The Atmospheric Sciences research group studies the role of fine particulate matter (aerosol particles) in the atmosphere as well as meteorological and climatological processes in urban environments and desert locations.

Particulate matter plays a central but poorly understood role in Earth's climate system and is also a major component of polluted air.

One focus of our work is to investigate sources and chemical composition of particulate matter in laboratory experiments and field work, and to characterize particulate matter components that are hazardous to health.

A second focus of our research is to investigate climatological and micrometeorological processes, for example the radiation and energy budget and CO2 fluxes at urban sites in Basel and in the desert of Namibia.