17 June 2026

Photo: private

On June 17, Friederike Keil successfully completed her PhD thesis titled "Impact of Urban Emissions on Clouds and Precipitation."

Her research explores how urban air pollution, particularly tiny particles known as aerosols, influences cloud formation and precipitation. Using a high-resolution modeling system, the study investigates whether emissions from cities can affect thunderstorm rainfall and how sensitive these effects are to changes in emission levels. The results show that while an influence exists, it strongly depends on both emission intensity and prevailing weather conditions.

The dissertation was supervised by Volker Matthias and Markus Quante (Hereon), with official supervision by Bernd Leitl (UHH).

Following the completion of the PhD, Friederike Keil recently joined Rambøll as a Consultant in the field of air pollution.

Dear Friederike Keil, we warmly congratulate you on this achievement and wish you all the best for the next steps!