News: Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rostock

02.01.2023 , News

New Laser has arrived

The Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics has a new laser: The device "Innolas Spitlight EVO IV" from the company InnoLas Laser GmbH arrived at the institute in December. Significantly smaller than the current laser, it has around three times as much power and at the same time consumes less electricity. As a result, a significantly better spectral quality is achieved. The laser will be used to measure the vertical wind in gravity waves in the mesosphere. Starting next spring, it will replace the 13-year-old laser that measures daytime temperature and noctilucent clouds. Contact: Dr. Gerd Baumgarten

02.01.2023 , News

Inaugural Lecture: How high does the Atmosphere reach?

Weather reports, climate models or rocket launches - they all need precise data from the atmosphere. Research of the different layers of the atmosphere is therefore becoming increasingly important. But how high does the atmosphere actually reach? Prof. Dr. Claudia Stolle, director of the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, is dealing with this and other questions. On January 5, she will give her inaugural lecture at the University of Rostock and explain what makes research at the boundary to space special. For example, the middle and high atmosphere develops its own weather, which has significant effects on weather on Earth - and vice versa. "Especially at a time of growing commercial use of space by satellites, we need to better understand the connection between the atmosphere and space," she says. The lecture is open to the public and starts at 5 p.m. at the Institute of Physics. The event can be followed via zoom. Date: Jan. 5, starting at 5 p.m., University of Rostock, Hörsaal 1, Albert-Einstein-Str. 24 Stream via Zoom: Meeting ID: 698 7035 5033, Passcode: 165290

06.12.2022 , News

EU funding: Researchers from Kühlungsborn develop mini laser for use in the snow

How can the atmosphere be measured in remote places around the world? This question is being addressed by the Optical Sounding department of the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) in Kühlungsborn. For this purpose, the researchers are participating in an international project funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe program. A first instrument that will provide answers is now being built at the Baltic Sea. EULIAA (European Lidar Array for Atmospheric Climate Monitoring) is the name of the program in which the institute is participating and collaborating with partners from academia and industry across Europe. "Weather services have found that there is a gap in the measurement chain," explains Dr. Gerd Baumgarten, scientist and acting department head at the IAP. "There is hardly any data in the range between ten and 50 kilometers altitude. We want to find a solution for that." The institute in Kühlungsborn is getting support from Aachen: In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, the researchers are working on a new laser that for the first time can measure temperature and wind in hard-to-reach places in a compact lidar device. At the institute in Kühlungsborn, lasers have been measuring various parameters continuously for decades. The disadvantage: they are permanently installed and can hardly be transported. "Not to mention their use in other climate zones," says physicist Dr. Josef Höffner, who has already conducted research in Antarctica. Even the smallest model, which was already part of missions in Norway, weighed more than 15 tons. "The new lidar technology is much smaller and, at 500 kilograms, a lightweight." Nevertheless, it can withstand snowstorms. To do so, the laser is well protected inside the system. From there, it measures both vertically and obliquely, day and night. "Any weather is fine with us," says Höffner. "The only thing we can't get through is dense clouds." To collect meaningful data, the institute is networking internationally. Among other places, the compact lasers will be used in Norway and France. On the Canary Islands, they will measure at an altitude of 3,000 kilometers, and in Switzerland at 3,400 meters. Finally, the data will be processed so that weather services can use it. The device is currently in the test phase. Scientist Gerd Baumgarten is optimistic about the future: "We plan to distribute up to 100 of these lidars in Europe in the long term. That would help us study climate change in sensitive regions of the Earth's atmosphere and provide tangible insights." The project is funded with a total of 3.5 million euros and is initially scheduled to run for four years.

29.11.2022 , News

Conference Report by the Leibniz Research Network ‘Integrated Earth System Research’

Studies of the Anthropocene continue to uncover the complex and dynamic interrelations between the societal world and the Earth system. At an international conference, researchers from the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities have now joined forces to address the question of how these increasing mutual impacts can be better understood and further developed towards global sustainability. What the impacts of human activities on the Earth system? What consequences are associated with these impacts for society? And what affectedness and options for action result from this for politics and each individual? An approach to these questions was the subject of the first conference on "Integrated Earth System Research", hosted by the Leibniz Research Network of the same name at the "Albert Einstein" Science Park in Potsdam. The interdisciplinary dialogue led to far-reaching conclusions: In general, science with its well-founded organisation by disciplines is not designed for the investigation of such big questions. Not only between the natural and engineering sciences on the one hand and the social sciences and humanities on the other, there are still few well-founded references for this. There is a lack of common frameworks that, for example, place simulation models for the Earth system in the context of qualitative research on societal decisions and behaviour. The urgent need for advice to politics, business and civil society on alternative development paths and their consequences can therefore only be met to a limited extent at present. The conference therefore derived basic starting points for future research. Accordingly, interdisciplinary terminologies and concepts for integrated analyses of natural and societal systems across several spatial levels and time horizons are important. In addition, further foundations for the determination of goals such as planetary boundaries and planetary justice should be developed. Finally, it is important for societal action to identify capacities and levers for societal transformations. Thematically, concrete needs for integrated Earth system research were discussed for the ocean, the water cycle and inland waters, biodiversity, the bioeconomy, urban-rural interlinkages, conflicts, crises and security, as well as data and instruments. With a view to the COP27 taking place in parallel, it became clear that comparable negotiation procedures are urgently needed for the entire Earth system. Climate and thus climate change mitigation and adaptation are closely linked to other components of the Earth system, such as biodiversity. Increasing public attention and growing efforts related to climate change prove that internationally coordinated and locally implemented activities to preserve the Earth system are possible in principle. "I became really aware at this conference that the scientific preoccupation with climate change goes far beyond the natural sciences," says Dr. Urs Schaefer-Rolffs from the Department of Modeling Atmospheric Processes at the IAP, who participated in the event. "Networking with seemingly distant disciplines such as economics or archaeology can certainly make a contribution to seeing the current challenges more as a task for society as a whole." Text: Leibniz-Forschungsnetzwerk „Integrierte Erdsystemforschung“ & IAP More information on the conference here. The conference was organised by the Leibniz Research Network ‘Integrated Earth System Research’. Contact to the Research Network Leibniz Research Network ‘Integrated Earth System Research’ Dr Henriette John (coordinator of the research network) Contact at IAP Dr. Urs Schaefer-Rolffs, Department Modelling of Atmospheric Processes Prof. Dr. Claudia Stolle, Director of the Institute

