Rare noctilucent cloud observed above southern Germany
Atmospheric scientists from the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IPA) succeeded in sounding of a so-called noctilucent cloud (NLC) using a LIDAR system developed at IPA. The measurement was recorded on 18/19 July at the Sulzberg in the Bavarian Forest, and shows a very thin, bright layer of ice crystals at 82 km altitude. Noctilucent clouds, also termed polar mesospheric clouds, are a common phenomenon above Earth's poles in summertime, when this region paradoxically proves to be the coldest place on Earth. Noctilucent clouds are rarely observed at mid-latitudes where observation conditions for LIDARs are optimal.