Master's thesis topics

Your Master's thesis is the culminating project for the MSc degree, which you will plan and complete independently.

The extent of the Master's thesis is 30 credits (ECTS) and it aims to demonstrate your:

  • familiarity with scientific methodology
  • ability to carry out a demanding project
  • mastery of the conventions of written scientific presentation

You will need to agree upon the topic of your thesis in consultation with a professor of the programme. The topic is usually related to research problems of one of the research groups within the Programme; commonly the group is part of the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR).

Below is a list of recent MSc theses of the degree programme. You can find them in the University of Helsinki's Helda service by searching with the name of the author.

Recent MSc thesis

Turunen, Tarja: Quantifying environmental thresholds for increased Norway spruce mortality in Finland. Supervisor: Samuli Junttila

Maalampi, Panu: Studying the effect of a new aerosol option on HARMONIE-AROME sea fog forecasts. Supervisors: Laura Rontu, Victoria Sinclair, Ekaterina Kurzeneva

Kiema, Sarai: Kansalaisten Netatmo-kesäsadehavaintojen laatuanalyysi. Supervisors: Kaisa Ylinen, Jouni Räisänen, Marja Bister

Kaltiainen, Aino: The effect of large-scale circulation pattern variability in the northern Atlantic-European region on the boundary layer characteristics in Helsinki, Finland. Supervisor: Sasu Karttunen

Lohtander, Aleksi: Changes in diurnal temperature range in Finland between 1961–1990 and 1991–2020. Supervisor: Jouni Räisänen 

Pekkala, Minttu: Comparison of Surface Albedo and Top of Atmosphere Albedo in the Arctic. Supervisors: Aku Riihelä, Petteri Uotila

Forsbacka, Amy:  Analyzing Volatile Organic Compounds from the Baltic Sea using Vocus PTR-TOF-MS. Supervisors: Mikael Ehn, Roseline Thakur, Maija Peltola, Yuanyuan Luo

Leskinen, Juha: Effect of forest management on carbon and energy budgets on mineral soil, in pine forests in Finland. Supervisors: Leif Backman, Tiina Markkanen

van den Broek, Daan: Proximity Sounding Analysis of Supercell Environments in Finland. Supervisors: Jenni Rauhala, Marja Bister

Djupsjöbacka, Jemina: Oribatid mite and testate amoeba communities as environmental and carbon flux proxies on two subarctic peatlands. Supervisor:Minna Väliranta

Li, Delun: Decades of Light-Absorbing Aerosol Particles: Analysis of Equivalent Black Carbon Concentrations in Joensuu. Supervisors: Tuukka Petäjä, Ari Virkkula

Toropainen, Antti: Lorenz energy cycle of a baroclinic wave simulation. Supervisor: Victoria Sinclair

Vinkvist, Netta: Influence of temperature on gas-phase oxidation of cyclohexene and limonene. Supervisors: Matti Rissanen, Mikael Ehn, Theo Kurten

Yu, Ping: Validation of XCO2 retrieval in high latitudes from OCO-2 version 10 product using ground-based TCCON measurements: Hannakaisa Lindqvist, Dmitri Moisseev

Landon, Kaisa: Suomen lumivyöryennusteiden tila ja tulevaisuus osana eurooppalaista lumivyöryvaroituspalvelua (EAWS). Supervisors: Jouni Räisänen, Alberto Blanco Sequeiros

Huynh, Vinh Loc: Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) in Solid-State Weather Radars. Supervisors: Dmitri Moisseev, Juha Salmivaara

Tahvonen, Sara: Impact of warming sea surface temperature on anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking during Northern Hemisphere winter and summer. Supervisor: Victoria Sinclair

Lindroos, Hanna: Maaperän jään mallinnus routajäristysten ennakoinnissa. Supervisors: Ekaterina Ezhova, Jarkko Okkonen

Salminen, Jenna: Pilvet eksoplaneettojen kaasukehässä: vaikutukset elinkelpoisuuteen ja transmissiospektriin. Supervisors: Mikko Tuomi, Jouni Räisänen

Hu, Yiling: Reproducing Large-Eddy Simulation of Pollutant Concentration Using Machine Learning. Supervisors: Martha Zaidan, Leena Järvi

Widenius, Jyrki: Description and characterization of a novel Coughing Head Aerosol Generator. Supervisors: Topi Rönkkö, Paavo Heikkilä

Bengs, Anna: Resolving oxygenated organic molecules in a boreal forest using a MION-Orbitrap mass  spectrometer. Supervisors: Runlong Vai, Juha Kangasluoma