Janina Tschirschwitz

I am interested in (exo)planetary atmospheres, how they behave, and how different processes shape them. My PhD project focuses on the role of water vapour in the atmosphere: Despite being only a minor constituent of the terrestrial atmosphere, water vapour plays an important role in the Earth's climate; it influences radiative, convective, and dynamic processes.
In a (locally or globally) moister atmosphere with a higher water vapour content, the influence of water vapour on atmospheric processes becomes more and more important: Surface evaporation and precipitation, for example, can increase or reduce the atmospheric mass balance and thus modify the atmospheric pressure. This can lead to dynamical changes in the atmosphere.
Thus, I am using the ICON climate model to investigate how atmospheric processes change when the atmospheric mass balance takes the mass of water vapour into account.