10.11.2022 , News

New instrument underway to improve mesosphere measurements over northern Norway

A powerful radar field operated by the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) in northern Norway comprises 433 antennas. Based on the island of Andoya, the MAARSY (Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System) system measures mesospheric irregularities that occur between 50 and 90 kilometers in altitude. To complement these measurements, a large truck from the Netherlands has now arrived in the north. On board is a container full of state-of-the-art technology: a system using LOFAR technology, which is proven in radio astronomy and provided by the Dutch Astrotec Holding. The goal of the project, called MAARSY3D, is to complement the observations from the existing system: MAARSY measures almost exclusively in a monostatic configuration to derive line-of-sight parameters. With the new receiver system, MAARSY will also be able to perform oblique (bistatic) measurements. The goal is to perform high-resolution 3D measurements. "In the near future we will collaborate with a comparable receiving facility in Kilpisjärvi/Finland (KAIRA, Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory) to produce the first 3D measurements of targets in the mesosphere with MAARSY," says Prof. Dr. Jorge Chau, head of the radar sounding department at IAP. "This will also help study the spatial irregularities of the radar echoes." This week the system arrived at MAARSY. In the middle of 2023, it will be transported to Langoya Island, about 60 kilometers from Andoya. Another station could complete the system in the long term.

27.10.2022 , News

EU funding: Researchers predict weather in space

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) in Kühlungsborn are participating in a weighty project. Thanks to EU funding, they are tinkering with new models for two years in a collaborative project to better predict traveling disturbances in the atmosphere. T-FORS (Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance Forecasting System) is the name of the project funded with about 82,000 Euros from the Horizon Europe program of the European Union, in which the IAP department of Radar Remote Sensing is participating under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jorge Chau. In the coming months, the scientists will explore migrating ionospheric disturbances together with nine partners from across Europe. "These disturbances originate from either solar forcing or lower atmospheric weather phenomena. It has a direct impact on the high frequency radio wave propagation in the ionosphere," says Dr. Sivakandan Mani, who leads the research project at the IAP. "The perturbations we measure are affected by different factors such as geomagnetic disturbances and dynamics in the atmosphere. If we can better understand the generation and propagation characteristics of these variables, we can provide early predictions and warnings.“ To that end, the international research team is collaborating, among others, with the German Federal Police. Jens Mielich is overseeing the project from the IAP field site in Juliusruh on the island of Rügen. "In the end, it should be possible to make predictions in real time that can also be used by the European Space Agency," he says.

06.09.2022 , News

Young researcher achieves 2nd place in paper award

Dr. Priyanka Ghosh won a "Young Scientist Award" as well as second place in the "Young Scientist Best Paper Award" at this year's Kleinheubach meeting in Miltenberg (Bavaria) on September 29. She had applied with a paper about tropospheric wind measurements, which were measured with the radar system MAARSY over Andøya in Norway ("Spectral characteristics of the wind fluctuations over Andøya, Norway using MAARSY"). The "Young Scientist Award" is given annually to up to ten young scientists whose work is characterized by a high degree of originality and clarity. The top three papers are also honored with the "Young Scientist Best Paper Award." In her paper, Ghosh explains a study about spectral characteristics of wind fluctuations derived from winds measured in the troposphere and lower stratosphere during 2017 to 2020. Different frequencies, altitudes, seasons and years were considered when analyzing the data. The study concludes that the horizontal and vertical winds depend on and are affected by all these parameters. For example, the horizontal wind is weaker in summer than in other seasons. The novel results of this study can be incorporated into model simulations to improve weather forecasting. The project Ghosh reports on in her paper was partially funded by the German Research Foundation. Der „Young Scientist Award“ ist mit 250 Euro, der 2. Platz im „Young Scientist Best Paper Award“ ist mit 500 Euro dotiert.

