Efforts to control ozone pollution may unintentionally slow methane removal

A new study in Nature, coauthored by ICE-4 director Michaela Hegglin, examines how changes in air pollution affect the atmosphere’s ability to remove methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—through interactions with the hydroxyl radical (OH).

Major balloon campaign at ICE-4 has started

The weather balloon launch on 27th May 2025 was the first of many this year. This unprecedented campaign effort, which will continue with weekly launches until October, is going to explore, among other goals, the influence of the Asian Summer Monsoon on the stratosphere above Europe across more than an entire season.

HEMERA campaign concluded

Precise measurements of the atmosphere are indispensable for predictions of climate change and its consequences. A group of researchers from the Helmholtz Association in Jülich and Karlsruhe has therefore been carrying out unique experiments in August in Kiruna in northern Sweden. Two large balloon gondolas were prepared and launched as part of the EU Horizon 2020 HEMERA research infrastructure (https://www.hemera-h2020.eu/).

Balloon-borne atmospheric observations in times of Corona

DFG Collaborative Research Center TPChange - The tropopause in a changing climate

Success story: The ozone hole is shrinking

2nd place at the HITEC Communicator Award 2022

At the HITEC Communicator Award 2022, Markus Geldenhuys won second place with his presentation "The southern Andes: A natural laboratory to study atmospheric gravity waves".

Remote sensing of the Earth system - CARF Remote Sensing Workshop 2022

Jülich, 13/14 October - At a two-day workshop at Forschungszentrum Jülich, researchers from the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment discussed the latest developments in the field of satellite-, aircraft- and ground-based remote sensing of the Earth system with their colleagues from the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Executive Summary of the WMO/UNEP 2022 Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion released

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released the Executive Summary of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022. Scientists from Helmholtz TOPIC1 (The Atmosphere in Global Change) contributed to this report, including Johannes Laube (IEK-7) in the prestigious role as chapter Lead Author.

New video: PHILEAS - HALO research aircraft investigates transport of greenhouse gases and aerosols

This video introduces the PHILEAS (Probing High Latitude Export of Air from the Asian Summer Monsoon) research campaign, which will be conducted by a team of atmospheric scientists in the summer of 2023. The campaign aims to study the transport of polluted air masses from the Asian monsoon in Southeast Asia to the lower stratosphere over Europe and to understand its impact on global climate and weather.

International high altitude balloon campaign led by IEK-7

In August, scientists from IEK-7 led an international high altitude balloon campaign with participants from the U.S., the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Finland.

Interview on PHILEAS

In the broadcast "alle wetter!" of the Hessischer Rundfunk, Martin Riese reports about the PHILEAS measurement campaign. The video is available in the ARD Mediathek until 27.09.2025.

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Jülich balloon measurements over the southern hemisphere

Jülich atmospheric researchers, together with colleagues from the Universidad Technica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile, and the South African weather service SAWS, have measured distributions of trace gases, aerosols and cloud particles up to an altitude of approx. 30 km with high vertical resolution.

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Second ESA Water Vapor Climate Change Initiative User workshop in Jülich

The second ESA Water Vapour Climate Change Initiative User Workshop was held in Jülich from the 14th to 16th October in Jülich. Around 60 onsite and online participants exchanged their latest research results in insightful presentations and contributed to interesting discussions.

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