dr. W (Wiebke) Frey

Clouds are fascinating structures! Not only to watch but also to study, as there are still many unknowns particularly when it comes to the fundamental processes on the small scales and when turbulence is involved. Therefore, the main aim of my research is to understand the fundamental processes of cloud physics and cloud dynamics. I pursued my research from different points of view, including different tools: Using cloud microphysical in situ measurements, I studied tropical high altitute clouds (PhD thesis title: Airborne in situ measurements of ice particles in the tropical tropopause layer) for my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in
Mainz, Germany. During my two years at the University of Melbourne, Australia, which were funded by the German Research Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship with the project title: Tropical High Altitude Clouds and their Impact on Stratospheric Humidity), I used numerical simulations for studying these tropical high altitude clouds. By studying cloud formation in a cloud chamber at the University of Manchester, UK, I changed to a new field of research for me, further broadening my expertise. After my return to Germany in 2018, where I first studied ice particle nucleation at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig, Germany, I was successful to obtain funding from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions for an Individual Fellowship by the European Commission, entitled Solving The Entrainment Puzzle. I investigated the process of entrainment (mixing of cloudy and cloud free air) using a combination of measurements in the Turbulent Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator (LACIS-T) and modelling in this project.

Currently, my main research interests are the small scale turbulent mixing processes (as entrainment) and their impact on cloud droplet size distributions, involving processes as collisions and coalescence, and dynamical processes in deep convective clouds, particularly the upper level convective downdrafts and their impact on redistribution of trace gases.

Memberships

• Associate Editor for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Reviewer for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, Geophysical Research Letters, Scientific Reports, Atmospheric Research, Journal of Climate, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Journal of Atmospheric and SolarTerrestrial Physics, and Pure and Applied Geophysics
• member of German Meteorological Society (DMG)
• member of Earth Science Women Network (ESWN)