EarthCARE cross section of radar reflectivity for the segment of collocation with #Polar5. The circle shows the reflectivity signal of the aircraft.

Yesterday was another very good day for #COMPEX. We had a flight fully dedicated to #EarthCARE and a perfect rendez-vous over cumulus with some precipitation in a cold air outbreak.🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard @unicologne.bsky.social
@unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Intended track (green) of #Polar5 from Longyearbyen airport to collocate with #EarthCARE (light orange line). In the background, #ICON model forecast for total cloud cover is shown for 15 UTC, half an hour before the #EarthCARE overflight.

Cross section through the #ICON model forecast for total cloud cover for 15 UTC, half an hour before the #EarthCARE overflight.

It's another day for #EarthCARE during #COMPEX. RF08 will bring us on #Polar5 to the South-West of #Svalbard where we try to collocate with #EarthCARE again.. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard @unicologne.bsky.social
@unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

#Polar5 on #EarthCARE track close to the rendez-vous point.

Cross section of radar reflectivity from #EarthCARE showing #Polar5 aircraft in red circle.

And there we go. We had a perfect match with #EarthCARE. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Polar5 before taxing to start from Longyearbyen airport.

Ready to go! #COMPEX RF06 heading for #NyAlesund and #EArthCARE. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Cloud streets forming over the marginal ice zone as seen by Awadhesh Pant from University of Cologne aboard Polar 5.

Polar 5 on the runway in Longyearbyen aftera successful research flight.

#Polar5 has been out today to the North of Svalbard in the origin region of a cold air outbreak. People aboard could investigate beautiful cloud streets starting in the marginal ice zone. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the #EarthCARE underflight due to a probability of low visibility at Longyearbyen airport for the arrival time. Up here, you're not flying out on a maybe. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Quicklook from the Ny-Ålesund radar for the day the aircraft was flying above with two radars. Overpass was during the early afternoon.

RF04 was on sublimation processes around #NyAlesnd. Tomorrow, we're heading for our first #EarthCARE collocation of #COMPEX. We hope to find the clouds the models predict for the target region.🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

View from #Polar5 over Frame Strait towards the sun in South on some beautiful precipitating clouds decks.

The approach to LYR at the end of our 3. research flight of #COMPEX reminded us why we do Arctic cloud research. None of the models had the amount of liquid in the clouds we found in the forecast. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

#Polar5 on the runway in Longyearbyen with the crew getting ready for the flight.

It's day 4 of #COMPEX and we already had two successful flights: one to Northwest with clouds over ice and one to Southeast sampling the contrast between clouds over the ocean and ice. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Yesterday #Polar5 arrived in Longyearbyen on #Svalbard and #COMPEX is ready to start. Tomorrow, we will have research flight one heading West over #NyAlesund towards the sea ice. Clouds, here we come. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Logo of COMPEX (clouds over complex environment) showing a sketch of an aircraft, satellite, and clouds over sea ice and ocean.

One week from now, #COMPEX will kick off in #Svalbard. #Polar5 from #AWI will be operated to observe clouds over sea ice and around the #AWIPEV research base in #NyAlesund and to perform #EarthCARE underflights. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3
@unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

NERC's sudden decision to cease funding for FAAM by the end of this month is bad news for the EarthCARE satellite - in this letter members of the EarthCARE Quality Working Group (of which I am a member) explain why: www.met.reading.ac.uk/~swrhgnrj/fa...

Excellent statement from RMetS questioning the decision to cease funding for the FAAM aircraft: www.rmets.org/news/stateme...

New study by @hailingjia.bsky.social, collaboration between @sronspace.bsky.social @meteoleipzig.bsky.social and others: how to obtain best satellite info about cloud condensation nuclei to quantify aerosol-cloud interactions: assimilation for vertical resolution www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I love this view. Looking forward to see it again in three weeks.

