VITAL II launched: New measurement campaign in the Cologne Bay

Since 1 June 2026, the VITAL II measurement campaign has been underway in the Cologne Bay. A dense network of seven remote sensing stations and more than 50 ground stations is capturing the lower atmosphere at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.

VITAL II is a research collaboration of the Hans Ertel Centre for Weather Research, led by the University of Cologne together with the German Weather Service (DWD) and the universities of Bonn, Tübingen, Hamburg, Munich, and Frankfurt. The campaign targets a known gap in weather forecasting: the atmospheric boundary layer – the lowest 1–2 kilometres above the surface – is rarely observed continuously and across space. Yet this is precisely where thunderstorms and heavy precipitation events develop, making them notoriously difficult to predict.

The campaign combines ground-based measurements with data from the new Infrared Sounder aboard the geostationary satellite MTG, supplemented by meteorological drone flights and up to 120 weather balloon launches by students from the universities of Cologne and Bonn. The data will be used to improve forecast models and advance understanding of convective weather events.

More information: https://www.herz.uni-bonn.de/wordpress/index.php/vital-campaigns/