News

Increasing climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Aerosol-cloud interactions still represent the largest uncertainty in current projections of future climate. The Sonnblick Observatory of GeoSphere Austria, together with the Vienna University of Technology and the University of Vienna, aims to reduce this uncertainty through sound measurements and research and thus…

The concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane measured on the Sonnblick in April 2023 reached the highest value since measurements began. Carbon dioxide and methane are the strongest drivers of human-caused climate change. At the Sonnblick Observatory (3100 m above sea level) in April 2023 the monthly average concentration of carbon dioxide was 425.3 ppm (parts per million = part per million)…

Today we are proud to announce that the European Commission has taken the final decision to establish the Aerosols, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as of 25/04/2023. 17 European countries combine their resources to produce data and to provide open access to a wide range of atmospheric research technologies, services…

On April 12th and 13th, 2023, we installed a new measuring device on a measuring terrace on the Sonnblick: a "Poleno" from the company Swisens, provided by the University of Vienna as part of the VINAR cooperation. The transport of the massive weatherproof housing presented us with a brief challenge. In well-coordinated teamwork, we were finally able to transport all the heavy parts…

On July 18th and 19th, scientists from the University of Vienna, TU Vienna, TROPOS and ZAMG met at the Sonnblick Observatory. The focus of the meeting was the development of the Austrian ACTRIS stations for aerosol in-situ observations (ACTRIS NF AIS) at the University of Vienna and at the Sonnblick Observatory. As part of the VINAR cooperation (https://vinar.univie.ac.at/), the data from these…

Due to the low rainfall in the 2021/2022 winter season, there was significantly less snow on the Sonnblick. In the summer of the previous year there was still enough snow for the winter season to start with a sufficient old snow cover. From January the snow depth increased only slowly. As a result, the Sonnblick was the winter season with the least amount of snow since records began. March,…

The extent to which the entire atmosphere is globally connected was shown by the last Saharan dust event on the Sonnblick. The desert sand deposits are clearly visible in the photos. A dark surface reflects less incoming solar radiation and thus heats up the surface more quickly. The change in albedo caused by the deposited Saharan dust causes the snow to melt.

In the summer months of 2021, a number of forest fires were registered in Europe. Areas in Italy, France, Greece and Turkey were hardest hit by large fires. In order to investigate the transport of carbon monoxide (CO) to the Sonnblick, the period 15.7. simulated with the WRF-Chem model including forest fire emissions from IS4FIRES (FMI) until August 31, 2021. No other emission sources and no…

The volcanic eruption on Tonga shows the sensitivity of the earth's atmosphere and the interconnectedness around the globe. On Saturday, its explosion could be heard several thousand kilometers away, including in Australia and New Zealand. Although no acoustic signal was heard in Austria, the arrival of the pressure wave could still be measured. The pressure wave reached us with a delay of…

The Sonnblick Observatory is pleased to welcome a new colleague to its ranks. After a long, exciting tender, the decision was made in favor of Simon Feigl. Mr. Feigl originally comes from Steyr and can already look back on a great deal of international experience. After studying technical physics at Graz University of Technology, a stay at the CERN research center in Geneva followed, in parallel…