Our research profile
The Climate Geography group researches the climate at global, regional and local scales and investigates its complex interactions with the hydro-, geo-, bio- and anthroposphere. A particular focus is on the analysis of small-scale extreme events such as heavy precipitation and hail, which have a significant impact on ecosystems and societies despite their limited spatial and temporal extent. The high variability of these events and the often large uncertainties in the underlying observation and model data make it difficult to analyze trends and changes, especially in complex topographic areas such as mountainous regions.
To improve the understanding of these extreme events, especially in the context of climate change, CliG analyzes high-resolution weather and climate data obtained from measurements and climate models and links them to other data sources. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the events themselves and their climatology, to improve existing data and further develop detection options and to use this knowledge to develop adaptation strategies for the consequences of extreme weather events.
CliG pursues collaborative, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. In cooperation with the working groups of Geography, Environmental Meteorology and other working groups of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources as well as national and international partners, the group works in particular at the interfaces with meteorology, hydrology and socio-economic disciplines in order to gain a holistic understanding of the role and impact of climatological forces.