The VITAL (Vertical profiling of the troposphere: Innovation, opTimization and AppLication) concept is part of the Hans Ertel Centre for Weather Research and focuses on novel observations of the vertical structure of the troposphere. It is a common, networking effort of four HErZ projects, DWD observational and modeling experts as well as different external partners. The concept consists of two measurement campaigns: VITAL I and VITAL II.

VITAL II is planned for 2026 and will take place from June 1 – August 31 in the Cologne Bay region between the west German cities of Cologne, Bonn and Aachen employing and installing up to seven profiling sites. During this time, first data from the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite will become available providing continuous 3D observations of temperature and humidity over large parts of Europe and Africa with a temporal resolution of ~30 min. However, deficits will remain in observing the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). VITAL II will leverage the use of these novel satellite sounder observations by combining them with surface-based in-situ and remote sensing observations. Novel machine learning algorithms which will synthesize MTG-S1 data with surface-based observations will be applied to and assessed by the multitude of additional VITAL II profiling observations. The objective is to significantly enhance the observed information content in the ABL.

VITAL II also extends upon the success of the FESSTVaL, a 2021 field experiment at DWD’s Richard-Assmann-Observatory, which focused on the meso-g-scale (2-20km) providing a high-density surface observation network paired with continuous, ground-based atmospheric profiling at three distinct locations within 6 km of each other. VITAL II will extend profiling and dense near-surface observations to the meso-b-scale (20-200km = regional scale). Up to 50 surface stations of the updated autonomous cold pool logger 2 (APOLLO 2.0) will be installed within Cologne Bay. The planned observational setup, in synergy with the MTG-S1 measurements, will provide important elements in enhancing our understanding of the evolution of the stable and convective ABL as well as convective cold pools. The observations will be used for assessing and improving the German Meteorological Service (DWD) Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model ICON land surface and ABL parameterization schemes. In addition, data assimilation experiments with the novel data are planned.

Status: Currently in the planning phase. For updates, please refer to the VITAL webpage.

A current version of the VITAL II concept paper can be found here.

For questions to the campaign, e.g. concerning scientific background, participation, data availability etc. please contact Ulrich Loehnert.

Data access: The data collected will be linked here as soon as it is available. If you are interested in preliminary data sets from VITAL I, please contact the HIRES-APP Team.