Address	Pohligstr. 3, 50969 Köln
Room	3.151
Phone	+49 (0)221 470-6276
Fax	+49 (0)221 470-5161
Mail	cacquistuni-koeln.de

 

Research topics

Precipitation processes, cloud formation, cloud evolution, cloud microphysical processes, boundary layer meteorology, drizzle, cloud radar remote sensing, cloud radar Doppler spectrum, water vapor, radiation, satellite remote sensing, profiling observations, extreme precipitation.

Deep learning for image processing, deep learning architectures, representation learning, embeddings, convolutional neural networks, transformers, self-supervision, U-net, and generative networks.

 

Projects

• DWD junior research group "Exploiting spatiotemporal cloud patterns to advance severe storms process understanding and detection (EXPATS)" https://expats-ideas4s.com

• DFG "Eigene Stelle" PI " Precipitation life cycle in trade wind cumuli", 36 months, 2020-2023 https://tinyurl.com/tradepcproject

• Film Project: "Wetoo: What they don’t tell you“, 24.08.2020 - 05/08/2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZqCN0jDcIU&t=4s

• HD(CP)2: High Definition Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction

 

Education

2022 - 2023​Post BA professional master degree in Communication of Science and Innovation, University of Trento, Advisor: Dr. Cristina Rigutto​Trento

2013 – 2017​PhD in Meteorology, within Marie Curie Initial Training Network 
(FP7 -PEOPLE - 2011 - ITN) Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology (IGMK), 
Advisor: U. LöhnertCologne

2009 – 2012​M.Sc. in Physics, University of Bologna, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate(CNR-ISAC), Advisors: V. Levizzani, E. Cattani ​Bologna 

2003 – 2009​B.S. in Physics, University of Pisa, Advisor: S.N. Shore ​​Pisa

 

Teaching experience

Lecturer

• Visiting lecturer at the University of Trento, offering a lecture module on "Introduction to satellite remote sensing and machine learning methods to analyzesatellite data" (10h lectures, M.Sc.), 2024 [webpage]

• Visiting lecturer at the University of Bologna offering a lecture module on "Featuring AI methods applied to cloud satellite observations" (10 hours, M.Sc.), 2023.[webpage]

 

Links

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• ORCID

• SCOPUS

• Google Scholar

• ResearchGate

 

Publications

Peer reviewed journal articles

1. Chatterjee, D., S. Schnitt., P. Bigalke, C. Acquistapace, and S. Crewell., 2024: Capturing the diversity of mesoscale trade wind cumuli using complementary approaches from self-supervised deep learning. Geophysical Research Letters,  51,e2024GL108889. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108889

2. Schnitt, S., A. Foth, H. Kalesse-Los, M. Mech, C.Acquistapace, F. Jansen, U. Löhnert, B. Pospichal, J.Röttenbacher, S. Crewell, and B. Stevens, 2024.Ground- and ship-based microwave radiometer measurements during EUREC4A, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 681–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-681-2024

3. Chatterjee, D., C. Acquistapace, H. Deneke, and S. Crewell, 2023. Understanding Cloud Systems’ Structure and Organization Using a Machine’s Self-Learning Approach. Artif. Intell. Earth Syst.,c2,e220096, https://doi.org/10.1175/AIES-D-22-0096.1.

4. Bailey, A., F. Aemisegger, L. Villiger, S.A. Los, G. Reverdin, E. Quiñones Meléndez, C. Acquistapace,D. B. Baranowski, T. Böck, S. Bony, T. Bordsdorff, D. Coffman, S. P. de Szoeke, C.J. Diekmann, M. Dütsch, B. Ertl, J. Galewsky, D. Henze, P. Makuch, D. Noone, P. K. Quinn, M. Rösch, A. Schneider, M. Schneider, S. Speich, B. Stevens, and E. J. Thompson, 2023.Isotopic measurements in water vapor, precipitation, and seawater during EUREC4A, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 465–495, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-465-2023

5. Acquistapace, C., A. N. Meroni, G. Labbri, D. Lange, F. Späth, S. Abbas, and H. Bellenger. 2022. Fast atmospheric response to a cold oceanic mesoscale patch in the north-western tropical Atlantic. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127, e2022JD036799., https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD036799

6. Acquistapace, C., R. Coulter, S. Crewell, A. Garcia-Benadi, R. Gierens, G. Labbri, A. Myagkov, N. Risse, and J. H. Schween, 2022. EUREC4A’s Maria S. Merian ship-based cloud and micro rain radar observations of clouds and precipitation. Earth System Science Data, 15(1), 465–495., https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/33/2022/

7. Stevens, B., S. Bony, D. Farrell, F. Ament, A. Blyth, C. Fairall, J. Karstensen, P.K. Quinn, S. Speich, C. Acquistapace, F. Aemisegger, A.L. Albright, H. Bellenger, E. Bodenschatz, K-A. Caesar, R. Chewitt- Lucas, G. de Boer, J. Delanoë, L. Denby, F. Ewald, B. Fildier, M. Forde, G. George, G., S. Gross, M. Hagen, et al.., 2021. EUREC4A. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021

8. Stephan, C. C., S. Schnitt, H. Schulz, H. Bellenger, S.P. de Szoeke, C. Acquistapace, K. Baier, T. Dauhut, R. Laxenaire, Y. Morfa-Avalos, R. Person, E. QuiñonesMeléndez, G. Bagheri, T. Böck, A. Daley, J. Güttler, K.C. Helfer, S.A. Los, A. Neuberger, J. Röttenbacher, A. Raeke, M. Ringel, M. Ritschel, P. Sadoulet, I. Schirmacher, M.K. Stolla, E. Wright, B. Charpentier, A. Doerenbecher, R. Wilson, F. Jansen, S. Kinne, G. Reverdin, S. Speich, S. Bony, and B. Stevens., 2021. Ship- and island-based atmospheric soundings from the 2020 EUREC4A field campaign. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 491–514, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-491-2021

