IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Nina Mahernd joined the ICCP conference 2024 in Jeju, South Korea

Thanks to the (AC)³ IRTG Travel Grant, I had the opportunity to attend the International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation (ICCP). ICCP 2024 was hosted by the Korean Meteorological Society (KMS) and the Korean National Institute of Meteorological Sciences (NIMS) and was held at the International Convention Center JEJU from 14 to 19 July. I was one of over 500 participants from more than 40 countries who visited the existing location of the South Korean island Jeju.

The conference covered a wide range of topics in clouds and precipitation, including aerosol-cloud interactions, ice nucleating particles, ice multiplication processes, orographic clouds, and polar clouds. The sessions on mixed-phase clouds were of particular interest to me. Personally, I found the discussions on secondary ice production enlightening. There is still a lot of discussion on this topic, with different experts disagreeing on how important SIP is compared to primary ice production, and which SIP processes are relevant in different types of clouds. There are many unknowns waiting to be explored through research.

On Monday, I presented a poster on my forthcoming paper on how riming affects the spatial variability of ice water in mixed-phase clouds. To my delight, my poster was well attended and generated many discussions. I talked with interested colleagues well past the scheduled time. I especially enjoyed the discussions with Timothy Juliano (NCAR), who plans to investigate the spatial variability of ice water in similar clouds using LES.

Our host did an excellent job of organizing and making us feel welcome. After complaints about the lack of vegetarian food at lunch on Monday, there was a separate vegetarian buffet starting on Tuesday with almost as many choices as the omnivore buffet. I enjoyed the usual conference-related social activities such as joint dinners with colleagues and took the opportunity to visit a Buddhist temple on Wednesday afternoon, when we had free time. I reconnected with Brian Lo and Rosie Mammatt from the University of Reading, whose group I visited in March of this year. It was good to see Matt Shupe and Gabriella Wallentin again. I also really enjoyed conversations with Martina Krämer (Gutenberg University Mainz) and Corinna Hoose (KIT).

I enjoyed my stay in Jeju, which I probably would never have visited if I had not been given this opportunity. Attending the ICCP gave me many new ideas for my research and opportunities to network and collaborate with colleagues in my field.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Andreas Walbröl joined the AGU fall meeting in San Francisco, USA

With the (AC)³ IRTG Travel Grant, I had the opportunity to visit the largest Geoscience Conference in the world, the AGU Fall Meeting 2023. The conference took place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco (USA) from 11 to 15 December 2023. A mixture of oral, poster and e-lightning sessions across a wide field of topics (atmosphere, remote sensing, geophysics, cryosphere, informatics, …) on each day resulted in a busy schedule.

I had new insights about research related to the changing Arctic climate which was conducted outside of (AC)³. It was fascinating to see the improvements of observational systems. For example, a single-photon-counting lidar capable to observe clouds at submeter resolution was introduced. Also combinations of differential-absorption-radar and –lidar for improved water vapour profiling inside and outside of clouds were presented. Machine learning approaches for various problems were quite prominent in different fields. For example, I learned that image-post-processing ideas with Neural Networks can enhance the vertical resolution of retrieved temperature and humidity profiles. Physical and machine learning techniques are combined for computational efficiency while being physically consistent and having error estimates at the same time.

At my poster, I had a nice discussion with one of the developers of the MERRA-2 reanalysis (Richard Cullather) about the biases of water vapour in the central Arctic. I will stay in contact with him for my upcoming publication on the evaluation of water vapour products of reanalyses (and satellites) in the central Arctic.

All in all, the AGU Fall Meeting 2023 was a great event to get to learn about new machine learning methods for remote sensing and get to know the current state of research in atmospheric physics, environmental sciences, and of course many more fields.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

Associated PhD researcher Gabriella Wallentin  joined the (AC)³ PhD Alumni Day and the (AC)³ General Assembly in Leipzig

The main objectives for my attendance at the (AC)³ General Assembly was to share my expertise with the ICON microphysics applied to the Arctic environment and to get feedback on my current work. Presenting at the assembly was a very nice experience, I received some specific questions from non-modellers that indicate that I was able to convene information to people not used to the model, which was one of the objectives of mine. I believe the gap between modellers and experimentalists is too large and I would like for modellers to explain more about how the model works instead of simply showing results. Some more challenging questions were also posed and I am already looking into these for the implementation in the paper I am currently writing. After my talk the evening continued with discussions about the ICON model and the set-up limitations, as always, a very useful and informative discussion with some of the (AC)³ peers.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Alexander Mchedlishvili  joined the 14th Symposium on Polar Science and the Hokkaido University in Japan for a research exchange

With support from the (AC)³ IRTG Travel Grant, I was able to go to Japan for a conference and brief research stay, giving me an opportunity to take a glimpse into a completely different scientific environment while I was there.

My time in Japan was divided between attending the The 14th Symposium on Polar Science and a brief research stay at the Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University. The former was a great chance to meet experts in Polar sciences that were previously unknown to me. The sessions I attended dealt with sea ice, atmosphere and ocean physics as well as glaciology. I met researchers from the National Institute of Polar Research, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as well as universities across Tokyo that dealt with sea ice. Discussions with them gave me further insight in my own project, especially after having given my talk on my pan-Arctic drag coefficient estimate retrieval. With this presentation, I believe I also gave (AC)³ more visibility in Japan and perhaps opened up possibilities of further collaboration between Germany and Japan in the future.

The latter part of my time in Japan consisted of a research stay at Hokkaido University. There, I was welcomed by my host, Dr. Takenobu Toyota, who is a sea ice remote sensing expert. I had the pleasure of exchanging details on our respective work as well as discussing potential collaborations in the future. In addition, I got to meet others in the group, including Master’s students eager to learn more about Polar science and continue their scientific careers. Overall, Dr. Toyota managed to make my stay there very pleasant despite it being a very short research stay. I especially enjoyed the tour of the Institute of Low Temperature Science where I got to see their cold rooms that are used for ice core section microscopy, as well sea ice experiments in tubs that can induce motion in the water to replicate rough water sea ice formation. Lastly, I had the pleasure of presenting at their weekly seminar during which time I introduced to the group there my work as well as NASA’s ICESat-2 laser altimeter satellite and its applications.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Anisbel Léon joined the SeaIce2Clouds workshop and the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) in Grenoble for a research exchange

My research exchange at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) (6-8 Sept 2023) and my participation in the SeaIce2Clouds workshop (11 and 12 Sept 2023) in Grenoble, France was a great opportunity to meet many people in person and expand my network connecting with others working on Arctic research.

I was invited to present my work on multiple occasions with active discussions with a diverse group of experts on modeling sea spray aerosol emissions (Remy Lapère from IGE) and aerosol-cloud interaction processes (Louis Marielle from LATMOS). There was also room for an exciting debate about recent measurements of marine organic aerosol from open ocean and leads in the Arctic led by Kerry Pratt from the University of Michigan.

I also learned from the presentations and general discussions during the workshop. SeaIce2Clouds SCOR group aims to bring sea ice and atmospheric scientific communities together to tackle open questions about ocean, sea ice, snow, and atmosphere coupling, with emphasis on gases and aerosol exchange processes in polar regions. For about two years I have been part of the group and involved in a synthesis paper on primary aerosols over polar regions. It was very nice to finally meet in person most of the people that are part of this group. The workshop aimed to have an open debate about the progress of the paper and to develop plans for modeling projects engaging modelers and the community in future observational planning.

Despite the brevity of my visit, I must say it was very beneficial to move forward with my research with extra motivation. Many scientists showed themselves interested in my work with some invitations to collaborate, mostly in process representation of organic aerosol emissions and aerosol-cloud interaction in models.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Melanie Lauer joined her (AC)³ project fellows in Potsdam

My name is ‚Watschel‘, and I have the pleasure of supporting Melanie during the last months of her PhD. As Melanie is writing her Ph.D. thesis, I offered to tell you about her research stay at the Alfred-Wegener Institute (AWI) in Potsdam.

In August, Melanie came for five weeks to Potsdam to work on two main tasks: writing her Ph.D. thesis and working on the climatological study about the influence of different weather features (like atmospheric rivers, cyclones, and fronts) on precipitation in the Arctic.  As I come from Antarctica, I was very interested in Melanie’s topic. However, as I am not an expert in this field, Melanie had the opportunity to discuss her current state of the Ph.D. thesis, as well as her new results for the climatological study with Annette and Sofie. The meetings were very helpful and constructive and helped Melanie to shape the structure of her Ph.D. thesis. Also, the discussions about her current results related to the climatology of atmospheric rivers, cyclones, and fronts and their influence on precipitation were very interesting. During her last week, she had also the possibility to join two group meetings. In one of them, she had the possibility to present her research to a wider audience. The people were very interested in Melanie’s research and asked some questions. Back in Cologne, Melanie is now finalizing her results and she is optimistic that a draft for her second paper will be ready end of October.

