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Successful dissertation: Thorben Mense defends his thesis at the University of Rostock

Kühlungsborn, 21.01.2025 - On Friday, January 17, 2025, Thorben Mense successfully defended his dissertation at the University of Rostock. The thesis is entitled: “Multi Field of View Observations of Wind, Aerosol and Temperature using a Compact, Frequency Scanning Lidar”.
In his research, Dr. Mense has significantly advanced the VAHCOLI system (Vertical And Horizontal COverage by LIdar) developed at the IAP. The Doppler lidar system was extended to enable simultaneous measurements of wind, temperature and aerosols with multiple viewing directions. Technological innovations such as an improved telescope design, new mechanisms for beam switching and integrated temperature management systems formed the basis for this extension. 

The performance of the system was demonstrated in measurement campaigns at the IAP between December 2022 and April 2023. Results included the determination of 3D winds up to heights of 25 km, precise aerosol measurements and the calculation of temperatures in aerosol-rich layers. The quality of the measurements was also confirmed by comparisons with weather models and satellite data. The work highlights the potential of VAHCOLI, particularly for future measurement campaigns and the validation of space-based lidar systems. 

Furthermore, this defense marked a special moment: Thorben Mense was the last PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Franz-Josef Lübken, the former director of the IAP.
We congratulate Dr. Mense on this success!

The Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics is one of the German main centers for Middle Atmosphere research and maintains active cooperations with several international research organizations. The institute is located near the Baltic Sea resort Kühlungsborn, owns a separate site on the island Rügen, and is a major partner of the ALOMAR observatory in northern Norway. As associated institute of the Rostock University it is part of the teaching programme in physics. A total of about 90 persons is employed at IAP. The institute realizes an equal-opportunity and family-friendly human resource policy and is certified with the audit "berufundfamilie"  ('career and family').

Contact: Director Prof. Claudia Stolle cstolle@_we_dont_like_spam_iap-kborn.de