Institut für Umweltphysik | Institut für Umweltphysik

High Alpine research station Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps

Since 1986, IUP is measuring here atmospheric 14CO2. Today the clean air station Jungfraujoch is part of the ICOS atmosphere station network.

An atmospheric suntracker on the roof of the IUP.

The rooftop atmospheric observatory

Measuring greenhouse gases and other atmospheric constituents above Heidelberg.

Ocean Tracers

Climate driven cycles of heat and carbon in the ocean are studied through the use of trace isotopes such as radiocarbon.

detecting bubbles generated by breaking waves

Breaking waves and bubble clouds

Bubble clouds, generated by breaking waves, play a role in the exchange of gases between the ocean and the atmosphere. Bubble sizes are measured using imaging techniques.

Th/U Laboratory

Preparation of the samples for high-precision Th/U dating requires the chemical purification of both trace elements from natural samples.

ICOS CRL flask CO2 Extraction and Graphitization Line

The Karl Otto Münich Central Radiocarbon Laboratory of the European Research Infrastructure ICOS prepares atmospheric CO2 samples for 14C analysis by AMS.

MC-ICPMS Laboratory

Preparation of high-precision isotope measurements with semi-automated multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers.

Mobile Laboratory of the VERIFY project

The mobile laboratory is used to monitor source-specific combustion gases (CO2, CO, CH4, NOx) in the atmosphere with the focus on domestic heating and traffic emissions.

HALO Research Aircraft

The HALO research aircraft at the airport in Rio Grande, Argentina during the SOUTHTRAC campaign in Sept. - Nov. 2019, with the mini-DOAS instrument on board.

Speleothems

Stalagmites are an important archive to study past climate.

Radiocarbon Laboratory

Carbon dioxide extraction from speleothem samples and carbon graphitization to trace the past global carbon cycle.

Cold-Water Corals

Reef-forming cold water deep sea corals are a unique archive to study past ocean dynamics and climate.

The Aeolotron

The largest active annular wind-wave tank in the world, the Aeolotron, is used to study small-scale exchange processes between the ocean and the atmosphere.

measuring heat and gas transfer at the ocean

Air-Sea Interactions

Physical processes controlling the exchange of heat and gases between atmosphere and ocean as well as the properties of wind generated waves are studied using imaging techniques.

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Novel approaches to atmospheric trace gas remote sensing

21.12.2021 - Atmospheric trace gases have been measured since decades at the IUP. However, still new technologies and new applications of proven ideas can vastly improve the performance of the…

Marleen Lausecker receives her PhD

24.11.2021 - Marleen worked out the thermal history of the mid-depth Atlantic since the last glacial using geochemical and isotope tracers in cold water corals. She established the first Li/Mg…

New insights into the world's largest ammonite

14.11.2021 - The PhD student Nils Schorndorf participated in a study of an international research team led by Dr. Christina Ifrim from the Jura Museum in Eichstätt, Germany, which analyzed and…

Article on 39Ar-ATTA in "Physik Journal"

09.11.2021 - Markus Oberthaler (KIP) and Werner Aeschbach (IUP) have published an article about the analysis of 39Ar by the quantum technological method ATTA (Atom Trap Trace Analysis) in the…

Teaching award for Sanam Vardag

29.10.2021 - Sanam Vardag has been awarded the teaching award of the Physics & Astronomy department for her excellent tutorials supporting the "Experimental Physics" classes (PEP1 and PEP2) and…

New Publication on Sealevel Reconstruction using submerged Speleothems from Yucatan

31.08.2021 - Simon Steidle and his coworkers have published sealevel reconstructions using speleothems retrieved from submerged caves in the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico). These…

Jan-Lukas Tirpitz receives his PhD

11.08.2021 - Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, a physics student from the IUP working group “Troposphere, free Radicals and volcanic Emissions”, has received his PhD in June.

The climate variability of early Mesoamerican people

07.07.2021 - Speleothems are valuable sources of information on past climate and rainfall variations. The Naharon sinkhole near Tulum on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, hosted an early Holocene…

Werner Aeschbach and his research partner Zongyu Chen sampling groundwater for noble gases in China in the year 2004

Nature paper shows strong cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum

12.05.2021 - A new paper in Nature with far-reaching links to our institute for the first time summarises the results of noble gas temperature studies worldwide. It confirms a strong cooling on…

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