Finally, it was a wonderful opportunity for Melanie to go to Potsdam to meet Annette, Sofie, Lars, other (AC)³ people, new faces, and Einstein (a cat living on Telegrafenberg). The research stay helped a lot to improve the structure of the Ph.D. thesis, to find a focus for the second paper, and to strengthen the relationship within the E04 project. Apart from research, we had the possibility to explore the Telegrafenberg, and Potsdam with its beautiful lakes (possibility of kayaking and swimming) and parks. This helped a lot to clear the head.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Nina Maherndl presented her research at the 40^th AMS Radar Conference in Minneapolis

Thanks to the (AC)³ IRTG Travel Grant, I was able to travel to Minneapolis (USA) to present my research at the 40^th AMS Radar Conference. From August 28th to September 1st the AMS radar community met to discuss cutting-edge (radar) science under the theme “Leveraging Current and Emerging Radar Technologies to Pave the Way Toward New Discoveries and Capabilities” after a two-year delay due to the pandemic. The program consisted of 28 oral sessions, three formal poster viewings, six keynote presentations, and an (all female) panel discussion. Since one of the nine conference themes was “Microphysical Studies with Radar”, my research on riming during HALO-(AC)³ using airborne radar and in situ data fit right in.

It was nice to see Brian Lo, a PhD student from the University of Reading, again. I also got to meet a lot of new people – scientists at all career stages – during the icebreaker event on Monday evening and throughout the rest of the week. I especially enjoyed conversations and discussions with Annakaisa von Lerber (Finnish Meteorological Institute), Kamil Mroz (University of Leicester), Lynn McMurdie (University of Washington), and Troy Zaremba (University of Illinois).

I am proud to say that I won one of the student prizes, which were awarded to seven out of 80 student presentations. My talk “Airborne Observations of Riming in Arctic Mixed-Phase Clouds during HALO-(AC)³” won first place in oral presentations.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Minneapolis and am looking forward to implementing new ideas now that I am back in Leipzig. Attending the 40^th AMS Radar Conference has definitely helped to advance my research project.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

We are very happy that our state-of-the-art new building of our Institute of Meteorology (LIM) is now completed and that we can continue our teaching and research together in an energy-plus building.
Read the full press release here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researchers Wiebke Körtke, Zerlina Hofmann and Finn Heukamp presented their research at the Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF) conference in Las Palmas

What at first glance looked like sea ice on the ocean (out of the plane) fast turned out to be the whitecaps of waves. Which is, of course, much likelier at the location we headed to – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. However, the sea ice would have fitted better to the conference topic: Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF).

The conference started with a nice icebreaker at the conference venue located directly at the beach, which turned out to be perfect for a short swim during the lunch breaks. The science inside was packed with more ocean, but a much colder one, even if the start was located within the Atlantic Ocean. From there, we moved further towards the north, to the Atlantic inflow regions and the Arctic Ocean itself. For us (AC)³ attendees (Zerlina, Finn, Torsten, Wiebke), this meant giving our presentations directly on day one. We all got interesting questions afterwards, and since the conference was relatively small, there were also many good opportunities to talk and discuss our science and projects. The following two days were likewise packed with scientific talks about different aspects of the Arctic Ocean. Additionally, posters were available to have even more possibilities for getting in contact with other researchers. The conference ended with a more touristic excursion around the northern part of Gran Canaria, which again allowed networking and discussing in a really relaxed atmosphere.

After three days full of science and some beach moments, we returned to Bremen with new ideas and inspirations for our future work. Also, the possibility of joining an in-person conference (for Zerlina, even the first one) and thus easily connecting with people was a highlight for us.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Alexander Mchedlishvili joined AWI Potsdam for a research stay

During my brief stay at AWI Potsdam I worked closely with Wolfgang Dorn on the integration of sea iceatmosphere ridge form drag into the coupled sea ice-atmosphere-ocean model HIRHAM-NAOSIM. There I had meetings with Wolfgang and Annette Rinke on what equations and methods to use to for the implementation. Thanks to this research stay, I am now able to run the model myself thanks to Wolfgang’s instructions and the parameterisation implementation is underway. I thoroughly enjoyed the closer cooperation and supervision of both Wolfgang and Annette and think this has definitely helped further my project.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Nils Slättberg joined the EGU General Assembly 2023 in Vienna

With help from the (AC)³ IRTG Travel Grant, I went to the EGU General Assembly 2023 and presented some of my work there. The annual EGU meetings in Vienna are Europe’s largest geosciences events, featuring contributions from a wide range of disciplines and topics. Bringing together knowledge from different areas is close to my heart – and also to my PhD project, in which I investigate the atmospheric column in the North Atlantic Arctic in conjunction with oceanic, atmospheric and cryospheric variability.
Never having presented at a large conference before, I wanted to gain practice and confidence in briefly explaining my science to a larger audience. I also wanted to connect with other scientists and learn new things from discussing with them and hearing about their work. In doing so, I got new inspiration and ideas for my project and felt that I could put my topic into a wider perspective. In addition, I learned much during non-disciplinary sessions, discussing things like (the lack of) inclusion and diversity in science. Now that I’m back in the office, I can’t wait to go through my notes from the conference and try out some of the new ideas.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG & University of Helsinki joint winter school

The joint winter school by (AC)³ and the University of Helsinki in March 2023 provided a great opportunity to learn about Arctic amplification in the remote environment of the Forestry Field Station in Hyytiälä, Finland. Scientists from the University of Helsinki and (AC)³, including Mercator fellows Matthew Shupe (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) and Irina Gorodetskaya (Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Portugal), gave lectures and led projects in working groups of four to seven participants. There were about 40 doctorate candidates participating: about 30 from (AC)³ and 10 additional PhDs from the University of Helsinki or other institutions. Although it’s always fun to catch up with the (AC)³ PhDs from the other locations in Germany, it was also nice to meet new people and network.

The main topic of the winter school was the role of clouds (in feedback mechanisms). However, we heard interesting talks from a wide range of (AC)³ topics including but not limited to surface energy budget, snow, aerosol, remote sensing of atmosphere, sea ice and ocean and atmospheric rivers. Each morning we heard two lectures followed by group project work in the afternoon.

Hyytiälä was covered with snow when we stayed there and we were blessed with sunny weather and temperatures of about -5 to 0 °C during the day. So we tried to make the most of our one and a half hour of scheduled free time each afternoon and spent a lot of time outside. We hiked through the surrounding forest (with or without snowshoes), walked on the frozen lake, dug in the snow – both scientifically (to get snow pit measurements) and for fun (to make an impressive tunnel) – and tried unsuccessfully  to build snowmen (the snow was just too dry). We also went on a guided tour through the measurement station where aerosol, trace gas, soil, radiation, water and other measurements are taken directly in the forest.

On Monday and Wednesday many of us tried out and fell in love with the Finnish sauna culture. Especially dipping in the ice holes in the lake in between sauna rounds was an amazing experience. We also hung out in the Kota, which is a small cottage with a fireplace located between the two saunas.

On Friday, we presented the results of our project group work and (with few exceptions) we were quite pleased with what we had accomplished in only a few days. My group, for example, applied the Bremen Sea Ice Algorithm to the SSM/I satellite data set, which is available for a longer time period than the currently used AMSR-E data with the goal of generating a continuous time series that could eventually be implemented in the Sea Ice Portal.

Of course, we had to celebrate our successes, and so the winter school ended on Friday evening with a nice dinner in the Old Dining Hall followed by a party. We were able to turn the dining room into a dance floor by projecting a spinning disco ball onto the wall. We had a lot of fun dancing – and so did our lecturers.