9. Costa-Surós, M., O. Sourdeval, C. Acquistapace, H. Baars, C. Carbajal Henken, C. Genz, J. Hesemann, C. Jimenez, M. König, J. Kretzschmar, N. Madenach, C. I. Meyer, R. Schrödner, P. Seifert, F. Senf, M. Brueck, G. Cioni, J.F. Engels, K. Fieg, K. Gorges, R. Heinze, P.K. Siligam, U. Burkhardt, S. Crewell, S., Hoose, C., Seifert, A., I. Tegen, and J. Quaas., 2020.Detection and attribution of aerosol–cloud interactions in large-domain large eddy simulations with the ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic model. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5657–5678, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5657-2020.

10. Stevens B., C. Acquistapace, A. Hansen, R. Heinze, C. Klinger, D. Klocke, H. Rybka, W. Schubotz, J. Windmiller, P. Adamidis, I. Arka, V. Barkalas et al.,2020. The Added Value of Large-eddy and StormResolving Models for Simulating Clouds and Precipitation. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II. 98(2), 395-435, https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2020-021

11. Acquistapace, C., U. Löhnert, M. Maahn, and P. Kollias, 2019. A New Criterion to Improve Operational Drizzle Detection with Ground-Based Remote Sensing. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 36(5), 781-801, https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/atot/36/5/jtech-d-18-0158.1.xml

12. Acquistapace, C., S. Kneifel, U. Löhnert, P. Kollias, M. Maahn, and M. Bauer-Pfundstein, 2017. Optimizing observations of drizzle onset with millimeter-wavelength radars. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1783–1802, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1783-2017.

13. Löhnert, U., J. H. Schween, C. Acquistapace, K. Ebell, M. Maahn, M. Barrera-Verdejo, A. Hirsikko, B. Bohn, A. Knaps, E. O’Connor, C. Simmer, A. Wahner, A., and S. Crewell. 2015. JOYCE: Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 96(7), 1157-1174. https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/96/7/bams-d-14-00105.1.xml

 

Theses

• PhD Thesis: Investigation of drizzle onset in liquid clouds using ground-based active and passive remote sensing instruments, 2017, University of Cologne, Germany [pdf]

• M. Sc. Thesis: Identificazione delle nubi precipitanti mediante l'uso dei canali spettrali del Meteosat Second Generation, 2012, University of Bologna, Italy[pdf]

 

Miscellaneous

• Acquistapace, C., Pospichal, B., Pfitzenmaier, L., & Löhnert, U. (2024). Report on cloud radar survey at a European level (version 1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10828827

• Contributor in the document Dupont, J.-C., Knist, C., & Pfitzenmaier, L. (2024). JND European networks observing the atmospheric boundary layer: Overview, access and impacts - Chapter 2b: Doppler Cloud Radar (DCR). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11566494

• Acquistapace, C., & Kotthaus, S. (2024, March 25). Instrument in pills: Automatic lidars and ceilometers (ALC). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10870395

• Creator and web administrator of the website of the PROBE Cost Action

• Creator and administrator of the website of the EXPATS research group

• Acquistapace Claudia, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, & Giacomo Labbri. (2022). Dataset for the ``Fast atmospheric response to a cold oceanic mesoscale patch in the north-western tropical Atlantic" publication (version 1.0.0) [Data set].Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6365636

• Data provider and administrator of the cloud radar data and micro rain data page on the How to Eurec4a data catalog

• Acquistapace, C. (2021). python3/matlab code for correction for ship motions, data analysis and plots related to data publication ESSD https://essd.copernicus.org/preprints/essd-2021-265/ (Version V1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714474

• Curator and contributor of the PROBE COST Action zenodo repository

 

Invited oral presentations

• 9 July 2024, Invited Talk, 4th Workshop on cloud organization ICTP, Trieste (Italy): "Exploiting AI methods to get the most out of multiscale observations" [presentation]

• 2 July 2024, Invited Talk, ECMWF, Bonn, Germany: "From the Tropics to the Alps to observe precipitation" [presentation]

• 7 March 2024, Invited Talk, University of Trento (Italy): Exploiting machine learning to improve understanding of severe storms over the Alps [presentation]

• 11 October 2023, Invited Talk, EUMETSAT, Darmstadt (Germany): Improving the understanding of thunderstorms over the Alps using deep learning methods [presentation]

• 25 May 2023, Invited Talk, University of Trento (Italy): What did we learn with the EUREC4A dataset? A look at clouds and precipitation in the Tropics[presentation]

• 12 May 2023, Invited Talk, GSGS conference, University of Cologne (Germany): What makes a weather event become extreme? Chatting about how extreme events form and the challenges we face in modelling and forecasting [presentation]

• 26 April 2022, Invited Talk, University of Pisa (Italy): Diverse application of ground-based remote sensing with cloud radars: from investigating impact of cold SST patches on the atmosphere to detecting onset of precipitation in the clouds.

• June 2017, Invited talk, Colloquium - University of Leipzig, Leipzig (Germany): Boundary layer cloud life-cycle in ICON-LEM and ground-based observations

• May 2017, Talk, National Oceanographic Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), Boulder (US): Evaluation of boundary layer types using a new boundary layer classification developed at JOYCE.