[extended deadline for applications: 30 September]



In-situ observations of dust show that super-coarse (diameter > 10 microns) and giant (diameter > 63 

microns) are prevalent in dusty regions of the planet and have a significant impact on the climate through 

radiative, cloud microphysics and biogeochemical interactions. However, recent work shows that models 

are unable to represent transport of these super-coarse dust particles without significant adjustments to 

particle sedimentation velocity, for which there is currently no viable physical explanation. 



In this studentship the student will perform lab experiments with a particle settling tank to improve our 

understanding of how non-spherical dust particles of various shapes and sizes fall through the 

atmosphere. The student will create a bank of ‘atmospheric analogues’ of dust particles made from a 3D 

printer of realistic sizes and shapes, from simple to complex. These will be informed by the creation of a 

database of dust size and shape properties, using data from airborne campaigns and also from using 

stereogram analysis from filter samples. The student will then perform laboratory experiments with the 

analogues in a glycerine tank, where the fluid density and particle size are adjusted to retain dynamic 

similarity to the atmosphere at realistic Reynolds numbers for the atmosphere. The results will be 

assessed for the impact of dust shape and size on settling velocity and fall orientation. These results are 

expected to provide information for dust transport models on realistic adjustments to settling velocity 

which may occur as a result of dust non-sphericity, impacting dust lifetime in models. 



The student will be based at the University of Reading, and will undertake a 5 month secondment to TUDa 

(Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany) to develop design inputs of 3D dust analogues using 

stereogrammetry. Additional secondments include 3 weeks at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece, 

(Dr Mallios) for knowledge exchange of the results to model simulations and 2 weeks to the Karlsruhe 

Institute of Technology, Germany (Dr Klose) for application of results to climate modelling.