All in all, the winter school was a great success. Dmitri Moisseev (University of Helsinki) did a great job as host and Christa Genz from the IRTG (and the rest of the planning committee) did a great job organizing. Many thanks to Dmitri, to all the lecturers and the IRTG for the amazing week.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Giovanni Chellini visited the research group of Dmitri Moisseev at the University of Helsinki for a research stay

I spent the week 20-24 March 2023 at the University of Helsinki visiting Prof. Dmitri Moisseev’s group. I had the opportunity to present and discuss my work with Prof. Moisseev, scientists in his group, as well as scientists from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The extensive and constructive discussions allowed me to expand and improve my current work on the impact of turbulence on the growth of ice particles in Arctic low-level mixed-phase clouds. This work is currently being prepared for publication, and the discussions in Helsinki helped significantly improve the quality of the manuscript. Additionally, I worked on a side project, together with Prof. Moisseev, on the topic of quantifying linear depolarization signatures of needle and needle aggregate precipitation particles.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD researcher Janna Rückert joined the EGU Snow Science Winter School in Davos

I had the wonderful chance to take part in the 7th EGU Snow Science Winter School in Davos, Switzerland, from January 29^th to February 4^th, 2023.
Motivated lecturers from different institutes from Switzerland, Finland, France and the UK gave insights into a variety of snow-related topics. Their talks gave a great overview, covering, e.g., snow measurements as well as modelling and remote sensing, snow climate feedbacks and snow hydrology.
A big part of the school was dedicated to field work and we learned different measurement techniques ranging from traditional snow pits to state-of-the-art microcomputed tomography. Luckily, we had snow and great weather conditions in Davos: perfect for being outside in the snow all day to do measurements.
Thereby I gained a different perspective on data that I had been working with before. I now have not only a much better idea about the way such data is obtained but also about its uncertainties and limitations. One example are snow parameters derived from measurements with the SnowMicroPen instrument. I am now able to interpret existing data from the MOSAiC campaign and use that in a current study. Also, with the insights gained, both from the program and the many informal discussions with others during mealtimes, I already revised some of the parameters in my current model setup for the simulation of microwave emissions of snow on Arctic sea ice.
During the winter school, we came up with our own little research question in small teams and carried out the measurements that we planned ourselves, always with support from the lecturers. Organizing our own field work and the quick data analysis thereafter was very instructive.
The winter school was a great chance to meet other students, which I was really enjoying after a PhD time dominated by Covid restrictions and virtual meetings.
I can conclude that snow is beautiful and that I am grateful to the organizers of the winter school and the IRTG that enabled my participation!

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Benjamin Kirbus went for a scientific exchange meeting to the AWI Potsdam colleagues

On 15th September 2022, I was able to embark on very constructive one-day journey to visit Dr. Annette Rinke and PhD candidate Sofie Tiedeck at AWI Potsdam. The institute is beautifully located on a historical campus, within a green forest patch not too far from Potsdam main station. The general topics of our meeting were opportunitues and challenges of Lagrangian air mass tracking.
First, we had some very fruitful technical discussions on using the LAGRangian ANalysis TOol LAGRANTO (https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2569-2015). LAGRANTO can be driven by very diverse input data, such as reanalysis (ERA5) or model data (ICON). Selecting the appropriate starting points for trajectory calculations is far from trivial, especially for analyzing synoptic-scale features such as Arctic Warm Air Intrusions (WAI). The spatiotemporal variability of such WAI combined with possible strong vertical wind shear can cause a large spread in computed trajectories. We agreed on the importance of comparing different starting points as well as ideally forward vs. backward calculations. Tracing meteorological variables as well as analyzing height-resolved curtain views of along-trajectory air mass evolution (“pseudo-lidar”) can then deliver many novel insights.
Our second focus was the discussion of the article we are cooperating on in the frameworks of Cross-Cutting Activity CCA4: Air mass transport and transformation. We hope to contribute to the research field by providing some novel insights into Arctic WAI. This work is based on a case recorded during the MOSAiC expedition in April 2020 at RV Polarstern. We agreed on combining classic Eulerian with novel Lagrangian viewpoints, on spatial scales from the synoptic level down to process level. We discussed how sensitivity studies can help us better understand the impact e.g. of CCN concentration or initial moisture inflow on cloud evolution.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at AWI Potsdam. Besides the great hospitality of Annette, Sofie and other AWI colleagues, I gained more insights into applying LAGRANTO
also for other datasets than just reanalysis. Especially the potential of comparing trajectories between modelled control and experimental runs became very apparent. Furthermore, we were able to further “narrow down” the storyline of our common CCA4 paper, which now will have a clearer scope and objectives.
Finally, I want to cordially thank both Annette and Sofie for their time and the IRTG for funding this very productive short-term stay.
Cheers, Benjamin

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Olivia Linke spent two months at the University of California in Santa Cruz (UCSC)

Throughout July and August 2022 I visited the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC),
California to exchange research ideas with the group of Prof. Nicole Feldl. Nicole took part in an
advanced training module of the LGS-CAR in 2021 about the Arctic lapse-rate feedback, which is
how I got to know her and her research.
As guest researcher at UCSC, I gained a new perspective on my PhD work which mostly applies data
from several climate models for better understanding the lapse-rate feedback in the Arctic. So far, I
have mostly worked with climate model data to understand this particular process, and its
contribution to Arctic amplification in the past. My work at UCSC mostly focused on a better
prediction of this feedback process in the future, by using an emergent constraint approach. The main
idea of this approach is to identify physically plausible relationships between future climate
predictions, and aspects of the current climate state across models. By including observations, this
can allow us to narrow down the simulated range of model simulations, and ultimately improve our
prediction of Arctic amplification in the future.
The collaboration was very valuable in terms of gaining new ideas and insights in this specific
approach, and networking with other researchers with a similar focus. The research stay has helped
me to define a new subtopic within my research plan, and to write a paper which we plan to submit
by the end of March this year.
Finally, it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Nicole and her group at UCSC, and to
discuss our research together. Santa Cruz is a beautiful city, not only due to the Pacific ocean being close by, but also due to its wildlife which even infiltrates the UCSC campus:
see picture 😉

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Alexander Mchedlishvili went for a research stay to the University College London

Throughout June and the first part of July of 2022 I went to the University College London Earth Sciences department to work with Dr. Michel Tsamados, my host-supervisor there and Dr. Alek Petty, associate Research Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) who visited UCL in the later part of my stay. Working on my next paper about atmospheric drag coefficients derived from NASA’s ICESat-2 altimeter satellite, the input from Michel and Alek was invaluable for my work. With said input, I am now on track to submit this publication in the next months as we covered the basis of the scientific discussion we aim to present in the manuscript.
For the time I was in London I was a guest researcher in the group: The Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM). This experience was very valuable in terms of the new insights I have received by presenting my work to a new group that also specializes in sea ice. There I met other PhD students who also specialize in what my project is about and with them discussed the potential of future collaborations. Specifally, I have found students that are also working with sea ice roughness – a topic that only I specialize in in my group at the Institute of Environmental Physics in Bremen. Thus it was very useful to discuss the specifics of my work with experts that have been working with the exact same topic for the past few years.
Lastly, I believe the networking I have done throughout this experience will become valuable in the future and am very grateful to have made so many valuable contacts. Meeting Michel and Alek in person, considering they are co-authors in my next manuscript, definetely helped put everyone on the same page and boost the exchange in communications that is essential for the processing of the manuscrip prior to submission.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Theresa Kiszler went for a Research Stay to the University of Colorado in Boulder

I visited the Institute of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at University of Colorado Boulder  in August 2022 for two weeks. I decided to go there because I wanted to visit Jennifer Kay’s working group and because Boulder is an atmospheric science hub. During my stay I got to know several PhD students as well as senior scientists throughout the institute. I was able to present my work in the group meeting and engage in discussions relating to my PhD thesis objectives and how they possibly fit into the larger context of Arctic amplification. In my PhD I am working on simulations around Ny-Alesund (Svalbard) and using observations from there to study the representation of the clouds in the model. Especially the mixed-phase clouds are interesting as they have a high complexity and as we found the model we use (ICON-LEM) overestimates the ice occurrence in clouds. For the upcoming steps I had discussions with Jennifer as well as Matthew Schupe who also works in Boulder and is a Mercator Fellow in (AC)³. Both work on topics related to Arctic clouds. It was helpful to have these conversations and I felt more inspired afterwards. Besides the scientific input I also enjoyed the experience of being at an institute in a different country. I believe this broadened my perspective significantly and challenged me to think about different approaches to science and academia in general. Sadly, many of the institutes such as NCAR  (National Center for Atmospheric Research) were closed to guest due to the continuing Covid restrictions. Nevertheless, I took the time to drive past these locations to do some science tourism which was fun. I also visited a forest which was regrowing after recent wildfires and went on a weekend trip through the Rocky Mountains National Park with a friend. It was generally quite hot during my stay (> 30°C every day) but that made it easier to focus on my work in front of the computer during the hot hours and enjoy the fantastic nature during the cooler hours of the day.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Melanie Lauer spent a week at Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal in Irina Gorodetskaya’s group

