Master Students Physics or Meteorology (f/m/x) - Satellite remote sensing of volcanic ash-induced ice cloud formation

The passive remote sensing group within the cloud physics department at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics investigates natural and anthropogenic clouds as well as airborne aerosol using measurements of different active and passive satellite instruments, mainly focusing on the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) aboard the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites, for which we developed a range of retrieval algorithms.

Currently, we are looking for 2 applicants, who in the scope of their master theses, will either work on the

• satellite-based investigation of volcanic ash-induced ice cloud formation, or the
• development of a satellite-based detection algorithm for potential ice crystal icing / high ice water content.

Applicants may indicate a preferred project in their application. Both studies are part of a project in cooperation with the German weather service (DWD).

Position 1:

Aerosol particles acting as ice nuclei can lead to the formation of cirrus clouds. In the case of volcanic ash, the topic has been extensively studied experimentally in the laboratory, but the large-scale satellite-based observation in nature remains an open task. By combining passive satellite retrievals for either volcanic ash or ice clouds one can find that sometimes detections of volcanic ash are later replaced by detections of ice clouds. In this project, both detections will be linked by a nowcasting method which estimates the future position of a cloud object based on its previous motion (i.e., the optical flow).

The successful applicant will:

• implement a nowcasting algorithm for volcanic ash and ice clouds in Python/Julia
• validate the nowcasting tool against satellite observations
• apply the nowcasting method to match volcanic ash and ice cloud detections and relate their properties

Position 2:

High numbers of small ice particles are a danger for aviation as they might lead to a loss of power and potentially to engine damage when drawn into jet turbines. This phenomenon is called ice crystal icing (ICI). The potential occurrence of ICI is also related to the presence of high ice water contents (HIWC), often due to strong convection. This project focusses on the development of a method for the detection of potential ICI / HIWC based on existing satellite retrieval products.

The successful applicant will:

• compose a training dataset including collocated retrieval products of active and passive satellite sensors and in situ aircraft measurements
• develop, implement and validate a detection algorithm for ICI / HIWC based on the training dataset
• find potential ICI / HIWC events using the new method and perform a statistical analysis of the physical properties of the observed events