Investigation of an Ensemble of Regional Climate Models with Respect to Land-Atmosphere Feedback and Extreme Precipitation 
This project detects and analyses heavy precipitation events (HPE), both single convective events and intense precipitation episodes, with the potential to small- and large-scale flooding over Central Europe. It especially focuses on the analysis of related physical processes relevant for the formation and development of these HPEs, in particular the impact of land-atmosphere (L-A) feedback. The main objective of this project is to analyze the ability of the relatively new ReKliEs-De ensemble of regional climate simulations to reproduce intensities, frequencies, and durations of heavy precipitation events. For a historical climatological period, the classical evaluation strategy is extended to L-A metrics, which characterize the influence of local to regional processes as well as the role of soil, land cover, and the atmosphere leading to heavy precipitation. Furthermore, changes in the statistical and physical quantities of these events are investigated and related to modifications of the forcing mechanisms and L-A feedback for two different climate change scenarios. We will  investigate the influence of an improved representation of L-A feedback mechanisms and extreme precipitation events in a series of convection-permitting (CP) simulations on the kilometer scale where a better representation of orography, soil and land-cover heterogeneities, temporal and spatial evolutions of the surface layer and the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and thus, convergence zones and convection initiation can be expected. Our research will lead to a deeper understanding of intensive and extreme precipitation and thus also provide new insights into climate change.
Institutions: BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg, University Hohenheim
Contact: Klaus Keuler, Volker Wulfmeyer, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi