The Meteorological Institute of Hamburg University was originally founded in 1929 and - after the break of World War II - exists as a separate entity again since 1962. It is active in the fields of physics of the atmosphere in the widest sense and figures as one of the largest institutes in Germany for the education of students of meteorology.

The close connection to the sea and the science of the oceans was a specialty of Meteorology in Hamburg. It formed the basis for a number of successful sea-going expeditions with marine field work, first in the tropics, later also in polar regions, which established the international reputation of the Institute. Since the 1970s, the Institute - together with a number of other marine institutions of the Hamburg region - acquires substantial research funds in the frame of Sonderforschungsbereiche (Collaborative Research Centers) of the German Research Foundation. Later, in view of the increasing environmental problems and the prospect of climate change, new areas of research and teaching developed: climate modeling, technical meteorology and remote sensing. The participation and work of its members in many national and international groups documents the importance of the Institute in the sectors; scientists take an active part in regulatory committees, in the field of technology transfer and in public relations activities. The close neighborhood of the German Climate Computing Centre with its main frame computers of highest capacity provides an extra bonus for scientists and students alike, giving to the latter the opportunity to acquire special know-how in the field of modeling and high-level computing. The experimental equipment of the department of technical meteorology, including several sophisticated wind tunnels, is unique in Germany.

The Institute has taken an active part in founding the Centre for Marine and Climate Research (ZMK) at Hamburg University, of which it is a member since 1989. ZMK is part of a larger unit, the Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Research (ZMAW), which also comprises the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) and the Institute for Coastal Research of the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht. The Meteorological Institute maintains close relationships to both the MPI-M and GKSS which is documented by joint personnel, joint scientific projects, joint technical departments such as labs, a mechanical workshop and a joint library, and by sharing rooms in the same building. Clearly, the science of meteorology, but also the students of meteorology, significantly benefit from this highly interactive network.

In 2007, ZMAW together with additional partners from the University, was successful in the German "Excellence Initiative" which aims to promote top-level research in German universities, thereby improving their international competitiveness and raising the profile of the top performers in academia and research. The proposal „Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)“ was approved. The goal set for CliSAP is to analyze ongoing and past changes of the state of the climate system, in response to natural and human-driven perturbations, to determine predictable elements of the climate system over a broad range of space and time scales, and to determine uncertainties intrinsic to predictions of important climate system and environmental indices. In terms of regional consequences of climate change, CliSAP will quantify potential impacts of such changes on marine and terrestrial ecosystems as well as humans, including economy and security, with a focus on Northern Europe.