Alberto Salama
ESA ISO and AKARI


I joined ESA as a Research Fellow at MPIA Heidelberg in 1986,
working on IR He-cryogenic instrumentation in the ISOPHOT team. I
joined ESA as staff as ISO Calibration Scientist in 1988, then SWS
Instrument Dedicated Team (SIDT) Leader during ISO operations, and
ISO Archive Scientist in 2000. Since 2002 I am responsible for the
ISO Data Centre, also as ISO and AKARI (ASTRO-F) Project Scientist,
concentrating for the latter on the User Support activities run at
ESAC.

My research activity focuses on the study of novae and symbiotic
stars. I have carried out ISO programmes in close collaboration
with A. Evans of the University of Keele, UK, and was also member
of the novae TOO teams on ISO. The main thrust is to determine
elemental abundances, masses and physical condistions (density,
temperature, velocity structures) of the ejected material, the
long-term evolution and composition of dust in dusty novae and
symbiotics and the physical state of the stellar remnant from a
number of infrared observations. I am also involved in Spitzer
programmes carried out by these teams.

I have also contributed to a programme of observations of Titan
with ISO (PI: A. Coustenis), leading to the detection of water
vapour, benzene and other molecules in its stratosphere as well the
determination of surface methane abundance and detection of water
ice and other components in its troposphere and surface, from
dedicated mesaurements done in the 3 microns methane window, prior
to the Huygens mission.