Although you may not realise it, waste and the circular economy is an important topic for many geoscientists. Our consumption drives the need for resources and sustainable resource extraction, while disposing and reducing this waste requires a wide range of expertise and impacts the environments in which many scientists undertake their research. On a more personal level, understanding what happens ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: Catching a glimpse of the Mesosphere
In the midst of summer when the sun does not set at high latitudes one can sometimes catch a glimpse of the mesosphere shortly after sunset or before sunrise. These thin veils, known as noctilucent clouds, are the highest known cloud-like structures forming at about 80km above the surface. At this height, they are still lit by the sun and can be seen from lower latitudes many hundreds of kilometer ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: “Smoking” peaks of the Patagonian batholith
The indigenous name of the 3405 meter high Fitz Roy mountain in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile, is frequently translated as “smoking mountain”. This photo may visually explain an origin of this name. On the day the photo was taken, vortices downwind of the peak drew warmer, humid air from below, forming banner clouds at the leeward site of the Fitz Roy mountain an ...[Read More]
Imaggeo On Monday: The sudden stratospheric warming on February 12, 2018
The image captures an atmospheric extreme event, a so-called sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) that occurred on Feb. 12, 2018. It is visualized through potential vorticity above the North Pole at the 10hPa level (~30km) above the Earth’s surface and consists of a split of the winter polar vortex into two separate vortices that interact with each other. Although the events are not predictable more ...[Read More]