News of the institute for coastal research

Scientists from the Institute for Coastal Research and Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry have studied the source of gaseous mercury in the atmosphere using the flying air-observation-system CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container). In this project inside a new Lufthansa Airbus 340-600, an automated compact laboratory measures around 50 atmospheric constituents while traveling around the globe. First results show that biomass burning have a considerably contribution to global mercury emissions.

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n this study, we analyse the uncertainty of the effect of enhanced greenhouse gas conditions on windiness projected by an ensemble of regional model simulations driven by the same global control and climate change simulations. The model ensemble indicates a possible increase in future mean daily wind speed during winter months, and a decrease during autumn in areas influenced by North Atlantic extra-tropical cyclones.

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The third paper within a series of publications by Annika Jahnke about the analysis and distribution of so called polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) was recently published:A. Jahnke, U. Berger, R. Ebinghaus, Ch. Temme: „Latitudinal Gradient of Airborne Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in the Marine Atmosphere between Germany and South Africa (53°N – 33°S)”; Environmental Science & Technology, Vol 41, No 9, 2007, 3055 – 3061. Mrs Jahnke investigated the analysis as well as the regional and global distribution of PFAS in the course of her doctoral thesis at the University of Lueneburg.The results revealed a surprisingly consistent occurrence of these highly persistent substances in northern Germany, suggesting a long-range transport via the atmosphere.

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The realism of climate models - used to generate future climate scenarios -can be evaluated by comparing simulations of past climates with reconstructions derived from tree-rings and other proxy data. Furthermore, the mechanisms that give rise to natural climate variability at centennial timescales can be analyzed in these "paleo" simulations. In this study, a simulation of the past millennium with the climate model ECHO-G has been compared with reconstructions of Scandinavian climate, a region with a particularly large climate variability. The simulations shows remarkable agreements with the reconstruction, although some aspects concerning the effects of past volcanism can be improved. The results have recently been published in the international journal Tellus.

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Although the island Sylt has got a hard core made up by geest material it"s the constantly moving sand which gives Sylt its appearance. The flexible sand protects the island against erosion. In 2006 the Institute for Coastal Research tested a new module to observe the tidal controlled current fields on the verge of Sylt.

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