Christian Barthlott

Dr. Christian Barthlott is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMKTRO) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. He leads the "Cloud physics" research group and has been with the institution since 2006, following the merger of Research Center Karlsruhe and University of Karlsruhe. His research focuses on atmospheric processes through numerical modeling and field campaigns, with particular emphasis on convective systems in Central Europe.

His educational background includes a Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in Meteorology from University of Karlsruhe (2003) and undergraduate studies in Meteorology at the same institution (1992-1999).

Barthlott's research interests span mesoscale meteorology, atmospheric convection, convection initiation, land surface-atmosphere interactions, numerical modeling, cloud physics, boundary-layer meteorology, and turbulence. His work investigates how aerosols, terrain, and land surface conditions influence cloud formation and precipitation processes, particularly through high-resolution numerical modeling of convective systems. His recent publications (2024-2025) continue to explore the impacts of aerosols, wind shear, and model configurations on convective systems.

He has contributed significantly to major research projects including the Transregional Collaborative Research Center "Waves to Weather," Swabian MOSES field campaigns (2021 and 2023), HD(CP)2, HyMeX, and COPS. These projects have advanced understanding of convective processes, particularly over complex terrain in Central Europe.

His scientific contributions are well-recognized, with key publications including "The Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS)" (176 citations), "Large-eddy simulations over Germany using ICON" (171 citations), and "Moist Orographic Convection" (146 citations). His editorial roles include Guest Editor for the EGU inter-journal Special Issue HyMeX (2018-2022) and Associate Editor for Monthly Weather Review (2016-2018).