06.09.2022 , News

Insights into the atmosphere: Award for Kühlungsborn Institute

The director of the Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn has been honored for her view of the starry sky. Prof. Dr. Claudia Stolle is the recipient of the internationally recognized William B. Hanson Lecture award of the American Geophysical Association. The award is given annually to scientists around the world who have made outstanding contributions to the field of space physics. "Our atmosphere is very fascinating," says Claudia Stolle. "The upper layers have a huge impact on our weather, space and Earth's magnetic field - and vice versa. Exploring these interactions and looking for new insights excites me a lot." To support her research, Stolle uses innovative technology such as state-of-the-art lidar lasers, radars and satellites. Currently, she is studying how weather in the stratosphere and mesosphere affects space weather. Stolle has made her mark on numerous atmospheric research projects during her scientific career. For example, she was an expert in the development of the European Space Agency's Swarm mission, was a spokesperson for the German Research Foundation's Dynamic Earth program, and conducted research in Denmark and Finland. Most recently, she headed the Geomagnetism Section at the German Georesearch Center in Potsdam. In 2021, Claudia Stolle took over as director of the Kühlungsborn Institute.

06.09.2022 , News

Flying high: Schoolgirls experience science up close

Research has a gender equality problem. Men still dominate professions in mathematics, IT, natural sciences and technology - MINT for short. To change this, the Berlin-based MINT EC association and the University of Frankfurt am Main want to familiarize interested girls with scientific work. To this end, nine schoolgirls from all over Germany have now traveled to the Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics (IAP) in Kühlungsborn to try their hand as researchers for two days. The girls, aged between 16 and 18, explored the institute on the Baltic Sea and gained an insight into everyday work in atmospheric research. Physicists talked about their path to science and familiarized the schoolgirls with the institute's state-of-the-art techniques. "Physics is so fascinating because we find it in all areas of life," says Lara, who attends 12th grade at a school in Rheinland-Pfalz. After graduating, she wants to study physics. "We can explain an incredible amount with it and yet there are still so many unanswered questions. Very interesting." In Kühlungsborn, the schoolgirls also had a chance to get hands-on: Using balloons with a diameter of two meters, they sent out weather probes that measured temperature, wind and humidity up to an altitude of 38 kilometers. The data was sent to the institute by radio and analyzed by the girls. "At the IAP, we use ground-based measuring instruments such as radars or lidars to explore the middle atmosphere," says Dr. Michael Gerding, who works in the Optical Sounding department and is supervising the project. "The balloons that the schoolgirls sent out provide us with complementary data for this." The schoolgirls' trip to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is part of the MS-GWaves research project, in which the IAP is participating. The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the internal gravity waves in the atmosphere in order to make forecasts for weather predictions and climate change more reliable. The institute in Kühlungsborn has around 70 employees in research, technology and administration. About 20 of them are female. To ensure that this proportion increases in the future, there is a committee for equal opportunities that has initiated various measures in recent years, such as family-friendly home office arrangements or flexitime. Since 2014, the institute has carried the nationwide "berufundfamilie" quality seal. "We are happy to see more women in research," says Prof. Dr. Claudia Stolle, who is director of the IAP since last year. And who knows - maybe there will be a reunion with a young Rhinelander woman someday.

06.09.2022 , News

Citizens help science: Kühlungsborn institute conducts research in northern Norway

On the wide field of Alert Kristian Gaard in Salangen stands a single antenna. It looks a bit lost, yet it serves an important purpose: about 20 meters from the Norwegian's house, it continuously receives signals from an altitude of 90 kilometers. It is one of four new devices that scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn have now installed in northern Norway. The goal of the project, officially named SIMONe Norway, is to measure reflections from meteor trails to obtain information about horizontal winds in the atmosphere. "Our concept is unique in the world", says Prof. Dr. Jorge Chau, who heads the institute's radar sounding department. "Usual radars can only detect meteors that reflect their signals directly back to the transmit-receive site. We've extended that principle and flipped the interferometry." Chau's team developed new, smaller receivers that require only one antenna and can be installed quickly and inexpensively. As a result, the researchers can detect significantly more meteors - about 1,500 per hour, depending on the location, time of day and the year. It took four hours to set up the antenna and receiver on Alert Kristian Gaard's property. "It's great to have private individuals participating in our research who normally have nothing to do with science", says Dr. Ralph Latteck of the institute, who coordinated the setup of the four Norwegian stations. "All we need is a small patch of uncultivated farmland and an electrical outlet for the receiver. We're ready to go." The Kühlungsborn-based institute researches the middle atmosphere and plays a major role in the ALOMAR observatory in Norway. The team set up the first SIMONe stations in Argentina and Peru in 2018. This was followed last year by devices in northern Norway. Winds measured by the system provide researchers with information about motions in the mesosphere. "This will allow us to improve the wind determination", Latteck says. Because the system is straightforward to expand, the researchers plan to add more stations in northern Norway to scan as much sky as possible. In February 2023, the antennas will receive special attention: their measurement data will support the Vortex international rocket campaign in Norway, which is part of NASA's sounding rocket program.