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News / Environment

Aerosol particles: Following the trail of tiny cloud-makers

Leipzig 25. June 2026 08:11 Uhr 3 Min
Aerosol particles are what make cloud formation possible in the first place. Researchers at TROPOS in Leipzig are now using drones to investigate how they form.
Clouds don't form out of thin air – tiny aerosol particles are their core. TROP these particles form along the Irish west coast. © pixabay/Arek SochaOS Leipzig is using drones to study how
From: Wissensland
Tiny particles in the air influence whether clouds form and how much the Earth warms up. Researchers from TROPOS in Leipzig have therefore traveled to the Irish coast together with partners and are sending drones into the air above the ocean. What they discover could fundamentally improve climate models.

When clouds gather on the horizon, most people don’t think about what holds them together. Aerosol particles play an important role in this process. These tiny particles in the air can actually trigger the formation of cloud droplets.

Researchers from the Technical University of Braunschweig, the University of Tübingen, and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig now want to better understand how these particles form and how they disperse in the air. To this end, they have traveled to the Irish coast with measuring instruments and three drones.

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Drones Over the Atlantic

In June 2026, an intensive measurement campaign is underway on the small island of Inishbofin, nine kilometers off the west coast of Ireland. Ten researchers from Germany are working together there. The project is called EICA, which stands for “Experimental Investigation of Coastal Aerosols.” The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding it for three years.

Aerosols are tiny particles or droplets suspended in the air. They occur in particularly large numbers along coastlines, for example, as a result of sea foam or processes related to phytoplankton and UV radiation. Until now, researchers have primarily been able to measure them at ground level.

As part of the EICA project, three different drones are now taking off to also monitor what is happening at higher altitudes. One of them flies up to three kilometers out over the open sea to track ultrafine, newly formed particles. A second drone measures turbulence and larger aerosol particles. A quadcopter ascends daily to an altitude of about 1,000 meters and shows how the particle concentration changes throughout the day.

Small Particles, Big Impact

Aerosol particles are generally too small to be seen with the naked eye. Some are only a few nanometers in size – that is, millions of times smaller than a millimeter. Nevertheless, they have an enormous impact. They can reflect solar radiation and thus have a cooling effect on the climate. They also serve as condensation nuclei around which cloud droplets can form. Some aerosols come from natural sources, while others are produced by car exhaust or combustion processes.

The team led by Dr. Birgit Wehner from TROPOS operates the particle measurement instruments on two drone platforms. The west coast of Ireland was not chosen at random. Decades of measurement data are available from the nearby Mace Head Observatory, which helps contextualize the new data. What the team learns there should help us better understand how aerosol particles form, how they are distributed in the atmosphere, and what role they play in clouds, weather, and climate.

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Topics :

Aerosol particles aerosols TROPOS Leipzig climate research drones cloud formation coasts EICA
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Projekt Saxony Today : Mehrsprachigkeit von regionalen Nachrichten für in Sachsen lebende Menschen ohne deutsche Muttersprache. Projekt wird gefördert durch die Sächsische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien. Diese Maßnahme wird mitfinanziert durch Steuermittel auf Grundlage des vom Sächsischen Landtag beschlossenen Haushaltes.
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