The Kick-off meeting of SOPRAN III (which was also the 6th SOPRAN Annual Meeting) was hosted by the Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung (TROPOS) and took place in Leipzig on 19/20 March 2013. More than 50 scientists came together to present their recent findings and discuss future activities. The first day saw overview talks by Ina Tegen and Thomas Müller (both from TROPOS) as well as Hermann Bange (GEOMAR) followed by two "Young Scientist Highlight Presentations" of Steffen Fuhlbrügge (GEOMAR) and Khanneh Fomba (TROPOS). During the poster session on Tuesday afternoon more than 40 posters were presented and sparked many lively discussions about the presented results. The oral and poster presentations covered the broad thematic spectrum of SOPRAN incl. measurements from atmospheric/ocean observatories at the Cape Verde Islands, results from SOPRAN cruises to the tropical Atlantic Ocean/Mauritanian upwelling and the upwelling off Peru, studies of the air-sea gas exchange in the Heidelberg Aeolotron, CO₂ enrichment experiments, halocarbon production and emissions as well as aerosol chemistry and physics. On Wednesday morning the upcoming activities during the next three years of SOPRAN III were introduced by the Theme leaders and discussed in detail in working groups. The 7th SOPRAN Annual Meeting will be hosted by the University of Bremen in March 2014.

The participants of the SOPRAN III Kick-Off Meeting in Leipzig are wondering about the local effects of a wet deposition called snow.