The IRTG travel grant gave me the opportunity to visit Irina Gorodetskaya, one of my supervisors, at the University of Aveiro in Portugal beginning of July. As part of her Mercator Fellowship within (AC)³, Irina investigates Atmospheric Rivers in the Arctic. Atmospheric Rivers are long and narrow structures that transport anomalous huge amounts of water vapor and heat from the lower latitudes towards the polar regions. Previous studies have shown that they produce significant amounts of rain and snow and impact the surface energy budget. However, their effect on the Arctic climate system is still unclear.
In order to analyse, in how far ARs affect the Arctic climate system, they must first be detected. Within the project E04, we are using the global detection algorithm by Guan & Waliser. Furthermore, the detection algorithm by Irina Gorodetsakya is planned to use. This algorithm was developed to detect ARs in Antarctica. However, in order to apply her algorithm for the Arctic, some adjustments need to be made. Together with Carolina Viceto, a PhD candidate of Irina, I worked on these adjustments. We have tried several approaches, but none has brought the expected success. However, these approaches can be excluded in the future. Carolina and I also had a personal exchange about our work, which was very productive and helpful for my future work.
During my stay, I shared the office with other people from the working group. This allowed me to learn about their work which was mainly related to ARs in Antarctica. Of particular interest was the master thesis of one student who also focuses on fronts which are detected by Michael Sprenger from the ETH Zürich. As I am also interested in cyclones and fronts in addition to ARs, I was in contact with Michael Sprenger after my research stay who kindly provides me with the data.
Although we were not able to complete the algorithm during my stay in Aveiro, I was able to gain new insights for my further work through the personal exchanges.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Hannah Niehaus joint the CHESS winter school on Ocean, Sea Ice, and Atmosphere Interactions in Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Already the flight to Svalbard was a highlight seeing sea ice for the first time. The school itself started on Sunday afternoon with an icebreaker event where we met all participants and lecturers at a bonfire in a relaxed and open atmosphere. From Monday to Friday we had plenty of lectures on different compartments and approaches of Arctic research. On Monday there was also the first poster session where I was able to present and discuss my work with the other participants and with the lecturers. The posters were kept for the following two days to enable the continuation of discussions in the coffee and lunch breaks that were spent together in the same area where the poster session took place. Another highlight of the course was a boat trip on Tuesday evening where we could actually see sea ice from close distance, especially young pancake ice whose formation we had just discussed the same day in a lecture. In general the participation in this school was great to gain a broader overview of the important compartments and their interplay in the Arctic as well as a feeling for the importance and integration of my small subproject. Discussing and sharing experiences with other students was also very motivating and after a slow start in my PhD during covid I feel now a little bit more connected to other researchers and institutions in my field.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Moritz Zeising joined the EGU General Assembly 2022

The experience to participate for the first time at an on-site conference was great. The European Geoscience Union General Assembly 2022 in Vienna offered an opportunity to present my research on modelling biogenic aerosol precursors to the broader oceanography (and cryosphere) audience in a session on the Arctic Ocean. Further, the discussion and networking during the conference itself, but also during the evenings at the Cryosphere division networking event or a self-organized oceanography networking was helpful to discuss ongoing research and ideas with others. To present linkages within (AC)³, Anisbel León and me pointed at each other’s projects during our presentations.

A session of the EGU Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group and a panel discussion on neo-colonialism in science enriched the conference experience even more. As outreach and to connect with other EGU22 participants, I posted interesting topics, quotes, articles and links on Twitter and partly also on Instagram.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Finn Heukamp joint the winterschool on “Atmosphere-Ocean-Sea Ice Interaction Processes” in Svalbard

The winterschool on Svalbard in May 2022 was designed to give a broad overview on various topics regarding the interactions of the Arctic Ocean, atmosphere and especially the sea ice. As the winter school took place on Svalbard, it was also a great opportunity for me as a modeller to perceive the Arctic environment and get to know the region I am working on in reality. In addition to 6-8 lectures each day we did an evening boat tour on the Fjord to the edge of the sea ice and a nearby glacier and a guided walking tour through Longyearbyen one afternoon. At the day of arrival, we had some drinks outside but could not withstand the icy wind for long. As every Ph.D. student brought a poster on their recent work we had some nice and interesting poster sessions.

Processes covered by the lectures were ranging from Arctic-wide, large-scale ocean and atmosphere circulation changes to millimetre-scale processes in the formation of sea ice. The lectures covered different aspects of my work, especially the larger-scale processes as the interaction of the Atlantic Water flow through the Arctic and its impact on local sea ice formation, which was very interesting to hear as I am working on exactly that interface. As I have a strong university background in tropical oceanography, this winter school provided a great overview on specific Arctic Ocean processes that I had a lack of knowledge before. Further, perceiving the Arctic environment, all the ice and the polar day was very fascinating and was a nice distraction from my daily model work on these regions.

In general, the winter school was a big success in all of its facets. We had a highly motivated team of lectures giving interesting presentations on their specific working fields. Moreover, the group of roughly 30 Ph.D. students was really nice and we had a good time learning, networking and being in the Arctic.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Iris Papakonstantinou-Presvelou joint the winterschool on “Atmosphere-Ocean-Sea Ice Interaction Processes” in Svalbard

In spring 2022, I attended the winter school on “Atmosphere-Ocean-Sea Ice Interaction Processes” in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. I never could have imagined, when I was first applying for this PhD position,  that I would actually be able to see the Arctic region with my own eyes! Especially from the perspective of a modeller, there are very few opportunities to participate in the action field. This trip gave me so many fascinating pictures and memories that will remain in my mind forever. The chuncks of sea ice floating on the sea surface and the shrinking glaciers in such short distance that we witnessed during our cruise in the Fjord were just some of them! The school was taking place in an exciting environment, under the constant presence of daylight, where everything around was cold and frozen except indoors! During our time there, there were many opportunities for scientific interaction, during the poster and lecture sessions, but also the coffee/lunch breaks, which created a relaxed environment for productive discussions and exchange. I would heartly encourage anyone who is investigating the Arctic climate to visit the Arctic at least once in her/his life!

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

IRTG Travel Grants Programme

PhD candidate Lars Aue was supported for his research stay in Helsinki at the FMI

As part of my PhD project within (AC)³, I am cooperating with two scientists from Finland, who are working at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and the University of Helsinki. However, due to the large distance between Germany and Finland and the corona related cancellation of most of the scientific meetings in the last two years, we only met in zoom meetings to discuss our joined research for a long time. With the help of the IRTG travel grant, I was eventually able to visit our cooperation partners last winter in Helsinki.

I spend four weeks in Helsinki and had a work place at the FMI during that time. That way I could do my regular work and at the same time meet our cooperation partners and colleagues from their working groups. Having started my PhD during corona lockdown and spending a lot of time in home office, that was a great opportunity for me to exchange with scientists from outside my own working group and to build up some new contacts.

The possibility to discuss my scientific results intensively with our cooperation partners – without always having to schedule a zoom meeting first – was very beneficial for my PhD project. I was able to make a lot of progress during my research stay and also started to work on a first draft for a joined publication, which is submitted by now. I also made use of the research stay to promote my work within (AC)³ to the scientists working at my host institutes, for example during a seminar talk.

Apart from all of that, it was very nice to explore Helsinki and its environment, watch the aurora during a trip to Lapland and also see some real life sea ice, which is the main subject of my PhD thesis and which I have so far only studied on the computer monitor.

A joined paper with scientists from the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Helsinki came out of the research stay, which can be found here.

A list of all funded travel grants can be found on the IRTG page here.

(AC)³ scientists from TROPOS and LIM started the first measurement period of vertical profiling of the cloudy Arctic boundary layer with the tethered balloon system BELUGA over Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). Their tragets are: Clouds, Aerosol, Radiation, and Turbulence.

The goal of this project is to collect vertical profile data in the the cloud-free and cloudy atmospheric boundary layer. For this purpose, the tethered balloon system BELUGA with combined instrument payloads for thermodynamic, turbulence, radiation, as well as cloud and aerosol in-situ measurements will be deployed at the AWIPEV station. A second mesurement period in March-May 2022 will be combined with the HALO-(AC)³ campaign.

