Chair of Climate Geography

Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources

Chair of Climate Geography

Climate Geography Lab CliG

Abkürzung der Fakultät für Umwelt und Natürliche Ressourcen "unr" in der Farbe sand auf grünem, kreisförmigen Hintergrund

CliG researches the climate and its interactions with other systems. We analyze patterns, trends and uncertainties in weather and climate data across scales. We have a particular focus on extreme weather and climate events such as hailstorms and heatwaves and their behavior in a changing climate. In addition to hazard analysis, we work on better understanding climate impacts through collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research on risk assessment, modeling, and damage prevention.

News & Highlights

Publication

Intensification of strongest hailstorms in observations

CliG researchers find that the most intense hailstorms have seen a shift towards larger storm areas, longer durations and track lengths, and a higher degree of organization. For the study, detailed data of more than 60000 storms observed with weather radars from the Swiss national weather service were analyzed in detail over the time period 2002-2021. The signal of intensification is robust also considering technical changes and uncertainties in the observational data.

Project

Launch of EU-LIFE project Adapt´Est

LIFE Adapt´Est addresses escalating climate risks and brings together 30 partners from science, administration, and industry to advance climate adaptation in the Grand Est region of France, neighboring Baden-Württemberg. CliG researchers are contributing to the project through investigating the characteristics and impacts from compounding dry extremes and severe convective storms. The project officially kicked off on 30. June in Strassbourg, France. LIFE Adapt´Est is funded by the European Union and CliGs contribution is co-financed by the Region Grand Est.

Publication

Why we need to better understand severe thunderstorms in mountainous regions

In this recent paper we review the current state of research on severe thunderstorms in and near complex terrain. Better understanding and forecasting these damaging weather events across Europe is key to reduce costly and destructive impacts. The pan-European field campaign Thunderstorm Intensification from Mountains to Plains (TIM) aims to address these knowledge gaps through gathering coordinated and dense data using innovative sensors and remote sensing techniques to improve warnings, forecasts, and climate impact assessments.

Project

HAIPI project kicked off

The HAIPI – Hail Analysis, Impact and Precidicion Initiative – project was launched in September 2024. Hail causes billions in damage every year. Insufficient data is one of the main obstacles in hail research. HAIPI aims to fundamentally improve the data basis and thus the prediction and analysis using a combination of new types of data and machine learning methods. HAIPI is funded by the German Weather Service as part of the research funding program for extramural research.

Eine Person steht auf einem Berggipfel in einem Regenschauer

Cooperation

CliG partners with ESSL TIM severe storms field campaign

TIM (thunderstorm intensification from mountains to plains) is a multi-year and high-density meteorological field campaign on severe thunderstorms lead by the European Severe Storms Laboratory ESSL. TIM partners from around Europe join forces to advance the science behind the storms. CliG aims to contribute in particular to field investigations related to questions around the climatology and risk of extreme convective events in the Alpine region. For more information on TIM and the topic, visit https://tim-campaign.eu and CliG´s CROSCEA project page.

All News

Research

Our Research Focus and Current Projects

Publications

List of publications

Teaching

Our Teaching Program and Thesis Information

Team

Meet the team