The project is part of the 2nd phase of the DFG research unit “SEHAG – „Sensitivity of high Alpine geosystems to climate change since 1850 “that investigates the impact of climate change on high Alpine geosystems since the end of the Little Ice Age (1850). Scientists of various disciplines (climatology, geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation and photogrammetry) collaborate closely to develop for the first time a reconstruction of the historical development of high Alpine geosystems, based on the case studies of Kaunertal and Horlachtal in Austria, and Martelltal in Italy. The second phase started on 01.04.2022 and runs until 31.03.2025. The first ongoing project phase focused on changes in geosystems and their causes from 1850 to the present day. In the second phase, field data collection will be further completed, along with improved model parameterizations for all studied subsystems (glaciers, permafrost, vegetation, hydrology, etc.), to enable a model-based analyses of potential future developments up to 2050, based on data from dynamically downscaled climate model projections.
Job description
This postdoc project focuses on the quantification of climate change impact on groundwater storage in high Alpine catchments based on a combined experimental modelling approach (the retained model is WaSiM). The work aims at answering the question how the role of groundwater storage for high Alpine water resources will evolve under ongoing climate change, based on detailed analyses of the three selected case studies. This will be achieved by further developing existing hydrological modelling approaches with the main focus of improving the representation of surface water – ground water exchanges in high alpine environments. Detailed field data will be used to calibrate this model and achieve the best possible representation of the studied system. The developed model will be used to investigate how the relative role of subsurface water storage as compared to above ground water storage in snow and ice will evolve in a warming climate.
See also the associate document that is uploaded:
https://csdms.colorado.edu/csdms_wiki/images/Ausschreibung_POSTDOC_TUM_UniBern.pdf
