Annual Reports

PublicationsAnnual Reports

2025

2025 PMODWRC Annual Report Cover

Events / Highlights 2025

  • 2025 was a big year for PMOD/WRC as the 14th WMO International Pyrheliometer Comparisons IPC-XIV were held for 3 weeks in September/October. In parallel two other comparison campaigns took place: the 6th Filter-Radiometer Comparison (FRC-VI), used to measure atmospheric aerosols and the 4th International Pyrgeometer Comparison (IPgC-IV), which compares instruments that measure atmospheric longwave infrared radiation.
  • The first light for our instrument DARA on the ESA Proba-3 space mission took place successfully in March this year. There are 2 spacecraft, with the upper one providing the means to occult the Sun for the lower spacecraft to measure coronal mass ejections.
  • In March 2025, the ESA Solar Orbiter space mission had its first view of the solar poles, reaching 17 degrees out of the ecliptic. This is providing the first views of the solar poles.

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.

2024

Events / Highlights 2024

  • The Proba-3 Mission of the European Space Agency was successfully launched on 5 Dec. 2024 from India.
  • In May 2024, our instrument team was selected for the NASA contribution to the first ESA space weather mission, Vigil. Our instrument, the Joint EUV coronal Diagnostic Investigation, or JEDI (led by Don Hassler, SWRI), will capture images of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light to understand and predict solar eruptions on the Sun.
  • Our research continued to be successful, with over 60 refereed research papers published and over 40 talks given at international conferences. The research was recognised through several awards: Eugene Rozanov was awarded a SCOSTEP fellow award for his contribution to solar-terrestrial sciences and Krzyzstof Barczynski was awarded a Forderungspreis from Canton Grison. One of Timofei Sukhodolov’s papers was the most cited – a huge accolade!

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.

2023

Events / Highlights 2023

  • The year started with the integration of our DARA instrument to the ESA spacecraft, PROBA-3. This will be launched in 2024 from India.
  • During the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 2023, Davos, we had a visit from the ESA Director General and the astronaut, Matthias Maurer. This was organised by the Swiss Space Office and ETH, and showcased Space projects at PMOD/WRC and ETH.
  • The ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) space mission celebrated the 10,000th day in space in April with PMOD/WRC’s instrument, Virgo, still operational. Beginning in early 1996, VIRGO now has the longest space-based measurement record for Total Solar Irradiance – a key measurement for climate models.

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.

2022

Events / Highlights 2022

  • The Solar Orbiter mission reached a major milestone in 2022, reaching its first science perihelion in March/April and the second in October.
  • Julian Gröbner and Natalia Kouremeti received the Dr. Vilho Väisälä Award for an outstanding research paper on instruments and methods of observation.
  • The 17th Regional Brewer Calibration Campaign for Europe (RBCC-E) took place from 22 – 31 August 2022 at PMOD/WRC. The World Brewer reference, B145, participated in a RBCC-E for the first time that will allow a direct comparison of the European with the World reference.

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.

2021

Events / Highlights 2021

  • The 13th International Pyrheliometer Comparison (IPC-XIII) took place in September 2021. Alongside that was the 5th Filter Radiometer comparison (FRC-V) and the 3rd International Pyrgeometer Comparison (IPgC-III).
  • The Chinese Fengyun-3E spacecraft was successfully launched in July 2021. The PMOD/WRC instrument, Joint Total Solar Irradiance Monitor Digital Absolute Radiometer (JTSIM-DARA), is onboard and operational.
  • The final transfer of instruments from Arosa to Davos took place – ensuring the future measurement of the ozone time-series.

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.

2020

Events / Highlights 2020

  • The Solar Orbiter space mission was launched successfully, and all instruments switched on.
  • The SOHO space mission and PMOD/WRC VIRGO instrument onboard has been operating successfully for 25 years, with new machine learning code developed to correct for long term degradation.
  • Improvements on the cryogenic radiometer (CSAR and MITRA) have started in order to establish the new primary standard for ground-based solar irradiance measurements and to replace the World Standard Group (WSG).

 

  • If you would like to have a printed copy sent to you, then please get in touch with us via team-office@pmodwrc.ch.