ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE

ABOUT THE GROUP

Earth's atmosphere, the place we live, the air we breathe, our environment.

The atmosphere is an integral part of our climate system and sensitive to changes in energy inputs from the Sun and the near-Earth space. Our research group, led by Dr Annika Seppälä, studies how changes in these inputs, particularly in the form of energetic charged particles, or the solar wind, influence the chemical and dynamical balance of the atmosphere, feeding into regional variations in our climate.

Solar forcing into the climate is part of natural climate variability and of high interest as we are aiming to better understand how the Earth's climate system will change in regional scale in the future with increasing greenhouse gas levels.

The investigation of Sun-climate connections is highly interdisciplinary involving space physics, magnetospheric physics, atmospheric physics, climatology, and meteorology. We work in collaboration with scientists from around the world and take part in many international research programs. These include the SPARC/SOLARIS-HEPPA working group, a core project of the World Climate Research Programme, and the Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP).

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES

Enquiries from students at undergraduate and graduate levels are very welcome. To get more information, contact Dr Annika Seppälä with details about what aspects of our reseach interest you.