STARTWAVE

STudies in Atmospheric Radiative Transfer
and Water VApour Effects

About STARTWAVE

STARTWAVE stands for STudies in Atmospheric Radiative Transfer and Water Vapour Effects and is a research project aiming to better understand the role played by atmospheric water vapour in radiative processes. STARTWAVE addresses the following key research questions:

• What was the development of atmospheric water vapour (water vapour, liquid water, clouds, and precipitation) during the last decades on a regional scale?
• How did short and longwave radiation change during the last decades as a function of altitude and how consistent are datasets on a regional scale?
• What are the mechanisms of interaction between radiation, water vapour, precipitation, clouds and aerosols.

As a main achievement of the STARTWAVE project, we have produced a database of atmospheric water vapour, liquid water, and precipitation measurements.

STARTWAVE was initiated in 2001 by the Swiss National Science Foundation in the frame of the project NCCR Climate where it formed part of the work package on climate predictability, processes and projections. Since 2009, STARTWAVE is endorsed by the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research of the University of Bern.