The cloudy Arctic boundary layer (ABL) is characterized by a complex vertical stratification with frequently decoupling from the surface. Clouds strongly modulate the exchange of latent heat and cause significant radiative effects; both heat and radiative energy fluxes are major drivers for turbulent mixing. Models have difficulties in representing these processes and often fail to realistically describe the development of the cloudy ABL. Therefore, we propose to conduct detailed measurements of the temporal evolution of the Arctic ABL in contrasting seasons (fall and the transition to Polar night, spring and the transition into the melting season in early summer) using unique thermodynamic, turbulence, radiation, as well as cloud and aerosol instrumental payloads carried by a tethered balloon at the AWIPEV station in in Ny-Ålesund. The general goal of this project is to collect vertical profile data of the temporal evolution of the cloud-free and cloudy ABL. For this purpose, the tethered balloon system BELUGA with combined instrument payloads for thermodynamic, turbulence, radiation, as well as cloud and aerosol in-situ measurements shall be deployed at the AWIPEV station in Ny-Ålesund in different seasons. Firstly, the data collection aims at the statistical characterization of vertical profiles to quantify daily and seasonal differences. The second goal is to evaluate the capability of dynamic and radiative transfer models to realistically reproduce the transition from cloud-free to cloudy conditions and the following cloud evolution.

Dem Klima auf der Spur

Woraus besteht eigentlich eine Wolke? Sind pupsende Kühe schlecht für das Klima? Im Mai 2021 startet der Blog www.mias-klimatagebuch.de für Kinder:

Mia (10 Jahre) stellt fest, dass ihr die Themen Klima, Klimawandel usw. überall begegnen: in der Schule wird darüber gesprochen, auf den Straßen wird demonstriert… Sie begibt sich mit ihrem Polarfuchs Mika auf die Suche nach Antworten und nimmt Dich mit auf eine spannende Entdeckungsreise. Gemeinsam werdet ihr in immer wieder neuen Beiträgen erleben, was ein Polarforscher macht, wie es in der Arktis wirklich aussieht und was in dem großen Forschungsprojekt (AC)³ Spannendes passiert.

Hinter den Blogbeiträgen stecken die Ideen, Antworten und Ergebnisse von über 100 Wissenschaftlern des (AC)³-Forschungsprojektes. Seit 2016 erforscht der Sonderforschungsbereich SFB/TR 172 unter der Leitung von Prof. Manfred Wendisch klimarelevante Rückkopplungsmechanismen in der Arktis, um die dortigen drastischen Klimaveränderungen besser zu verstehen. Gefördert wird das Vorhaben durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Simone Lindemann

As one of our first PhD students from phase I, Sandro Dahlke from AWI-Potsdam successfully defended his PhD thesis with the title “Rapid climate changes in the Arctic region of Svalbard: Processes, implications and representativeness for the broader Arctic”.

Congratulations to him!

Abstract

The Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average since the late twentieth century, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification (AA). Recently, there have been considerable advances in understanding the physical contributions to AA, and progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms that link it to midlatitude weather variability. Observational studies overwhelmingly support that AA is contributing to winter continental cooling. Although some model experiments support the observational evidence, most modelling results show little connection between AA and severe midlatitude weather or suggest the export of excess heating from the Arctic to lower latitudes. Divergent conclusions between model and observational studies, and even intramodel studies, continue to obfuscate a clear understanding of how AA is influencing midlatitude weather.

Full article can be found here.

Approval of phase II of (AC)³

We made it!!! Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has approved our proposal for the 2nd phase of (AC)³. For the next four years we can continue our research on the Arctic climates changes using the effective concept of combining campaign observations with regional process and global climate modelling. The overarching goals for the 2nd phase are to identify, investigate, and evaluate the key processes contributing to Arctic amplification, to improve the understanding of the local and remote feedback mechanisms to Arctic amplification, and quantify their relative importance for Arctic amplification.

A press release has been published on the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinde (DFG) website to cover news on the SFB/TR 172 on Artic Amplification. Link to DFG PR

Wendisch et al., 2019, “The Arctic Cloud Puzzle: Using ACLOUD/PASCAL Multi-Platform Observations to Unravel the Role of Clouds and Aerosol Particles in Arctic Amplification” was released within the BAMS May 2019 issue

You may check out the online version here.

Professor Dr. Susanne Crewell was awarded with the Alfred-Wegener-Medal of the German Meteorological Society

Photo: © DMG, Robert Sausen

For her outstanding performances in the research fields of remote sensing of the atmospheric boundary layer and cloud processes, Prof. Dr. Susanne Crewell, University of Cologne, was awarded with the Alfred-Wegener-Medal of the German Meteorological Society.  Her scientific work provides, among others, the basis for their use in modern weather forecast. The laudatory speech was given by Prof. Dr. Andreas Macke from TROPOS Leipzig. The award ceremony was held during the annual conference of German, Austrian and Swiss meteorologists (DACH-Tagung) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen from 18 – 22 March 2019.

Mit dem Forschungsflugzeug ins ewige Eis

20. März 2019

Während in Deutschland allmählich der Frühling Einzug hält, brechen Forscher der Universität Leipzig und des Alfred-Wegener-Instituts in die Arktis auf, um der Klimaerwärmung auf den Grund zu gehen. Im Fokus ihrer Kampagne Arctic aircraft campaign Arctic Boundary Layer Fluxes (AFLUX) sind tiefliegende Wolken am Rand der Meereisfläche und deren Rückkopplung mit bodennahen Prozessen über dem Meereis. Knapp fünf Wochen lang werden die Wissenschaftler des Alfred-Wegener-Instituts, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt, der Universität Clermont-Ferrand in Frankreich sowie der Universitäten Köln und Leipzig von Spitzbergen aus zu einer Reihe von Messflügen aufbrechen.

> Link zur Pressemitteilung

Photo by Dmitry Chechin, AWI.

Melpitz Winter 2019 is testing for for Arctic Summer 2020

From mid-January to mid-February, a field campaign is running at the TROPOS station Melpitz near Torgau to prepare for the MOSAiC expedition. Starting in autumn 2019, the German research icebreaker Polarstern will drift through the Arctic for one year under the direction of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). Supplied by further icebreakers and aircraft, a total of 600 people from 17 countries will take part in the MOSAiC expedition. Science hopes that the expedition will provide new insights into climate change around the North Pole. There is a lack of data from the region, especially in the polar winter, as hardly any researchers have been there at this time of year.

TROPOS will play a leading role in two central measurements: Firstly, a remote sensing container for the entire ice drift will continuously explore the vertical aerosol and cloud distribution using lidar, radar and microwave radiometers. On the other hand, a 90 cubic metre tethered balloon on the fourth of six sections will bring several measuring systems up to an altitude of 1500 metres for two months in summer 2020 in order to measure the Arctic air layers close to the ground as accurately as possible. To ensure that everything runs smoothly there, the Leipzig team is now training the assembly and disassembly of the tethered balloon including the attached measuring technology in Melpitz in winter. Among other things, turbulence, aerosol and radiation measuring devices are tested, which are used in parallel in various combinations on the large captive balloon. In addition to TROPOS, the Institute of Meteorology of the University of Leipzig is also involved in the tests, which will continue the radiation measurements on the 5th section of MOSAiC with a smaller balloon.

The winter weather tests not only provide important insights into whether the technology is robust enough for use in the Arctic. They will also help to embed the measurement data from the balloon in the comprehensive overall measurements. The data from the balloon will be combined with the stationary instruments on the ground and with remote sensing data. In Melpitz, TROPOS has been studying the atmosphere for over 25 years, which is a great help in assessing the quality of the balloon data. In concrete terms, this involves questions such as: Are in-situ aerosol measurements near the ground representative of the atmospheric boundary layer? How exactly can the characteristic vertical distributions of the aerosol be determined? Does the dynamic boundary layer structure correlate with the vertical profiles of the aerosol in terms of concentration, mass and chemical composition, as well as the radiation profiles? How important is the comparison with remote sensing data of the aerosol profiles?

The MOSAiC expedition will thus not only provide new insights into soot and air pollution in the Arctic, but also into the role of particles and clouds in global warming around the North Pole. Since 2016, the Collaborative Research Centre TR 172 “Arctic Amplification” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been investigating why the Arctic is warming much more than the rest of the Earth and how much climate change in the Arctic affects the weather in Europe. In addition to the University of Leipzig, the research network also includes the universities of Bremen and Cologne, the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig.

Devices:

In addition to the measurement of meteorological standard parameters such as pressure, temperature, humidity and wind, which are also necessary for the safe operation of the balloon, two different payloads are available for turbulence. With these systems smallest wind and temperature changes are measured, which are important for the vertical exchange and the mixing of the atmosphere.

