The institute's organisational structure offers a close coordination between governance, scientific research, technical infrastructure and administrative support.
The IAP is organized as an association (German: eingetragener Verein, e.V.). Following its statutes, the Board of Members, the Board of Trustees, the Director of the institute, and the Scientific Advisory Board are bodies of the association.
The scientific work is coordinated through three departments and one working group:
- Optical and Rocket Soundings
- Radar Remote Sensing
- Modelling of atmospheric Processes
- Satellite Data Analysis
In addition to these research divisions, the Institute runs central services and infrastructure facilities, including the administration, a high-performance computing centre, a library and a workshop, which provide organisational and technical support for scientific operations.