Dr. Luka Ilić, who previously worked at the Institute of Physics Belgrade, is now part of the Atmospheric Composition Group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), where he investigates the global movement and climate impact of desert dust using advanced high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
In a recent interview, Dr. Ilić explained that his research focuses on atmospheric composition, with a special emphasis on mineral dust originating from deserts. "My research is related to atmospheric composition, but specifically to dust in the atmosphere... the dust that comes from the desert, sand and dust particles lifted by the winds that get the chance to travel around the world and have many interactions with our climate system", he said. This interdisciplinary work combines atmospheric physics, chemistry, remote sensing, and large-scale numerical modelling.
At BSC, Dr. Ilić and his colleagues study the mineralogy and behavior of dust particles, including work connected to the NASA EMIT mission, which provides detailed satellite observations of surface mineral composition. Their research seeks to understand how different mineral types influence radiation, cloud formation, and broader climate processes. BSC also plays an important operational role as a World Meteorological Organization Regional Center for Dust Forecasting, providing real-time dust and sandstorm warnings. As Dr. Ilić noted, "We provide operational forecasts of dust, warnings of sand and dust storms, and we do a lot of research on different areas of dust interactions in the atmosphere".
He emphasized the historic and ongoing importance of HPC in meteorology and climate science. "Weather and climate research has historically been linked with the development of supercomputers", Dr. Ilić said, recalling early efforts when weather prediction required teams of mathematicians performing calculations by hand. With the advent of supercomputers, these processes became scalable and increasingly precise. "Since the middle of the 20th century, we have always been going in parallel with the development of high-performance computing", he added.
Today, HPC systems like those at BSC are indispensable for operational weather forecasting, air-quality prediction, and climate-change scenario modelling. The complexity of modern climate and atmospheric chemistry models, which simulate fine-scale physical and chemical processes, demands massive computational power. "These HPC resources are used daily—we see the results in weather apps, in the forecasts on television, and in the climate scenarios that help us understand what kind of changes we can expect", Ilić explained.
Through his work at BSC, Dr. Ilić continues to contribute to a global scientific effort that relies on supercomputing to improve our understanding of the atmosphere and to support societies facing increasingly complex environmental challenges.
