Research of the Meteorology and Air Quality Group
The Meteorology and Air Quality (MAQ) Group at Wageningen University aims to advance understanding of atmospheric processes and their interactions with the Earth’s surface to address scientific and societal challenges. The group focuses on six themes, all related to weather, climate, and atmospheric composition.
Research themes
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Air Quality and Atmospheric Composition
Within the theme of air quality and atmospheric composition, we aim to advance the fundamental understanding of atmospheric composition and air quality by integrating cutting-edge modelling and observational techniques across scales. Our research leverages a diverse array of remote sensing and in-situ observations, spanning satellite, airborne, and ground-based measurements (Loobos, Veenkampen, mobile) of ozone, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter to improve understanding and refine models. Our work embraces the complexity of atmospheric processes, addressing both fundamental scientific questions and pressing societal challenges, including air pollution, emissions verification, and excess nitrogen deposition.
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Carbon Cycle
Research in the carbon cycle theme focuses on exchange of CO2 and other greenhouse gases between land, ocean and the atmosphere on regional to global scales. We study forest carbon uptake, fires, permafrost exchange, and combustion of fossil fuels worldwide. Our overall goal is to understand how the biosphere responds and feeds back to climate change. We do this on regional to global scales but often focus on Europe, the Amazon, and high latitudes. We use atmospheric measurements, remote sensing observations, data assimilation and process modelling. We develop models and perform field measurements, with a focus on combining multiple gases that provide information on the carbon cycle, including CO2, isotopes, atmospheric oxygen, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen. Our research contributes to the societal need to constrain and predict emissions and carbon budgets, and is closely linked with other MAQ themes, including land-atmosphere interactions and atmospheric composition.
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Clouds and Radiation
Through precipitation, radiation, and atmospheric dynamics, clouds influence our daily life. Cloud-radiation-interactions are a leading uncertainty in climate change projections and clouds play key roles in the hydrological cycle, renewable energy production, hazardous weather, and land surface processes. We conduct fundamental research to gain detailed understanding of the governing cloud processes, from the interactions of individual cloud droplets to the organisation of clouds spanning entire oceans.
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Land-Atmosphere Interactions
The theme of land-atmosphere interactions (LAI) is aimed at understanding what drives the exchange of heat, water, and trace gases between land and atmosphere. Our research spans scales that start at the leaf level and end at the global scale. We are interested in understanding the physical processes that drive LAI, but also to apply this understanding to quantify the (potential) impacts of atmospheric and land use changes in a changing climate.
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Urban Climate
Climate change and urbanisation processes are making cities increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events and environmental stresses. The urban climate theme focuses on understanding the atmosphere-land exchange of heat, moisture, momentum and CO2 over cities. In addition, we aim to understand and quantify urban weather patterns in relation to the urban morphology and design, energy transition (PV, air conditioning) and the human dimension through indoor and outdoor climate observations. This is achieved through high-resolution modelling, Living Lab approaches, crowdsourcing and field observations using urban meteorological networks, such as the Amsterdam Atmospheric Monitoring Supersite, and the Wageningen Air Quality Network. Ultimately, this research enhances urban resilience, supports sustainable design, and promotes economic efficiency in the face of climate and urbanisation challenges.
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Weather Systems
The weather systems theme focuses on the understanding of the dynamics of large-scale and mesoscale weather systems and their link to the hydrological cycle, in a changing climate. Extreme weather events like extreme precipitation, thunderstorms, and fog are challenging to forecast, but do have a huge societal impact. The intensity and frequency of events also might change in a warmer climate, and therefore advancing the understanding of the dynamics is crucial. However, especially changes in a warmer climate in the general circulation are uncertain. To study these phenomena we use reanalysis products, numerical weather prediction models like WRF and OpenIFS, and climate simulations from CMIP6 or high-resolution simulations. In addition, the frequency and occurrence of those weather events and the relation to moisture transport is quantified.
Our research addresses both fundamental scientific questions and pressing societal challenges, such as extreme weather accelerated by climate change, and air pollution. To achieve our goals, we conduct and analyse measurements, develop and use models, and integrate knowledge from meteorology and air quality. Concerning measurements, we actively participate in field campaigns and the Ruisdael measurement facility through our field stations: Veenkampen, the Loobos flux tower, and the Amsterdam Atmospheric Monitoring Supersite measurement network. We recently launched an observations hub to provide our observations to different stakeholders. Concerning modelling, we work on a hierarchy of models that address different spatial and temporal scales, from carbon dioxide and water exchange at the leaf level to the effects of and adaptation to climate change on extreme weather and wildfires.