At the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK) - Atmospheric Trace Gases and Remote Sensing (ASF) four methods are developed to observe and understand the Earth’s atmosphere:

• optical measurements from ground-based stations, in particular to observe long-term changes,
• spatially highly-resolved measurements using instruments on board of stratospheric balloons and aircrafts,
• satellite-based measurements that provide excellent spatial (up to global) coverage,
• regional and global numerical models for the interpretation of the measurements.

The IMK-ASF has close interactions with the other divisions of IMK (IMK-TRO, IMK-AAF, IMK-IFU) and has long-standing collaborations with leading research groups in Europe (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands,...) and world-wide (USA, Canada, Japan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Brazil,...), as well as with various international organizations (ESA, CNES, NASA, EUMETSAT, WMO, COSPAR,...) and industry (EADS Astrium, Bruker,...).