With a newly developed box, which contains various measuring instruments, data on the contamination of the Arctic with aerosol particles can be obtained. These include two particle counters which can detect the smallest particles with a diameter of 10 nanometres and which are used to find out where these small particles are formed from gases in the Arctic. Another device measures the size distribution of larger particles, from which the total mass of fine dust can then be calculated. Furthermore, the concentration of soot particles is measured in order to draw conclusions about their transport routes and to better understand their influence on the Arctic climate.

Two newly developed cloud water and filter collectors will be tested on a balloon for the first time as part of this campaign. These water samples and filters will later be evaluated in the laboratory with high-precision sensors which would be much too heavy for use on the balloon.

A key function in Arctic reinforcement is played by low-lying clouds. By means of the radiation measurements we want to characterize the cooling at the upper edge of the cloud in order to better understand how this cooling affects the dynamics and thus the service life of the cloud. Furthermore, it is possible to investigate under which conditions clouds in the Arctic have a warming or cooling effect on the ground.

Media articles (chronological):
>Expedition ins ewige Eis
(ARD-Mittagsmagazin, 30.01.19, 13:00 Uhr)

>Polarstern-Expedition – Leipziger Forscher trainieren für größte Arktis-Mission aller Zeiten
(MDR-Fernsehen, 28.01.2019, 11:00/14:00/21:40 Uhr)

>Expedition MOSAiC – Forschungsschiff lässt sich im Polareis einfrieren
(MDR-Aktuell (Radio), 24.01.19, 6:53/7:53/8:53 Uhr)

Photos by Tilo Arnhold

2nd (AC)³ Science Conference on Arctic Amplification

Our 2nd (AC)³ Science Conference on Arctic Amplification was held in Bremerhaven from 12 to 14 November, 2018.

Over 110 participants met at Klimahaus Bremerhaven for discussing about the results of the first three years of (AC)³. Well-known international guests presented their work during keynote lectures. The research on Arctic Amplification was presented in various oral presentations mostly by PhD students and young PostDocs and almost 50 scientific posters in five sessions according to the (AC)³ clusters. The “(AC)³ Distinguished Young Investigators Prize” was awarded to three PhD students. Congratulations!

First vernissage of paintings from ACLOUD & PASCAL

A first exhibition of paintings by the graphic designer and illustrator Kerstin Heymach has been shown during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of AWI Potsdam. She accompanied the scientists as part of the team to Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund at Spitsbergen in May-June 2017. In the tradition of earlier expedition drawers, her pastels, drawings, sketches, photos and interviews illustrate the beauty of the Nordic landscapes and the difficult work of the researchers and team spirit.

This “Documentary drawings of a scientific expedition to the Arctic” will be published in 2017 and the book can be now ordered (edition.lammerhuber.at/buecher/klima-aufzeichnungen; edition.lammerhuber.at/en/books/climate-recordings)

DFG status report of German National Committee SCAR/IASC published. More information can be found at DFG website http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/2017/info_wissenschaft_17_60/index.html.

The EOS (AC)³ overview paper Wendisch et al., 2017 was recently published in the printed August EOS magazine https://eos.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/August-17_magazine.pdf, page 22 – 26.

PR released from AGU for the paper “Increasing frequency and duration of Arctic winter warming events” co-authored by (AC)³ member A. Rinke  (link to paper http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL073395/full): http://news.agu.org/press-release/warm-winter-events-in-the-arctic-are-becoming-more-frequent-lasting-longer/

On the site “Outreach” we have summarized the most interesting articles of the campaings ACLOUD and PASCAL chronologically.

ACLOUD blog:  https://acloud2017.blogspot.de/

Further news and flight documentation can be found at our website (here).

Polarstern blog: https://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern

Weekly cruise reports from Polarstern are available on:
https://www.awi.de/nc/expedition/schiffe/polarstern/wochenberichte-polarstern.html

If you want to know where the ship is:
http://www.meereisportal.de/meereisexpedition/wo-befindet-sich-polarstern/

Or you may follow us on Twitter #arktis17

We are very pleased that the artist Kerstin Heymach is accompanying our ACLOUD campaign in Longyearbyen/Svalbard. She will look at our often technical and scientific work from another point of view with drawings, pictures and documentation of the field work of artic scientists.

Expeditions-Zeichnen auf Spitzbergen

Ab 29. Mai 2017 nimmt Kerstin Heymach als Zeichnerin für einen knappen Monat an der (AC)³-Expedition auf Spitzbergen/Svalbard teil.

Sie begleitet zeichnerisch, fotografisch und textlich Wissenschaftler der beteiligten Unis Leipzig, Bremen, Köln, des Instituts für Troposphärenforschung (TROPOS) und des Alfred-Wegener-Instituts (AWI) bei ihrer Flugzeug-Kampagne ACLOUD und damit verknüpften Forschungen in Longyearbyen und Ny Alesund.

Sie betreibt dazu einen WordPress-Blog: Wer virtuell ohne kalte Füße mitkommen will: http://www.arktis-zeichenblog.eu. Wer soziale Medien mag, gönnt vielleicht der Seite: https://www.facebook.com/arktiszeichenblog/ ein like und kann auch hier dabei sein.

Kerstin würde sich freuen, wenn Ihr den Blog auch in Eure Communities teilt bzw. weiterschickt.

Expedition drawing on Spitsbergen

Kerstin Heymach will take part, as a droughtswoman, in the (AC)³ Expedition on Spitsbergen/Svalbard for nearly a month, starting from May 29th, 2017.

She accompanies scientists of the contributing universities of Leipzig, Bremen, Cologne, the Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) on their aircraft campaign ACLOUD and related research work in Longyearbyen and Ny Alesund by drawing, taking photographs and writing texts.

For that purpose she writes a WordPress blog. For those who want to virtuelly come with her without getting cold feet:  http://www.arktis-zeichenblog.eu. Fans of social media could perhaps give a like to the site: https://www.facebook.com/arktiszeichenblog/  to join her.
Kerstin would be glad if you shared  or passed on this blog to your communities.

PR released from EGU for the paper “Polar Amplification” from Marc Salzmann (link to paper):

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/egu-fa051617.php

German version from Uni Leipzig can be found here:

https://www.uni-leipzig.de/service/kommunikation/medienredaktion/nachrichten.html?ifab_modus=detail&ifab_uid=f57a2f557b20170518164218&ifab_id=7063

You may also check out the article on https://www.carbonbrief.org/antarcticas-high-elevation-is-slowing-rate-of-warming-says-study

You may check out the latest press release introducing our upcoming campaigns ACLOUD and PASCAL (german).
https://www.uni-leipzig.de/service/kommunikation/medienredaktion/nachrichten.html?ifab_modus=detail&ifab_uid=af21d0c97d20170511093701&ifab_id=7062

At the Faculty of Physics and Geosciences the following Junior Professorship has to be filled starting on 1 October 2017:

W1 Junior Professorship Arctic Climate Change (with tenure track leading to W2).

Further information can be found here.

Wendisch et al. recently published an article in EOS on “Understanding Causes and Effects of Rapid Warming in the Arctic” introducing the (AC)³ project. The Article can be downloaded on https://eos.org/project-updates/understanding-causes-and-effects-of-rapid-warming-in-the-arctic.

The Call for Abstracts for the 1st (AC)³ Science Conference on Arctic Amplification in Bremen, Germany is open from now on until 15 January 2017. Further details can be found here.

Our (AC)³ member Klaus Dethloff, AWI Potsdam, is co-author of a paper recently published in Nature Climate Change: Nonlinear response of mid-latitude weather to the chanching Arctic.

Abstract: Are continuing changes in the Arctic influencing wind patterns and the occurrence of extreme weather events in northern mid-latitudes? The chaotic nature of atmospheric circulation precludes easy answers. The topic is a major science challenge, as continued Arctic temperature increases are an inevitable aspect of anthropogenic climate change. We propose a perspective that rejects simple cause-and-effect pathways and notes diagnostic challenges in interpreting atmospheric dynamics. We present a way forward based on understanding multiple processes that lead to uncertainties in Arctic and mid-latitude weather and climate linkages. We emphasize community coordination for both scientific progress and communication to a broader public.

Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Climate Change, advance online publication, 27 10 2016 (doi:10.1038/nclimate3121).

(AC)³ was officially endorsed by YOPP – The Year of Polar Predicition.

Our (AC)³ members Marion Maturilli and Annette Rinke hold a lecture on “Arctic Climate Change” at the Potsdam Summer School “Dealing with Climate Impacts”. Further information can be found here.

A further award for an outstanding scientist: The Royal Society announced their new members in April 2016, one of them is the Bremer Professor John Philip Burrows from the Insitute of Environmental Physics of the University of Bremen. Further information and a (german) PR can be found here.

