THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
The importance of aerosol, cloud and wind research for Europe Europe must invest in high value space technology
by Dr Johannes Bühl, postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig
Dr Johannes Bühl is a postdoctoral researcher at
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erosol, clouds and winds form inextricably intertwined components of the Earth’s atmosphere. They act on the Earth’s climate, both directly and indirectly, in ways that science is only just beginning to understand. But what is the significance of aerosols, clouds and winds for Europe’s future? Why do they matter?
Leibnitz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Germany. Born in 1983, he studied physics with a main focus on optics at the Photo: private
Friedrich Schiller University Jena. He earned his PhD from University
of Leipzig in 2015. In his current position as postdoc-
Atmospheric exchange systems
toral researcher he studies aerosol-cloud interaction
The complex global interaction of aerosol, clouds and winds has many positive facets. Since ancient times, wind takes up mineral dust particles from the Sahara Desert and transports them over the Atlantic in a continuous lofted stream. When this stream arrives over the Amazon basin, turbulence and tropical thunderstorm clouds reach up and wash down the mineral dust. This constant supply of dust from the Sahara Desert naturally fertilises the Amazonian rain forest, the highly diverse biome that we know today (Baars et al, 2011; Yiu et al., 2015). The connection between the Sahara Desert and the Amazon basin is one of the most obvious examples of how the atmosphere drives globally interconnected ecosystems. Europe is also engulfed in a couple of long-range atmospheric transport systems. What does this mean for the future? Aerosol is com-
with ground-based and space borne remote-sensing instruments.
posed of tiny particles suspended in air with a large variety of physical and chemical properties that can have an enormous significance for life on Earth. However, aerosol also has its darker sides. Prominent examples most relevant to Europe include the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in Iceland which brought nearly all air traffic over Europe to a complete halt. Recent aerosol uptake by wild fires in the Chernobyl area (Evangeliou and Eckhardt, 2020) fall into the same category of complex scenarios in which aerosols, clouds and winds together pose a sudden threat.
The influence of a changing climate
Leipzig Aerosol and Cloud Remote Observations System at Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
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photo: J. Bühl
On several occasions in Earth’s recent geological history, changes in aerosol emissions have affected incoming solar radiation in such a way that global temperatures went into oscillations with devastating effects. Aerosol and clouds will behave very differently in a future warmed climate. Wind systems, precipitation patterns and ocean currents will quickly adapt to new conditions and the composition of our atmosphere will be distinctly different from the one we know today. Deserts will shift, clouds will change in size and the distribution of precipitation will be modified. The highly intercon-
