Weather Systems

The weather systems theme focuses on the understanding of the dynamics of large-scale and mesoscale weather systems and their link to the hydrological cycle, in a changing climate. Extreme weather events like extreme precipitation, thunderstorms, and fog are challenging to forecast, but do have a huge societal impact. The intensity and frequency of events also might change in a warmer climate, and therefore advancing the understanding of the dynamics is crucial. However, especially changes in a warmer climate in the general circulation are uncertain. To study these phenomena we use reanalysis products, numerical weather prediction models like WRF and OpenIFS, and climate simulations from CMIP6 or high-resolution simulations. In addition, the frequency and occurrence of those weather events and the relation to moisture transport is quantified.