The ACTRIS-D project is planned to open up new perspectives on the atmosphere and climate change. Within the framework of the National Roadmap of BMBF, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a major partner of this project that has been included in the list of priority research infrastructures. Now, the project partners can start detailed planning of construction of the world’s first climate research infrastructure of this kind in the next five years.
“Climate change is among the big challenges facing us and the next generations. To cope with this challenge, we will compile novel data with better sensors, analyze them in the worldwide community, and create helpful knowledge for the society,” says the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka. “Funding under the National Roadmap is an important milestone. I am proud that KIT can contribute to this effort.”
As member of the Helmholtz Association, KIT develops and operates large scientific infrastructures, such as large-scale facilities, service institutions, or networks. Following the invitation of proposals for the “National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures” by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), a consortium of German research institutions developed the ACTRIS-D project. It is aimed at pooling long-term observations of aerosols, clouds, and trace gases in the atmosphere and determining more precisely the impact of these short-lived atmospheric constituents on regional climate. For this purpose, existing ground-based measurement systems, such as FTIR spectrometers and lidar radars, will be linked more closely and additional systems will be installed in Europe to establish the world’s first research platform of this kind. Its three basic elements are: field measurement stations with latest measurement technology, atmosphere simulation chambers, and calibration and quality assurance laboratories. KIT will contribute to subprojects and measures in the amount of roughly a quarter of the total funding of EUR 86 million applied for. After a multi-stage construction phase until 2026, the operation phase will take until 2036. Thirteen German institutions will be involved in the project that will be coordinated by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig.
More information on KIT’s Atmosphere and Climate Program:
http://www.atmo.kit.edu
Press release of BMBF:
https://www.bmbf.de/de/neue-nationale-roadmap-fuer-forschungsinfrastrukturen-9618.html (in German)
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.