Author name: Andreas Bott

Thermodynamic principles play a key role in almost all processes occurring in the Earth’s atmosphere. They are formidably expressed in the thermal stratification of the atmosphere, in the appearance of various regional and large-scale wind systems, as well as in the formation of clouds and precipitation. It is important to note that the application of simplified thermodynamics is usually sufficient to describe large-scale atmospheric processes. However, for an in-depth understanding of the microphysical structure of clouds, a detailed investigation of the complex thermodynamic cloud processes is needed.