Abstract
The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) launched a ‘priority program’ (Schwerpunktprogramm, SPP) focusing on science topics related to CAWSES (Climate And Weather of the Sun Earth System) which refers to a program of the international SCOSTEP organization (Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics). The CAWSES-SPP ran from 2005 to 2011. In 31 chapters, this book presents the scientific highlights from 28 projects supported under a total of 93 individual grants. This chapter summarizes some important results from this book and puts them into a CAWSES program perspective. Long-term trends and solar cycle variations in various parameters are studied in basically all chapters. Five chapters cover the evolution of solar radiation, its effect on galactic cosmic rays (GCR), and their potential impact on cloud droplets in the troposphere. Four chapters concentrate on the direct effect of solar radiation on trace gases, mainly on ozone and water vapor in the stratosphere and mesosphere. Precipitating particles of solar or geomagnetic origin modify the upper atmosphere directly. They also produce photochemically active species which can be transported downward and significantly affect the mesosphere and upper stratosphere. This aspect is studied in seven chapters. Microphysical aspects of mesospheric ice clouds, and their short and long-term variation, are studied in three chapters. Planetary waves and gravity waves (including tides) play a key role in distributing and modifying a signal being imposed somewhere in the atmosphere by, for example, the solar cycle. Physical details of this process and implications of wave morphology for the entire atmosphere, from the thermosphere to the troposphere, are presented in eight chapters. Finally, results on global aspects of the solar cycle and long-term variations are presented in four chapters. Basically all chapters involve observations and modeling.
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References
Lübken, F.-J., Austin, J., Langematz, U., & Oberheide, J. (2010). Introduction to special section on Climate and Weather of the Sun Earth System. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, D00I19. doi:10.1029/2009JD013784.
Acknowledgements
In the name of all participants I would like to thank the German Research Foundation DFG for funding this substantial program. Furthermore, the German CAWSES community appreciates the constructive and stimulating support from the reviewers, some of whom accompanied our program for the entire six years. As speaker of this program I would like to express my appreciation for all the activities, excitement, and success being created in various groups. Perhaps most important, many students were involved and contributed to the enthusiasm when working on a wide range of scientific topics of solar-terrestrial physics. I thank Dr. Norbert Engler and Monika Rosenthal for their work in compiling this book.
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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Lübken, FJ. (2013). Scientific Summary of the German CAWSES Priority Program. In: Lübken, FJ. (eds) Climate and Weather of the Sun-Earth System (CAWSES). Springer Atmospheric Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4348-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4348-9_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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