TPEx

(TropoPause compositon gradients and small scale mixing Experiment)

TPEx is the central field campaign of the TPChange research center. It took place in June 2024 out of Hohn (Schleswig-Holstein) with measurement flights in the time window from June 10 to 21.

The scientific questions are

Water vapor distribution in the UTLS region across central Europe
Identification of mixing at and across the tropopause induced by diabatic processes
Vertical transport of arosols and trace species from the boundary layer to the UTLS (e.g. by convection or frontal uplift) and effect of UTLS composition and new particle formation events
Source apportionment of aerosols and ice-nucleating particles (INPs) for understanding the main pathways of transport towards UTLS

Instruments of our group:

CARIBIC-AMS, Sky-OPC, UHSAS-A, UHSAS-G

Involved staff of AG Schneider:

P. Joppe, J. Wilsch, J. Schneider

Cooperation partners:

P. Hoor, H. Bozem, N. Emig, I. Kurth (JGU Mainz, campaign coordination)

C. Rolf, A. Afchine, N. Spelten, P. Konjari (FZ Jülich)

K. Kandler, S. Ismayil, L. Schneider (TU Darmstadt)

J. Curtius, S. Richter, A. Vogel, A. Breuninger, J. Schrod, R. Roßberg (GU Frankfurt)

S. Hofmann, T. Röschentaler, D. Schell, A. Kutschka, J. Hartmann (Enviscope)

Results:

Schneider, J., Schulz, C., Rubach, F., Ludwig, A., Wilsch, J., Joppe, P., Gurk, C., Molleker, S., Poulain, L., Obersteiner, F., Gehrlein, T., Bönisch, H., Zahn, A., Hoor, P., Emig, N., Bozem, H., Borrmann, S., and Hermann, M.: CARIBIC-AMS: A fully automated aerosol mass spectrometer for operation on routine passenger flights (IAGOS-CARIBIC): Instrument description and first flight application in the UTLS, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3969, 2025.

Breuninger, A., Joppe, P., Wilsch, J., Schwenk, C., Bozem, H., Emig, N., Merkel, L., Rossberg, R., Keber, T., Kutschka, A., Waleska, P., Hofmann, S., Richter, S., Ungeheuer, F., Dörholt, K., Hoffmann, T., Miltenberger, A., Schneider, J., Hoor, P., and Vogel, A. L.: Organic aerosols mixing across the tropopause and its implication for anthropogenic pollution of the UTLS, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3129, 2025.

Bozem, H., Joppe, P., Li, Y., Emig, N., Afchine, A., Breuninger, A., Curtius, J., Hofmann, S., Ismayil, S., Kandler, K., Kunkel, D., Kutschka, A., Lachnitt, H.-C., Petzold, A., Richter, S., Röschenthaler, T., Rolf, C., Schneider, L., Schneider, J., Vogel, A., and Hoor, P.: The TropoPause Composition TOwed Sensor Shuttle (TPC-TOSS): A new airborne dual platform approach for atmospheric composition measurements at the tropopause, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3175, 2025.

Konjari, P., Rolf, C., Krämer, M., Afchine, A., Spelten, N., Bartolome Garcia, I., Miltenberger, A., Emig, N., Joppe, P., Schneider, J., Li, Y., Petzold, A., Bozem, H., and Hoor, P.: Stratospheric Hydration and Ice Microphysics of a Convective Overshoot Observed during the TPEx Campaign over Sweden, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2847, 2025.

Joppe, P., Schneider, J., Wilsch, J., Bozem, H., Breuninger, A., Curtius, J., Ebert, M., Emig, N., Hoor, P., Ismayil, S., Kandler, K., Kunkel, D., Kurth, I., Lachnitt, H.-C., Li, Y., Miltenberger, A., Richter, S., Rolf, C., Schneider, L., Schwenk, C., Spelten, N., Vogel, A. L., Cheng, Y., and Borrmann, S.: Transport of Biomass Burning Aerosol into the Extratropical Tropopause Region over Europe via Warm Conveyor Belt Uplift, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1346, 2025.