The VITAL I measurement campaign takes place from 12 to 23 August 2024 at the Forschungszentrum Jülich and is organised by the HErZ project HIRES-APP. VITAL stands for "Vertical profiling of the Troposphere: Innovation, opTimization and AppLication". The objectives of the measurement campaign are to investigate the vertical structure of the troposphere in order to help close the observation gap of wind, water vapor and temperature profile observations in the atmospheric boundary layer. To this end, novel, state-of-the-art measurement techniques are tested, evaluated and compared with each other. Drones, LIDAR and RADAR systems, as well as the combination with satellite data are extensively investigated.

The measurement campaign is an opportunity to train about 50 students from the HErZ participating universities and research institutes, as well as from all over Europe. The interest in the Summer School was so great that the number of participants has been increased. Bachelor, Master and PhD students, as well as supervisors and invited keynote lecturers (Dave D. Turner (NOAA, United States), Frank Beyrich (DWD, Lindenberg Observatory), Birgit Wehner (TROPOS), Susanne Crewell (University of Cologne) and Jens Bange (Uni. Tübingen)) are taking part in the HErZ Summer School as part of VITAL I.

Before the start of the summer school, the students chose one of twelve research projects, on topics including clouds, wind and aerosol profiling with unmanned aircraft systems, precipitation, satellites, model evaluation. Small groups were formed to work on the projects together with a supervisor. In addition, each group leads a weather briefing for the next day, and presents a short report on the daily status of the projects. This allows an exchange between the different groups to take place. Some project teams have already identified common goals and methods before the start of the measurement campaign and the groups will exchange results and ideas on a daily basis.

After a friendly welcome by Ulrich Löhnert (University of Cologne, HIRES-APP project) on the first day, the participants started to tackle their project, e.g. setting up measuring instruments, assembling instruments on the field, testing software, and much more. The heat could not dampen the mood and motivation of the students, and the diligent work was rewarded at the end of the day with a round of "speed dating" to get to know each other, and an ice breaker.

With participants from Cologne, Bonn, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Italy, Poland and many more locations, the two-week HErZ Summer School offers a unique opportunity to get to know fellow students and experts, to build a scientific network and to develop and test new ideas.

The Summer School will end on 23 August with a poster session where all students will present the results of their research projects, as well as a "career fair" where supporting institutions such as the DWD and sponsors will introduce themselves as potential employers.

The project team "Weather and pit mines" is building measuring instruments on a mast near an open pit mine. Felix Ament (in the middle) spervises the project. Photo: A. Laurian.

Some HErZ participants. From left to right: Andreas Platis and Yann Büchau (Univ. Tübingen; supervise the project "Drone profiling: aerosols"; YB co-organizes the HErZ Summer School), Maria Toporov (Uni. Cologne; supervises the "Satellites" project), Maike Ahlgrimm (FE1; heads the competence area "Model Development"), Ulrich Löhnert (Uni. Cologne; organizes VITAL I and the HErZ Summer School), Audine Laurian (FEPK; coordinates HErZ), Leonhard Scheck (FE1; heads the competence area "Data Assimilation"). Photo: A. Laurian.