Measurement Campaign Coordinated by KIT Set to Explore the Dynamics of Weather Systems over the North Atlantic.
Strong winds, heavy precipitation, and cold air outbreaks are high-impact weather events that tend to occur frequently in the cold winter months and can cause exceptional situations even in Germany – as recently experienced when winter storm “Elli” struck the country. In order to advance our understanding of the underlying processes, the NAWDIC measurement campaign, coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), was launched on January 13, 2026 over the North Atlantic. Data collected during extensive aircraft and ground measurements should enable the researchers – in cooperation with other national and international partners – to better understand the processes and optimize weather-forecast models so that high-impact weather events can be predicted more accurately.
Winter storms developing over the North Atlantic Ocean and extending to the shores of Western Europe tend to reach hurricane-like wind speeds, cause damage in the million range and, in extreme cases, put the life of people at risk. Last week, winter storm “Elli” showed the impact such weather systems can have even in Germany: train cancellations, traffic chaos, and school closures. “So far, it’s very challenging to accurately predict where and when such extreme weather events will strike and how strong their impact will be,” says Dr. Annika Oertel from KIT’s Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Troposphere Research (IMKTRO). Many of the physical processes that result in high-impact weather events in Europe have their origin over the Atlantic Ocean – an area insufficiently monitored by conventional observation systems so far.
The large-scale measurement campaign NAWDIC (North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign) aims to contribute to more reliable weather forecasts and climate models based on detailed data collected by aircraft and ground-based observation. “We are planning to take our measurements exactly in those regions for which indications suggest systematic shortcomings in our models,” says Dr. Andreas Schäfler from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), whose responsibilities include the coordination of the research flights.
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