• Antarctica plays a crucial role in Earth’s climate system by reflecting solar radiation back into space. • The large white ice surfaces and clouds play a decisive role in this process. • However, how clouds actually form in Antarctica, how they interact with the atmosphere and what role aerosols play in this process has not been sufficiently researched to date. • Engaging in the SANAT flight campaign, the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry aim to help close this knowledge gap. • The flight-based aerosol measurements conducted in Antarctica are the first of their kind in 20 years and also the first to extend deep into the interior.
Article Summaries:
- Antarctica’s vast ice and cloud cover are key to Earth’s climate, yet the processes that form Antarctic clouds and the role of aerosols remain poorly understood. To address this gap, the SANAT flight campaign brings together the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. The mission will conduct the first flight‑based aerosol measurements in Antarctica in two decades, and for the first time will extend deep into the continent’s interior. The data aim to clarify how aerosols influence cloud formation and, consequently, the planet’s radiative balance.
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