Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have long operated behind the scenes—but a new study brings them into the climate spotlight. 

Two researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) were honoured at the 21st International Electromagnetic and Light Scattering Conference in Milazzo, Italy:

Prof. Andreas Macke, Director of TROPOS was honoured with the "Elsevier van de Hulst Prize for Light Scattering" 2025 for his significant contributions to the understanding of scattering properties of atmospheric ice crystals. Prof Macke has developed and applied light scattering models based on geometrical optics for complex irregular ice crystals and thus achieved a breakthrough in the consideration of realistic crystal structures. His models and results are used worldwide in numerous scientific fields such as astrophysics, biology, medicine and, of course, atmospheric physics. The prize honours the life's work of an individual scientist who has made a pioneering contribution to the research field of electromagnetic scattering by particles and its applications.

Dr Moritz Haarig from TROPOS received the AS&T Young Scientist Award for the best presentation at the conference. The AS&T Award has been presented since 2025 for outstanding conference contributions by young scientists.

Researchers achieved a groundbreaking advancement in tropical cyclone track forecast by using a global convection-permitting model with a 3-km resolution. Their work focuses on Typhoon In-fa (2021), demonstrating unprecedented accuracy with track errors below 100 km over a 120-hour forecast period.