Climate Induced Changes on the Hydrology of Mediterranean Basins: Reducing Uncertainity and Quantifying Risk through an Integrated Monitoring and Modelling System

CLIMB DIT-PRJ-09-031

Status active project
DISI role Partner
Project type Research Project
Dimension International
Acquisition date 2009-12-31
Start date 2009-12-31
End date 2013-12-31

Project details

Project astract An analysis of climate change impacts on available water resources is undertaken in<br/>study sites located in Sardinia, Northern Italy, Southern France, Tunisia, Egypt and the Palestinian-<br/>administered area Gaza. The work plan is targeted to selected mesoscale river or aquifer catchments,<br/>with areas in the order of up to a few thousand square kilometers in the above mentioned partner and<br/>SICA countries, representing water management units for regional water authorities (a complete descrip-<br/>tion of the selected study sites is given in Annex B). Small-scale experimental sites within the water-<br/>sheds will be evaluated in depth for the extension and adaptation of existing and novel hydrological<br/>modeling tools. The site specific analyses will enable improved assessment and quantification of region-<br/>specific vulnerability and risk factors for agricultural, drinking, residential and industrial water. Ad-<br/>vanced climate scenario analysis techniques will be employed and dynamical and statistical downscaling<br/>of available ensembles of regional climate model simulations will be performed. This process will pro-<br/>vide the drivers for an ensemble of hydro(-geo)logical models with different degrees of complexity in<br/>terms of process description and level of integration. The outputs of the climate-hydrological modeling<br/>chain will be focused to deliver estimates of changes in hydrological components such as timing and fre-<br/>quency of extreme and effective precipitation, run-off, in-stream mean flow, soil moisture or groundwa-<br/>ter balance.<br/>Field monitoring and measurement strategies for surface and subsurface hydrological processes will be tested and adjusted to the specific requirements in the study sites. Synergistic radar and optical remote<br/>sensing techniques will be extensively employed to provide steady state parameters (e.g. land use, land<br/>cover, soil hydraulic properties), to retrieve dynamic model parameters (e.g. soil moisture and roughness,<br/>vegetation structures), to monitor process variables (e.g. infiltration, water stress) and to validate model<br/>results. Data assimilation procedures will be developed in order to incorporate relevant data and process<br/>understanding into existing modeling concepts, thereby significantly reduce uncertainty in predicted hy-<br/>drological quantities.<br/>An important output of the research in the individual study sites will be the development of a set of rec-<br/>ommendations for an improved monitoring and modeling strategy for climate change impact assessment.<br/>Once the model concepts are optimized to adequately represent the current-state hydrology in the study<br/>sites, they will be tested over a range of selected climate change scenarios to project future hydrological<br/>budgets and extremes.<br/>The integration of hydrological model results and socio-economic factor analysis will enable the devel-<br/>opment of a GIS-based, modular Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Tool. This tool will serve as a plat-<br/>form for the dissemination of project results, including communication with and planning for local and<br/>regional stakeholders as well as for the discussion and comparison of results with the team working on<br/>the SSH 2009.4.2.1 project.<br/>All activities shall be conducted and evaluated in close co-operation with regional agriculture and water<br/>resources experts. This cooperation will serve both to ensure a focus on adaptation measures appropriate<br/>for the region and ensure an optimized dissemination of project results. Valid findings will be made<br/>available for improved site-specific monitoring and modeling systems for water resources and use as-<br/>sessments under changing climate and land use conditions.<br/><br/>
Keywords Climate change, Environmental Monitoring, Wireless Sensors
Fundings 3948450 €
Partners
  • Centre national du Machinisme Agricole
  • DISI - UniTN
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen
  • Agenzia della Regione Sardegna per la ricerca scientifica
  • Christian-Alberchts-Universitaet zu Kiel
  • Center for Water Research and Technologies: Laboratory of georesources
  • Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Fisica delle Atmosfere e delle Idrosfere
  • Center for Advanced Studies
  • Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft und Raumfahrt
  • Forschungszentrum Juelich
  • Gebze Yuksek Teknoloji Enstitusu
  • Institut National de la Researche Scientifique
  • Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft Graz
  • Universite d'Angers
  • Islamic University of Gaza
  • Universita degli Studi di Padova
  • Zagazig University
  • VISTA Geowissenschaftliche Fernerkundung
  • Bavarian Research Alliance

DISI Sub-project details

Project astract Hydrological modeling uncertainty assessment work package (WP 5) and study site characterization and monitoring work package (WP 3).<br/>
Keywords Wireless Sensors, Environmental Monitoring
Fundings 50625 €
Manager Andrea Massa
Participating RP