Project: Drivers

Which forces are driving extreme climatic events in Europe? The “Drivers” project as part of the Helmholtz Climate Initiative is investigating this question. The aim of this project is to generate and process novel scenario data of driving forces of extreme climatic events and to make them available for further use. The "Drivers" project combines existing simulations such as HAPPI-DE and EURO-CORDEX with new, high-resolution simulations. With "Jet Stream changes" and carefully created "time slice experiments", meteorological data sets are created for current and future time horizons. The focus is on possible European extreme events in the years 2030, 2050 and 2100, for paths into a world warmer at 1.5 degrees, 2 degrees and 4 degrees Celsius.

These new simulations make it possible to investigate relevant feedback in the terrestrial system. Because the meteorological driving forces also drive land surface and hydrological models. For example, water runoff quantities in the soil or soil moisture can be calculated in Germany with an unprecedented spatial resolution of 1 km square. This accuracy will also make it possible to estimate the most important sensitivities and uncertainties, such as hydrological and agricultural droughts. Finally, this project aims to translate the signals of climate change into information for subsequent impact models that are used in other projects of the Helmholtz Climate Initiative.