observed atmospheric scenes.

 

In 2023 Franco Marenco has submitted a research proposal for the establishment of the first Doctoral Network on Atmospheric Dust (Dust-DN) on behalf of the Cyprus Institute, and aiming at coordinating efforts from 8 leading partners across Europe and 15 associated partners, from research, academia and industry on the theme of atmospheric dust. The proposal was successful with full marks (a score of 100%) and the network is now entering its operational phase.

 

Franco Marenco has (co-)authored almost 80 international refereed publications (H-index 24) and has extensively presented his research at international conferences devoted to remote sensing atmospheric sciences.