Vice president of the Bundestag visits the Institute of Atmospheric Physics

On the occasion of her visit to the DLR site Oberpfaffenhofen vice president of the Bundestag Claudia Roth (Bündnis90/Die Grünen) also visited the Institute of Atmospheric Physics. Ms Roth has been well informed on the institute’s climate research and showed particular interest in the impact of deforestation on climate. She discussed the outcomes of the recent world climate summit (COP 24) in Katowice, where the institute had organized a side event at the German Pavilion entitled “On the pathway to new greenhouse gas monitoring systems”. Next to the mock-up of the MERLIN satellite, Andreas Fix explained the objectives and current status of this joint French-German climate mission, which is scheduled for launch in 2024. Employing a lidar instrument, MERLIN will provide global measurements of atmospheric methane with unprecedented accuracy in order to better understand the sources of this key contributor to Global Warming.