Job opportunity! 3.5-year postdoc at the Dept of Meteorology, University of Reading, to improve convective storms in high resolution models using #EarthCARE and other data, including close collaboration with both ECMWF and the Met Office - deadline 27 February: jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

The left column shows various EarthCARE measurements of a deep nimbostratus cloud over Ontario. The right column shows comparisons between EarthCARE’s estimates and in situ aircraft measurements. The bottom two rows confirm that the terminal fall speed of snowflakes is fairly constant whereas the vertical motion of the air fluctuates rapidly and can be estimated well from EarthCARE, the first time this has been possible from space.

There have now been 100 aircraft under-flights of #EarthCARE, each providing invaluable information to calibrate and validate the data products. This example shows very good agreement between EarthCARE and aircraft vertical air motion in nimbostratus. Full article here: earth.esa.int/eogateway/su...

Danke für die Erinnerung. Werde wieder schön mit Decke und einer Kanne Tee in den Park gehen.

Well done!

Got it! Sorry, didn't want to weaken or attack this point.

Great stuff! I love both I have. The ones for icy roads, snow, and hiking. And those I use for running. But why always buy on Amazon. Use your local dealer if possible, or some other online option. Beff Jezos has more than enough money, in my opinion.

It took me a while, but finally, I can say: "F*CK off #spotify ! Welcome #qobuz and #antennapod !"

Spannend. @marcuwekling.bsky.social kündigt gerade auf dem #39C3 den DID an, den Digital Independence Day (zu deutsch DUT - Digitaler Unabhängigkeitstag). Start 4. Januar 2026.

Ziel: Wechseln zu unabhängigen Alternativen

Einmal im Monat einen Dienst wechseln. Mehr Infos dann auf www.di.day

Ulf Buermeyer und Philip Banse

Die neue Lage ist online - Folge 458:

* USA: Neue Sicherheitsstrategie kündigt der EU die Freundschaft

* Wehrdienst: Was ist davon zu halten, wenn Leute sich „verpissen“ wollen?

* Social Media: Was bringen Altersgrenzen - und kann man sie auch durchsetzen?

Gleich reinhören 🎧

lage.link/ldn/458

Radar reflectivity through Hurricane Humberto: top is EarthCARE, middle is the ECMWF 9-km model and bottom is the ECMWF 4.4-km model.

In this ECMWF blog post, Mark Fielding compares model simulations at 9- and 4.4-km resolution with #EarthCARE radar observations of Hurricane Humberto, which was sampled right through its eye on 28 September 2025: www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...

Schwarz-Rot verständigt sich auf Industriestrompreis, Kraftwerkstrategie und Senkung der Luftverkehrsteuer Das Streitthema Wehrpflicht war schon vorab abgeräumt worden, nun konnten sich Union und SPD auf weitere Kompromisse verständigen: Der Industriestrompreis kommt und auch Fliegen soll günstiger werden....

Senkung der Luftverkehrssteuer?! Warum kommt ihr nicht auf die Idee "Bahn fahren wird günstiger"?
www.spiegel.de/politik/deut...

Schaubild, Dienstwagen Privileg vs deutschlandticket Förderung des bundes pro Jahr .in Euro

#deutschlandticket 9€ jetzt

QR code

Die neue Lage ist online - Folge 446:

* Trumps MAGA-Team schlachtet Mord an Charlie Kirk aus

* Bedingt abschussbereit: Wie reagieren auf Russlands Drohnen-Angriff?

* Wie umgehen mit all den schlechten Nachrichten? Schickt uns eine Sprachnachricht: lage.link/signal

Hören: 🎧

lage.link/ldn/446

CONTRASTS Expedition - Wikipedia

Back from the CONTRASTS expedition (July–Sept)!
We studied 3 types of Arctic sea ice, revisiting each site 4 times.
I wrote a short overview here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONTRAS...

Definitely train whenever possible. Like last week from Cologne to Ireland, though there was some ferry included for the final step.