Fabian Senf

Fabian Senf is a Researcher in the Department of Modeling of Atmospheric Processes at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig, Germany. With a background in Physics and Meteorology from Leipzig University and a PhD from Frankfurt University, he has been working at TROPOS since 2011, following previous research at the Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn.

His research focuses on cloud microphysics and cloud-radiative effects, early detection of convective clouds using Meteosat-SEVIRI, verification of thunderstorm forecasts from convection-permitting models, and organization of deep convective clouds in Central Europe and the tropical Atlantic. His work frequently examines climate impacts and quantification of uncertainties in satellite-derived cloud products. Senf leads or participates in multiple research projects including tobac (Tracking and Object-based Analysis of Clouds), PolarCAP, IFCES2, WiFiSmoke, CleanCloud, and C3SAR.

Analysis of Senf's recent publications reveals a strong focus on cloud processes, aerosol-cloud interactions, and their climate impacts. His work spans from fundamental cloud physics to applied meteorology, with increasing attention to wildfire smoke effects on atmospheric circulation following the 2019-2020 Australian wildfires. There's a clear progression toward higher-resolution modeling and more sophisticated object-based analysis techniques, particularly through the tobac framework he helps develop.

As an educator, Senf teaches Cloud Microphysics as part of the 'Atmospheric Models: Parameterizations and Scales' lecture series and supervises numerous Master's and Bachelor's theses. He has mentored over ten students since 2012, with recent theses focusing on topics like wildfire smoke impacts, aerosol effects on cloud formation, and tropical convection analysis. He also contributes to software development, particularly the tobac framework for cloud tracking and analysis.

Senf is an active member of the EUMETSAT Convection Working Group and has been involved in numerous research projects spanning from CAWSES-SOLTIVAR (2007-2011) to current EU and DFG-funded initiatives. His work bridges observational satellite data, numerical modeling, and theoretical atmospheric physics to advance understanding of cloud processes and their role in the Earth system.