Our correponding member Prof. Klaus Dethloff has been elected as a new member of the Leibniz-Soziatät in Berlin. Further information can be found here.

The „Sächsische Zeitung“ (SZ) has published an article on the upcoming Polarstern cruise PS106 in May 2017 within (AC)³ . The article in SZ is available here.

Manfred Wendisch has been invited to give presentations about our (AC)³ Arctic research activities in the framework of the „Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften“ in Leipzig. These presentations were also intended for childrens. Further information can be found here.

The “Leipziger Volkszeitung” (LVZ) has published an article on the recent Kick-off Meeting of (AC)³ at Kloster Nimbschen, Grimma. download here

Journalists from the “Sächsische Zeitung” will give journalistic support to our PASCAL ship cruise PS108 on RV Polarstern. The research editorial team will cover news on the campaign preperations and the Arctic expedition – as a journalist and a “assistant researcher”. Further informoation can be found here.

Great news! The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has approved 15 new SFBs and SFB/TRs including (AC)³. PR can be found here.

(AC)³ Kick-off meeting phase II in Cologne

The Kick-off meeting for the second phase of (AC)³ will take place online via Zoom on 8 October 2020.

Meeting agenda can be found here.

ACLOUD/AFLUX workshop

It has been a while since we all met to discuss the data analysis of ACLOUD. Now additional measurements from AFLUX are available.
Therefore, we propose a scientific workshop to continue and strengthen the interaction between the different measurement groups and the link to modelling activities.

Please note the following dates in your calender.
Begin: Monday    02.12.2019 start at noon 13:00
End:   Wednesday   04.12.2019 until noon 12:00

Monday and Tuesday will be dedicated to ACLOUD/AFLUX data. This gives us at least 1 1/2 days and time for deep discussion. We hope these days will fit to your schedules and will allow a fruitful discussion.
On Wednesday morning we plan to talk about the upcoming MOSAiC airborne activities with Polar 5. Since the situation for the airborne activities changed dramatically, it is important to revisit the scientific idea and possible flight plans.

Further information will be announced later.

The evaluation of (AC)³ by DFG which is essential for the decision of phase II will take place in Leipzig from 11 – 12 September 2019.

Further information on details of the evaluation for (AC)³ members can be found here.

Location: Maritim – Hotel & Congress Centrum Bremen

After the first “Workshop on Airborne Activities in the Arctic: Science and Prospects” performed in Leipzig, 5-6 October 2017, we would like to invite you to a follow-up meeting. There are two focus objectives of this workshop: to generally review the current status of plans for airborne campaigns in the Arctic for the years to come (including collaborations), and to more specifically plan airborne efforts related to MOSAiC and (AC)³.

Further information can be found here.

A workshop on possible career paths after doing a PhD will be held in Leipzig from 16 to 17 May 2019.

At the end of the workshop, information and instructions for the (AC)³ evaluation in September 2019 will be given to the PhD students.

> schedule

> instructions for the evaluation

Session on Clouds, moisture, and precipitation in the polar regions during EGU 2019

There will be a co-organized session on “Clouds, moisture, and precipitation in the Polar Regions: Sources, processes and impacts”

> direct link to the session

PI Planning meeting phase II of (AC)³ and General Assembly

The PI planning meeting for discussion about the second phase of (AC)³ will take place in Bremen from January 15 – 17, 2019.

Further information will follow.

http://www.ac3-tr.de/meeting/pi-planning-meeting-phase-ii-and-general-assembly/

2nd (AC)³ Science Conference on Arctic Amplification

12 – 14 November 2018: Bremerhaven, Germany

It is planned to start the conference with an ice breaker on Monday, 12 Nov, evening. Subsequently there will be also a PhD student event.

Further information can be found here.

PASCAL conference (SynArc)

22 – 24 October 2018: Delmenhorst, Germany

Synergy of physical, biological, and biogeochemical Arctic observations – From the Polarstern expedition PS106 towards MOSAiC

Further information will follow.

http://synarc.tropos.de/

PI Planning meeting phase II

The PI planning meeting for discussion about the second phase of (AC)³ will take place in Leipzig from July 3 -4, 2018.

Further information will follow.

http://www.ac3-tr.de/meeting/pi-planning-meeting-phase-ii/

Halo-(AC)³ planning workshop

A first Halo-(AC)³ planning workshop for will take place in Berlin, 28 June 2018.

Further information will follow.

http://www.ac3-tr.de/meeting/halo-ac3-planning-workshop/

“Advancing MOSAiC Science” workshop

The Multidisciplinary driftings Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Science workshop will take place from May 28 – 01 June, 2018 at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam.

Further information can be found here.

PAMARCMiP campaign

Polar Airborne Measurements and Arctic Regional Climate Model Simulation Project (PAMARCMiP) starting on March 12 to April 6 2018, Station North, Greenland.

(AC)³ General Assembly 2018 in Leipzig

The 1st annual (AC)³ General Assembly (GA) meeting will take place in Leipzig from 6 – 8 March, 2018 (noon – noon).

Further information here.

There will be additional and supplementary meetings and breakout groups on the following dates:

• ACLOUD meeting: 5 – 6 March 2018 @ Prager Str. 34, LIM
• Xcutting breakout groups: 6 March 2018 @ Augustusplatz, Uni Leipzig, 9-11:30 am

Ocean subgroup meeting

2 February 2018, 13:00 – 16:00 @ HGF Geschäftsstelle Berlin, Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Straße 2, 10178 Berlin

27 – 28 November 2017: University of Cologne, Cologne

The 2nd annual (AC)³ General Assembly (GA) meeting will take place in Cologne from November 27 – 28, 2017.

The (AC)³ community will present their scientific highlights from 2017. During breakout group discussion, the (AC)³ participants will report and discuss on onging collaborations with other Cluster groups and upcoming campaigns.

Meeting agenda and additional information ( PDF ).

20 – 21 November 2017: Leipzig

Workshop “ACLOUD & PASCAL model-data synergy”

In order to fully exploit the (AC)³ observations – here with a focus on the first field campaign results
from the ACLOUD & PASCAL campaigns, but open for additional ideas – we plan a dedicated workshop to bring together ACLOUD & PASCAL scientists (observations side) and modellers (from high-resolved / LES modelling to global climate modelling scale), as well as other interested (AC)³ scientists.
A preliminary workshop 14 October 2016 in Leipzig with participants just from different groups
from Universität Leipzig and TROPOS underlined the potential of, and the interest in, such activities.
We plan a first exploratory workshop on this topic a few months after the ACLOUD & PASCAL  campaigns but early enough to still steer the work of (AC)³ PhD candidates in both, modelling and observations fields, and early enough to accomplish meaningful science in the sense of joint  publications across institutes.
We will call for participation from colleagues who really intend to collaborate on specific model-data
synergy projects (in the sense of a workshop, not a conference).

WORKSHOP: Arctic snow, sea ice properties and interaction with the atmosphere

Dates: 6th – 8th of November 2017

Location: AWI Bremerhaven – Glashaus, building F (Bussestraße 24)

INVITATION

On behalf of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center TR 172 “ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC )³“ we cordially invite you to attend the Topical Workshop on “Arctic snow and sea ice properties and interaction with the atmosphere” which will take place in Bremerhaven, Germany from 6 to 7 November 2017. One aim of the topical workshop is to strengthen the goals of the upcoming aircraft campaign PAMARCMiP (April 2018). A preparation meeting of PAMARCMiP will followed the workshop from 7 to 8 November.

RATIONALE

Snow and sea ice albedo are essential to quantify the Arctic energy budget. Only small changes in surface albedo can trigger feedback mechanisms which enhance the Arctic sea ice loss. However, the snow and sea ice albedo are influenced by a multitude of parameters, such as snow grain size, black carbon concentration, surface roughness, the presence of leads and melt ponds, snow and sea ice thickness and the presence of clouds. Therefore, the local optical and physical properties of snow and sea ice have to be well characterized. Especially, aerosol particles including black carbon may alter the snow optical properties but still raise scientific questions like: What are the most relevant sources of aerosol particles contribution to the
reduction of snow albedo? How are aerosol particles transported into the Arctic and deposited to the surface? How aerosol particles interact with the cloudy atmosphere and are scavenged or modified along the transport path? These questions can be answered only by a collaborative effort of different types of measurements and modeling activities that together will capture the full picture of snow-atmosphere interactions.

DEADLINES & REGISTRATION

Abstract (1/2 page) submission until: 31 August 2017

Abstract submission to: Andreas.Herber[at]awi.de

The number of participants will be limited to 30 people.

