10th International Symposium on Atmospheric Sciences at ITU

The 10th International Symposium on Atmospheric Sciences 2022 (ATMOS ’22), which is organized by ITU Department of Meteorological Engineering and the only event in its field in our country, was held at the TAV Conference Room in ITU Ayazağa Campus on 18-21 October.

Istanbul Technical University Department of Meteorology Engineering organized the 10th International Symposium on Atmospheric Sciences (ATMOS ’22), the only event in its field in Türkiye. The symposium, which was held at the TAV Conference Room of our Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics on October 18-21 with both face-to-face and online presentations, brought together scientists from many countries around the world. 

“Symposium that internalized the theme of sustainability”

Emphasizing the theme of “sustainability” in the opening speech of the symposium, our Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu stated the following: “ATMOS is a very experienced symposium that has left its twentieth year behind. In this respect, it has also internalized the theme of ‘sustainability’. We, too, attach great importance to the issues addressed here: As part of ITU’s 250th Anniversary activities, we are working on a vision booklet with thematic sections such as renewable energy, disasters, and water resources, in addition to the Space Weather and Sunspot Observation Event.”

“Meteorological engineering has no boundaries”

Making an opening speech as one of the symposium chairs, ITU Department of Meteorology Engineering faculty member Assoc. Dr. Ahmet Öztopal drew attention to the importance of the symposium by emphasizing that the main cause of the global climate change experienced today is atmospheric-based. Dr. Öztopal then shared numerical information about the symposium: “ATMOS ’22, whose main themes are the Earth, climate, health, and sustainability, will feature 75 oral and 55 poster presentations.”

TMMOB (Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects) Chamber of Meteorological Engineers Secretary General Emel Ünal stated that meteorological engineering has a very wide field of activity and plays an active role in all areas of life, from energy to disasters, agriculture to industry, logistics to daily life. Ünal emphasized the need to develop meteorological engineering theories and applications in cooperation, especially in the fields of “space weather” and “urban meteorology”, according to the latest definition by the World Meteorological Organization.

Prof. Dr. Mikdat Kadıoğlu, Head of the Department of Meteorological Engineering at ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, expressed that the students also contributed greatly to the organization of the symposium and said, “We are very pleased with their scientific enthusiasm.” Prof. Dr. Kadıoğlu emphasized the importance of open data sharing in the field of meteorology and mentioned the book titled “Global Climate Change and Türkiye”, which is being prepared and will be published by ITU Press in the coming days: “This book will be a textbook that illuminates many issues related to global climate change as well as agriculture, energy, aviation, space and our country’s field of action in these areas.”

Prof. Dr. Zait Mecitoğlu, Dean of the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, talked about the faculty’s goal of becoming the center of excellence of the world and its consultancy and project support activities in areas such as the construction of the National Fighter Aircraft and rocket engines to be sent to the Moon. Prof. Mecitoğlu said, “Our faculty has a broad perspective from meteorology to cosmology,” and added that ATMOS is a long-running symposium that is growing day by day in terms of number of participants and impact.

Tayfun Dalkılıç, Head of the Weather Forecasting and Analysis Department of the General Directorate of Meteorology, said, “We care about international cooperation in the field of meteorology. We are ready to share our knowledge and experience with and give support to other countries. Your valuable contributions in this symposium will provide fruitful outputs in national and international studies.”

In the symposium, presentations were made on topics such as climate modeling and climatic risks, air pollution and modeling, weather forecasting and modeling, and atmospheric environment. In addition, upper atmosphere topics such as solar storms and astronomical observations were also discussed.