Pollutants in the atmosphere - launch of the ACTRIS-D funding measure
12th August 2021 — At the beginning of August, the second major collaborative project to build a new infrastructure for research into the role of gases and cloud formation in climate change was launched. Distributed among eleven institutions, the German contribution to the EU research infrastructure, ACTRIS-Germany (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure, ACTRIS-D), will also intensify exchange with European research in the future. In ACTRIS-D, experienced researchers from German atmospheric research and at European level work closely together– they come from universities, non-university research institutions and public authorities. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has commissioned DLR-PT with overall project management within the framework of the existing "Global Change" mandate.
Europe-wide measurement of extreme weather events
"New heat records and heavy rainfall events do not adhere to national borders and are partly consequences of anthropogenic climate change," says project manager Dr Jochen Elberskirch from the DLR-PT Department of Environment and Sustainability. "Its dynamics are so complex that not only greenhouse gas emissions, but also the role of other components of the atmosphere must be studied in detail. Here, research is supported by a comprehensive measurement network in Europe for volatile atmospheric components such as aerosols, or fine dust, as well as trace gases and clouds. With ACTRIS-D, the national joint project for the European research infrastructure ACTRIS has now taken off."
The findings from the measurements and analyses in ACTRIS-D will provide an important basis for the development of further measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, ACTRIS-D provides policy-makers with reliable data on air quality and the current state of the climate, with which environmental policy decisions can be made and rules and laws can be developed.
Global change
Worldwide, social, economic and technical developments are leading to changes in the climate and the environment which are affecting living conditions on Earth. These far-reaching transformations are referred to as "global change", research on which is to help understand the processes involved and make future developments shapeable. In this context, the BMBF has commissioned DLR-PT, which has a high level of expertise in the monitoring and management of research infrastructures at national and international level. The project management of ACTRIS-D is an individual assignment within the overall research package.