Organization Committee: Andreas Herber, Marco Zanatta, André Ehrlich

AGENDA

Monday 6. Nov. 2017 (12:00 – 20:00)

SESSION I SNOW AND SEA ICE PHYSICAL AND RADIATIVE PROPERTIES (MEASUREMENTS AND SIMULATIONS)
Key Note Speaker: Marie Dumont
Invited Speakers: Evi Jäkel, Larisa Istomina, Marcel Nicolaus

SESSION II Evening POSTER SESSION with drinks and finger food

Tuesday 7. Nov. 2017 (09:00 – 17:00)

SESSION III AEROSOL AND TRACE GAS ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT (MEASUREMENTS AND SIMULATIONS)
Key Note Speaker: Björn Hallvard Samset
Invited Speakers: Bernd Heinold, Makoto Koike, Henrik Skov

SESSION IV PREPARATION AND DETAILED PLANNING OF PAMARCMIP 2018 I

Late Afternoon: Visit of Schifffahrtsmuseum and joint dinner

Wednesday 8. Nov. 2017 (09:00 – 12:00)

SESSION V PREPARATION AND DETAILED PLANNING OF PAMARCMIP 2018 II

Afternoon: Visit of research vessel POLARSTERN

4 – 6 October 2017: Albertina, University of Leipzig

4 October: ATM Graduate School  >> Preliminary Agenda (PDF)

5 – 6 October: HALO-(AC)³ Workshop “Sharpening the Science objectives of HALO-(AC)³”

We are planning to apply HALO (High Altitude and Long-Range Research Aircraft) in the framework of the envisioned second phase of (AC)³ in March-April of either 2020 (during MOSAiC) or 2021. The objective will be to measure air mass transformations along their way from the inner Arctic to the open Arctic Sea. In particular, vertical profiles observations of meteorological, aerosol, cloud, and radiative energy budget parameters and their transformations along meridional air mass transports over sea ice has been conducted with a positive outcome. However, it is now time to specify and sharpen the scientific objectives of this mission and to write a White Book summarizing the aims. For this purpose we are planning a topical workshop.

Further information will follow soon.

Physical feedback of Arctic PBL, Sea ice, Cloud And AerosoL (PASCAL) with RV Polarstern on cruise leg PS106.1 and PS106.2 starting on May 24 to July 20 2017 from Bremerhaven to Longyearbyen and Tromsö.

You may check out where Polarstern is on:
http://www.meereisportal.de/meereisexpedition/wo-befindet-sich-polarstern/

Weekly cruise reports from Polarstern are available on:
https://www.awi.de/nc/expedition/schiffe/polarstern/wochenberichte-polarstern.html

Polarstern blog: https://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarstern

Arctic CLoud Observations Using airborne measurements during polar Day (ACLOUD) starting on May 22 to June 28 2017, Longyearbyen/Svalbard.

Further information can be found on http://www.ac3-tr.de/overview/observations/acloud/. You may also follow our ACLOUD blog on https://acloud2017.blogspot.de/.

Come and visit RV Polarstern!

Within the Science Year 2016*17 the research vessel Polarstern, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, will be open for the public on 22 and 23 April.

Date and Time

Saturday, 22 April 2017, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. (ship will close at 4 p.m.)
Sunday, 23 April 2017, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. (ship will close at 3 p.m.)

Further details can be found at AWI website.

26 – 28 March 2017: University of Bremen, Germany. 1st (AC)³ Science Conference.

The conference will summarize the scientific results obtained during the first year of the
Transregional Collaborative Research Center TR 172 on Arctic Amplification (AC)³, and discuss them in context with the international research community. Distinguished guest speakers will talk about recent highlights and current hypotheses in the field of Arctic climate research. Talks and posters will be presented in five sessions. The “(AC)³ Disthinguished Young Investigators Prizes“ will be awarded. The conference is supposed to promote scientific exchange and identify key tasks to be addressed in near-future Arctic climate research.

 A conference flyer can be downloaded here ( outside / inside ).

Further information

The final conference agenda is available here.

Each conference participant will recieve a printed conference booklet including all general information and abstracts at the registration desk. You may also download a digital pdf version in advance. At the conference site WLAN will be available (for further information please ask the registration desk).

You may register for the evening talk by Sebastian Gerland with subsequent (AC)³ reception seperately using the following link:

www.ac3-tr.de/event/evening-talk-with-ac³-reception/

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our conference in Bremen!

19 -25 March 2017: Hyytiälä, Finland.

The winter school is an advanced course intended for graduate students and researchers who want to receive
up-to-date knowledge on the observation and modeling of clouds and precipitation, with a specific focus on
Arctic and high-latitude clouds. The course is structured around a combination of lectures and hands-on
experience using data from research-grade radars (US DOE ARM and ACTRIS), in situ sensors and state-ofthe-
art models. The course topics include: cloud and precipitation observations (cloud radars, lidars, solar
and microwave radiometers, in situ sensors), cloud modeling, precipitation formation, boundary layer
modeling.

The winter school announcement, registration and application deadline can be found here.

14 – 16 December  2016: Youth Hostel Riehl, Cologne. PhD Worhshop.

The two-day workshop theme is ‘Getting Started’ and includes topics such as time, self and project management. It will provide you with relevant and helpful tools for your writing process. On the third day, Friday, December 16th, you will have the opportunity to spend some time together, share your experiences within and outside your cluster and possibly make a visit to the observatory for cloud evolution in Jülich. This second part of the workshop will be prepared and organised by you. Robert Rauterkus as one of the docs’ representatives will be coordinating this part of the workshop. Please contact him with your ideas and suggestions on this part (r.rauterkus[at]uni-koeln.de). For details on the workshop, please see below.

Workshop: Getting Started

Trainer: Aleksandra Skoric

Date: December 14th – 16th

Place: Youth Hostel Riehl, Cologne

Accommodation: Youth Hostel Riehl, Cologne

Registration for workshop via mail to Annette Drost  (idrost[at]uni-koeln.de). More details will follow soon.

12 December 2016: University of Leipzig. Colloquia on “Arctic Climate Change” by Deutsche Meteorologische Gesellschaft (DMG). Abstracts and further information can be found here for download (only german).

1 – 2 December 2016: Wissenschaftszentrum, Potsdam. 2nd General Assambly (GA) Meeting. Futher information can be found here.

21 – 22 November 2016 : University of Bremen, Meeting Room U1050, IUP Building NW1, Bremen. Preparation Workshop ACLOUD. Further information can be found here.

1 November 2016: University of Leipzig, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Linnéstr. 5, Leipzig. Colloquia on “Arctic Climate Change”.

18 – 19 October 2016: University of Bremen. PARMACIMP kick-off meeting.

17 – 18 October  2016: University of Leipzig/TROPOS, Leipzig. ATM “Cloud droplet concentration”. An ATM outline is available here and further programe information can be found in a pdf file. Further ATMs with (AC)³ specific focus will be added in the future.

3 – 7 October 2016: Kjeller (Norway), Ny-Ålesund Atmosphere Flagship work group meetings from NySMAC (Ny-Ålesund Science Managers Committee)

14 – 17 July  2016: University of Leipzig/TROPOS, Leipzig. PhD Workshop on Introduction to Linux/Unix.

9 June 2016, 15:15 – TROPOS, Leipzig. Prof. Dr. Annica Ekman gives a talk “Arctic climate response to regional aerosol emission changes between 1980 and 2005” within the scope of the Leipziger Meteorologisches Kolloqium.

1 June – 2 June 2016 (AC)³ PhD Kick-off Meeting at Kloster Nimbschen, Grimma. Further information can be found here.

30 May – 1 June 2016 (AC)³ Kick-off Meeting at Kloster Nimbschen, Grimma. Further information can be found here.

2 May 2016 – Bremerhaven: Planning Meeting Polarstern PS106

24 April 2016, 10:00 – Faculty of Physics and Earth Science, Leipzig. Prof. Dr. Johannes Quaas gives a Sunday lecture on “Luftverschmutzung, Wolken und der Klimawandel – Global und in der Arktis” (details).

31 March 2016, 15:15 – TROPOS, Leipzig. Dr. Peggy Achtert gives a talk “An overview of atmospheric measurements during recent Arctic cruises with the Swedish icebreaker Oden” within the scope of the Leipziger Meteorologisches Kolloqium. The abstract can be found here.

16 -17 February 2016 – Leipzig. Further information can be found here.

28 -29 January 2016 – Sopot, Poland (link)