for his pioneering work in atmospheric chemistry and studies of aerosols and the evolution of the Earth ’s atmosphere

Christian Junge, one of the pioneers of atmospheric chemistry, was born 1912 in Elmhorn/Germany. From 1931 to 1935 he studied Meteorology and Geophysics in Graz, Hamburg and Frankfurt, became Assistant at the Meteorological Institute of the University of Frankfurt (1935-1937) and joined the German Meteorological Service until the end of World War II.

After having resumed his work as meteorologist in the Weather Service of the British occupied zone (1947) he returned to an academic position at Frankfurt University, which he had left in 1935 after having achieved the "Habilitation" (1952).

From 1953 until 1961 he worked as a Scientist and Senior Scientist at the Cambridge Air Force Research Center, Bedford, Mass., USA. In 1962 he returned to Germany, first as Professor of Meteorology and Director of the Meteorological Institute at the University of Mainz (1962-1968), then as Director of the Air Chemistry Department of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemic (Otto-Hahn-Institut) from which he retired in 1977.

Junge’s scientific work has provided new and fundamental insights into atmospheric chemistry. His first studies, which he begun in Frankfurt and continued in the USA, were devoted to atmospheric aerosols. Junge found that existing field data on aerosols covered parts of a wide size distribution which he was able to derive. He further discovered that sulphate plays a major role in the composition of aerosols, and that this sulphate is a product of oxidation of SO, in cloud and fog droplets. By setting standards for systematic trace gas and aerosol measurements in clean air regions (Hawaii, Florida), Junge widened the knowledge of tropospheric chemistry. His famous book "Atmospheric Chemistry and Radioactivity" which appeared 1963 is still a standard introduction to this new field.

Junge developed sophisticated aerosol counters and flew them aboard balloon and aircraft platforms. He thereby discovered a layer of maximum aerosol concentration surrounding the Earth at about 20 km altitude. This stratospheric layer of sulphate aerosol particles known as "Junge layer" has gained revived interest today through the discovery of heterogeneous reactions on aerosol surfaces and subsequent ozone depletion.

Junge’s research with this team at the Max-Planck-Institut fiir Chemie covered a wide field of air chemistry. Perhaps most important are the contributions towards the understanding of the global cycles of N2O, CO and H, and the evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Junge’s numerous publications made him internationally known as "Father of air chemistry". His reputation is reflected in various honourable awards, memberships and positions, such as a Member of LEOPOLDINA, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher (1964), Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (1967), President of the Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (CACGP) of IAMAP (1967-1975), Alfred-Wegener-Medal of the Deutsche Meteorologische Gesellschaft (1968), Carl-Gustav-Rossby-Medal of the American Meteorological Society (1973), President of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, IAMAP (1975) and Dr. Honoris Causa, Universitat Frankfurt, Fachbereich Geowissenschaften (1978).

P.Fabian

Newsletter 59, 33, 1996