KlimEx - Climate Change and Extreme Hydrological Events – Risks and Prospects for Water Management in Bavaria | Umweltbundesamt

Background and Goals

Not least by the partially dramatic consequences of the flood events (2013, 2005, 2002, 1999) or the extended periods of drought (autumn 2011, spring 2007, summer 2003 and 2015) of the recent past in Bavaria, the consideration of hydrological extreme events has moved into the focus of interest. In addition to the challenges of better predicting such situations and the consequences of accompanying risk management, there is still no reliable evidence as to whether and how climate change contributes to the accumulation and exacerbation of extreme hydrological events.
While changes in the frequency and intensity of such climate change-related extreme events are expected, they can not yet be adequately quantified. However, an improved understanding of the processes involved and system relationships is an important prerequisite for adapting the water management to accompanying risks and their dynamic changes. The KlimEx project addresses this problem and aims to analyze the causes of extreme hydrological events with a focus on floods.
The integration of the supercomputer SuperMUC of the Leibniz Computing Center enables for the first time the innovative use of a very large model ensemble. These help to better quantify the uncertainties associated with the dynamics of flood events under the influence of climate change.
Thus, KlimEx provides a significantly expanded basis for adapting water management to risks and dynamic changes and for deriving recommendations for the predictive management of Bavarian water resources.

Content time

Research area/region

Participants