Climate projection project begins
The EU-funded project APPLICATE, which aims at improving weather and climate projections in the Arctic, is set to begin this month.
APPLICATE (Advanced Prediction in Polar regions and beyond: Modelling, observing system design and LInkages associated with ArctiC ClimATE change) will take place over the next four years with an €8m funding grant and will be co-ordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany, and 16 other partner institutions from nine countries.
The multinational consortium aims to improve forecasting capacities for weather and climate not only for the Arctic but also for Europe, Asia and North America.
The effects of extreme weather events on trade and infrastructure can be significant. It is therefore important to predict when and where storms can occur in Europe.
Project co-ordinator Professor Dr Thomas Jung, climate scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, said: “The current forecast system in the Arctic lacks a sufficient observation base, we have a number of weaknesses in the models and, thereby, observations.
“That is why we will contribute to the development of an Arctic Observation System that improves our prediction capacities – both in the Arctic and in the mid-latitudes.
“In addition, we will map critical processes in the climate and weather patterns better and explore new ways in which we can integrate the observations in the models.”
While the main objective is to improve forecasting capacities, the project also hopes to educate the future generation of experts and raise awareness about improved climate and weather forecasts.
