German regional climate atlas
Background and Goals
Since 2010, future climate scenarios for German states can be downloaded from the Internet. Users can select different climate elements such as temperature, precipitation and wind, and display possible future changes for different seasons in different German states.
Objectives:
With the German Regional Climate Atlas, the Helmholtz Society is providing information about the latest research findings on climate change. It is based on regional climate scenarios from various research institutions that have been combined for Germany and evaluated at a national and regional level. The climate atlas is designed to be interactive. The display for model users shows where individual climate calculations are located within the range of future climate changes.
The climate atlas will be continuously adapted to reflect the latest research findings.
Content time
Research area/region
Country
- Germany
Steps in the process of adaptation to climate change
Step 1: Understand and describe climate change
Approach and results
The German Regional Climate Atlas is based on climate calculations available for Germany, carried out using dynamic regional climate calculation models. These include the following climate calculation models: COSMO-CLM, the combined regional climate calculation model from more than 30 international research institutions, and REMO, the regional climate calculation model from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and RCAO, the regional climate calculation model from the Swedish weather service.
Each of the regional climate calculation models used different greenhouse gas concentrations provided by the IPCC, the UN global climate panel. To date, a total of 12 different climate calculations have been incorporated into the climate atlas. Specifically, these are the following climate calculations:
- Four climate calculations were produced using the COSMO-CLM regional climate model;
- Three climate calculations were produced by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg on behalf of the Federal Environment Office using the REMO regional climate model;
- One climate calculation was produced by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg on behalf of the Federal Institute of Hydrology using the REMO regional climate model;
- Four climate calculations were produced using the RCAO regional climate model from the Swedish weather office (SMHI) as part of the EU PRUDENCE project.
New climate calculations from the Helmholtz centres and other research institutions will be integrated in the future.
Parameter (climate signals)
- Altered rainfall patterns
- Higher average temperatures
- Extreme precipitation (incl. hail, snow)
- Storm
Further Parameters
summer days, hot days, tropical nights, frosty days, icy days, relative humidity, water vapour, mean wind speed, storm intensity, windless days, sunshine hours, cloud cover level (annual or seasonal average values)
Step 2a: Identify and assess risks - climate effects and impact
Approach and results
Climate change information is provided for analysis of potential climate effects and impacts.
Step 3: Develop and compare measures
Measures and/or strategies
Climate change scenarios are provided that can also be used to develop adaptation measures.
Time horizon
- 2011–2040 (near future)
- 2021–2050 (near future)
- 2036–2065
- 2051–2080 (far future)
- 2071–2100 (far future)
Participants
Funding / Financing
German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and Helmholtz Society of German Research Centres (HGF)
Project management
Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Centre for Materials and Coastal Research
Cooperation/Partners
The Regional Climate Atlas is a joint product of the regional climate offices in the Helmholtz Association:
CoastDat,Central German Climate Office, South German Climate Office and Climate Office for Polar Regions and Sea Level Rise
Contact
Regionaler Klimaatlas Deutschland
