Während der StuMeTa 2026 könnt ihr euch in einem spannenden Vortragsprogramm zum aktuellen Forschungsstand der Karlsruher Meteorologie. Alle Vorträge finden in englischer Sprache statt und haben eine Länge von ca. 30 Minuten. Danach bleibt Zeit, um eure Fragen zu beantworten.
During StuMeTa 2026, you can find out about the current state of research in Karlsruhe meteorology in an exciting programme of lectures. All our lectures will be held in English and have a length of approx. 30 minutes. Then there will be time to answer your questions.
Donnerstag/Thursday 9:15-10:00 Uhr
Prof. Joaquim Pinto – Studying weather and climate extremes to inform climate adaptation
The characteristics of extreme events are changing in a warming world. However, the physical reasons for these changes and their implications can be very different depending on the natural hazard of interest, e.g. heat waves vs heavy precipitation vs windstorms. Focussing on selected examples, we show how storylines and AI-based downscaling are key methodologies to help us further our understanding and to provide usable climate information for the development of effective adaptation measures.
Thursday 10:00-10:45
Prof. Corinna Hoose – Modelling of aerosol-cloud interactions constrained by laboratory, field and satellite measurements
Aerosol particles are the seeds for cloud droplets and ice particles. Changes in their concentrations – for example through anthropogenic emissions – thus affects the microphysical properties of clouds. This process is still only crudely represented in weather and climate models, which causes substantial uncertainties. In this talk I will show how we use observations from various sources to constrain parameterizations for cloud ice formation.
Thursday 11:15-12:00
Prof. Peter Knippertz – ChatGPT, what is the weather like tomorrow?
Reliable weather forecasts are an integral part of our daily lives, and many decisions—big and small—in business and society depend on them. This presentation explains the basic principles of weather forecasting and how predictions have evolved over the past 150 years. Finally, it will discuss how, in recent years, Big Tech companies like Google and now also operational weather services such as the DWD have developed revolutionary new concepts that are no longer based on fundamental physical principles but on machine-learning algorithms—in other words, functioning similarly to ChatGPT.
Thursday 13:45-14:30
Dr. Valentin Hanft – Atmospheric Modeling with ICON-ART
The IMK is the lead agency responsible for ICON-ART, the aerosol and chemistry module of the German Weather Service’s weather model. This presentation will outline the basic functioning of ICON and the current contributions of the IMK institutes to modeling. Special emphasis will be placed on current research at the IMKASF.
Thursday 14:30-15:15
Prof. Andreas Fink – The challenge of forecasting rainfall in tropical Africa
Tropical west and central Africa stand out in the Tropics as being the regions within the Tropics with the lowest practical skill in forecasting rainfall occurrence and amount for the next 24-hours. This occurs against a low theoretical predictability limit at convective spatial scales in the Tropics when compared to mid-latitudes and escalating extreme events due to climate change in Africa. First potential avenues of forecast improvement will be discussed for Africa. Then, by comparing the skill of classical numerical ensemble forecast with data-driven and AI-based forecasts, It will be shown that the computationally cheaper approaches yield equal or often more skill in forecasting convection. Thus they hint at an avenue of revolutionising forecasting at African forecast centres.
Saturday 9:30-10:15
Prof. Michael Kunz – From Graupel to Giant Hail: Understanding and Chasing Hailstorms
Severe thunderstorms are among the most damaging convective weather phenomena in Central Europe – and are particularly fascinating for meteorologists. In this talk, we explore how large hailstones form within thunderstorm clouds and the meteorological ingredients required for their development. We also show how severe hailstorms can be identified using remote sensing instruments, and where and why hail occurs most frequently. And of course, we take you into the field: during storm chasing campaigns, we collect measurements right in the heart of the storms – spectacular, challenging, and scientifically highly exciting.
Saturday 10:15-11:00
Dr. Miriam Sinnhuber – Space weather, atmospheric composition, and exoplanetary atmospheres
Solar activity acting on short time-scales of minutes to days, called „Space Weather“, is the source of polar lights sometimes even observed in midlatitudes. Space Weather events also impact the Earth’s middle and lower atmosphere, starting with strong changes to some chemical components which initiate a chemical-radiative-dynamical coupling affecting atmospheric dynamics down to the surface. Consequently, this „geomagnetic forcing“ is recommended as part of the solar forcing data for coordinated composition-climate model experiments like CMIP or CCMI. However, the overall impact is small compared to other natural or anthropogenic forcings. As some stars are much more active than the sun, stellar activity should have a larger impact on the atmospheres of exoplanets in orbit around very active stars. In this talk, a short summary is provided from the main processes forming affecting atmospheric composition and dynamics, to the derivation of forcing data for composition-climate models. At the end, a short discussion will be provided why „Space Weather“ is now an active field of research for remote sensing of exoplanetary atmospheres as well.
Saturday 11:15-12:00
Dr. Rumeng Li – The Dust Must Flow: Understanding Mineral Dust in the Earth System
Mineral dust is the dominant aerosol by mass and a key component of the Earth system. Its cycle spans a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, influencing air quality, human health, and the economy. Despite its significance, major gaps remain in our understanding of the processes that drive this cycle and their interactions. This talk presents a multi-scale overview of the dust cycle, covering dust emission at the surface, its representation in models, particularly in km-scale simulations, and its regional and global climatic impacts through interactions with radiation. Particular attention is given to haboobs, a spectacular dust storm type, including their formation, identification, and key characteristics.
Saturday 16:00-16:45
Dr. Andreas Schäfer – Before the (climate) disaster – how social vulnerability shapes our risk
How does our society shape our risk under a changing climate? What are the socio-economic aspects of a disaster impact? How can we build resilience in a world of risk?