VITAL Summer School and Campaign
Measurement Campaign: Drone Flights on Campus from 10 August
From 10 to 25 August 2024, drone flights will be taking place on the Jülich campus as part of a scientific measurement campaign, recording vertical profiles of meteorological parameters (pressure, temperature, humidity). The drones will therefore only fly vertically over two narrowly defined areas above the courtyard of building 05.2 and next to the meteorological tower. Only meteorological measurements will be carried out. The cameras installed on the drones are merely used for navigation purposes. No photos or videos will be taken. The areas where the flights are taking place will be signposted.
HErZ VITAL measurement campaign
The drone flights are part of the VITAL I measurement campaign (vertical profiling of the troposphere: innovation, optimisation and application) being conducted at Forschungszentrum Jülich this year. In addition to the drones, VITAL I will also use newly developed lidar and radar systems to provide continuous weather observations at high altitudes from the ground. These observations will then be compared with data from weather balloons, satellites, and measurements from the weather tower. The investigations are aimed at improving weather forecasts.
The host institute, the Institute of Climate and Energy Systems – Troposphere (ICE-3), is working in cooperation with the universities of Cologne, Bonn, and Tübingen, as well as with the Hans Ertel Centre for Weather Research (HErZ) and the German National Meteorological Service (DWD).
Background
Meteorological observations are absolutely essential for any weather forecast. The better the measurements, the more reliable the weather forecast will be. In addition to traditional surface observations (e.g. weather stations), weather forecasting also requires observations of temperature, humidity, wind, etc. in the higher layers of the atmosphere. These come, for example, from weather balloons, aircraft, or weather satellites. Unfortunately, these methods provide insufficient information about weather conditions in the lowest 1–2 kilometres of the atmosphere: where most people live and where the weather that directly affects us “happens”. For this reason, the German National Meteorological Service (DWD) is always interested in developing and testing new measurement methods to determine which measurements should be included in the operational measurement network in future.
Summer school
The HErZ summer school is taking place at the same time as the measurement campaign. Around 50 international students are taking part in the summer school to learn about modern measurement techniques. They will also learn how to answer scientific questions, such as what influence lignite mining has on the weather and air quality in the area around Jülich. During the summer school, participants will also attend specialist lectures and present their scientific results at a closing event on the last day of the school.
Links
Hans Ertel Centre for Weather Research