How do Volcanoes Influence the Climate? DFG Research Unit to Address this Question

The Arenal is one of the most active and at the same time youngest volcanoes in Costa Rica. Photo: Martin Meschede
The Poás is a volcano in Costa Rica. Photo: Martin Meschede

Scientists from seven German research institutions are to address the influence of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere and climate. At the beginning of December 2018, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’s (DFG) Joint Committee decided to fund the Research Unit VolImpact (Revisiting the volcanic impact on atmosphere and climate – preparations for the next big volcanic eruption). The DFG Research Unit will be coordinated by the University of Greifswald’s Institute of Physics.

Volcanic eruptions are one of the most significant natural causes of changes to the climate system. Although atmospheric research has been investigating the influence of volcanic eruptions for more than three decades, many fundamental processes have not yet been sufficiently elucidated. The main goal of the DFG Research Unit VolImpact is to substantially improve the scholarly understanding of the ways the climate system reacts to volcanic eruptions. The data produced by satellite-based measurements of corresponding atmospheric parameters will be used to make comprehensive models of the physical and chemical processes.

The DFG Research Unit is made up of five scientific sub-projects that address the development of volcanic clouds, the radiative forcing caused by volcanic aerosols, the aerosol-cloud interactions and the effects of volcanic aerosols on the dynamics of the atmosphere and the hydrological cycle of the near-surface atmosphere.

Scientists from the Universities of Bremen, Greifswald, Hamburg and Leipzig, as well as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel are involved in the Research Unit. Prof. Dr. Christian von Savigny from the University of Greifswald’s Institute of Physics is the Research Unit’s spokesperson.

Funds of more than 2.3 million euros are available for the first three years.

 


Further Information

A Research Unit is a scientific funding programme provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG. This programme funds small groups of scientists that work together to tackle a question from a confined area of science that could not be solved by an individual. The programme was established in 1962 and was called research group up until 2018.
DFG Project Number FOR 2820


Contact at the University of Greifswald
Prof. Dr. Christian von Savigny
Institute of Physics
Felix-Hausdorff-Straße 6, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 4720
csavignyphysik.uni-greifswaldde
www.physik.uni-greifswald.de

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